James Dodd is a South Australian artist, arts educator and street artist who used the pseudonymDlux for his street art when he operated out of Melbourne.[1]
Biography
Born in Bordertown in 1977,[2] Dodd has a Bachelor of Visual Art and a Masters of Visual Art from the University of South Australia.[3] Dodd teaches at Adelaide Central School of Art.[4] As a street artist, he used the pseudonym Dlux[5] and was one of a group of street artists who considered legal action against the National Gallery of Australia when it failed to pay them in a timely manner for their works.[6]
Career
He began doing street art in Adelaide in 1998, using stencils to mass-produce stickers.[7] Dodd moved to Melbourne around 2002 because of the street-art scene.[8] As Dlux, Dodd was a powerful presence on the Melbourne streets but also undertook a large amount of gallery work, and his stencils were always very politically motivated.[9] As Dlux, Dodd is also featured in the documentary film Rash (2005), which explores the cultural value of street art in Melbourne.[10]
He was one of the most active street artists in Melbourne but returned to Adelaide to undertake further studies (Masters in Visual Art, University of South Australia.[11] Since then, his practice has expanded to include painting and sculpture, celebrating Australia's culture of rebellion and resistance.[12]
Artistic style and subject
Dodd’s practice incorporates street art,[13]sculpture, and painting. His street art has been criticised for 'glamourising dangerous youth gangs'.[14] His sculpture and paintings reflect his rural upbringing[15] and he uses objects such as bus shelters,[16] bicycles,[17] and surfboards[18] as a basis for his work. He also constructs objects such as River Cycle ('a bicycle in a tinnie'),[19] and drawing[20] and painting machines.[21]
