Cannabis Creativity: Fernando de La Rocque

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I consider myself to be somewhat of an artist. I love painting, drawing and sketching during my free time and because of these hobbies of mine, I have grown to have an appreciation of art of all kinds. Specifically for anything that is unique and personal to its artist. Fernando de La Rocque is one of those unique artists and has recently caught my attention. I, myself, don’t claim to be an art critic, simply a connoisseur. Although, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t highlight the work of Fernando de La Rocque today.

A quick rundown about the artist. He was born in 1978 in Rio de Janeiro, and is known for his original marijuana smoke pieces. De la Rocque is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts of UFR, back in 2004 and found great success with his series entitled, “Blow Job Blow Work.” Infamously, combining stencil work and weed with cultural and religious figures to make these statement pieces. Giving Cannabis Creativity a whole new meaning. His process for this series began with a simple sketch of some sort of pop-figure. Once outlined, he went in with his smoke filled cheeks and blew gently across the paper. Taking him about a week and 35 joints to finish each piece.

In Brazil, cannabis is still very much illegal but yet, de La Rocque has still found a way to make a living off his hobbies. His piece, Azulejo Colônias went for $28,589 alone (artsy.net). He is considered to be an up and coming big named artist, amassing over 1.4K followers on Facebook and a humble 4,334 on Instagram.

Not only does Fernando work in the field of sketching, he is also known for his work in other media, such as sculptures, painting and site works. Although most of his smoke piece do involve renditionings of cultural and religious figures, he also creates these insane colorful, psychedelic art pieces that recreate sexual acts. A great conversation starter. His piece, Carvaval, 2011, is transcendental. With all the colors and the ways the body’s configure themselves into each other, it creates a wave of emotions. The piece challenges your preconceived notions on art with each viewing. The colors are a distraction to the acts being performed, but you never really notice them, as the neutral parts work to make the piece move on its own. My explanation isn’t doing his work justice, you just have to see it for yourself!

Currently, most of his work is being showcased at Espace_L, an art gallery in SwitzerLand. Classified as contemporary art, his work is renowned for visually unique pieces that work to create an atmosphere of cultural and political discourse.

So next time someone says to you that weed makes you lazy, just show them all the art Frenado de la Rocque has created!

Sources and de la Rocque’s art: Green Rush Daily, Artsy, espace L

Images: Vinícius Vieira, Kindel Media