A fresh voice appears in the Charleston art scene — abstract expressionist painter Demetrius Bing. He works out of a home studio with walls covered in paintings, all of which he’s made over the last four years, when the self-taught artist decided to revisit his childhood interest in art.
“I was 29 when I started painting again,” he said. “I picked up a canvas to see if I still liked it, and since then, I’ve been painting every day, just putting my thoughts on to the canvas. Now, I want to be taken more seriously as an artist because I’m starting to sell. I started realizing recently this could be a career for me … I didn’t go into it thinking that.”
During these last four years of dedicated learning, Bing has honed in on a distinctive style using acrylic paints, spray paint and the incorporation of textured materials like burlap.
Each of Bing’s paintings enjoys a mix of emotionally-driven, expressionist paint application and a clever use of symbols, which is why his work draws comparison to (one of his favorite artists) Jean Michel Basquiat.
In the painting “Cold Game,” for example, Bing shows Uncle Sam as a greedy tax collector.
“I made that thinking about all the bullshit things we have to pay for; meanwhile, no one is making enough. We’re all struggling.”
Symbolism is heavy too in the large-scale painting titled “Rebirth,” where Bing writes his name in backwards childish lettering to point to the traumas that inform his work — and the healing of that trauma through creation.
Getting to the heart of it
Bing experienced childhood sexual assault at 6 years old, which he said changed the way he interacted with the world. At age 29, when he started painting, is when he started dealing with the effects of that trauma. One of his paintings puts it poetically, “Manchild.”
“After what happened to me, I lost my innocence. I crossed out the year of my birth, 1991, and put the year 1997 as the birth of myself as a man.”
The ‘boy’ side of the mostly-blue painting depicts a toy chest, overflowing with Ninja Turtles toys, while the sad, small figure holds a set of keys, which Bing said represents responsibility or innocence lost.
Bing said that being vulnerable and real with the emotions that drive his work is the reason he’s experienced an immediate response from the community.
“I’m not really good all the time with my words,” he said. “And it’s important to get those raw emotions and feelings out. So I put it on the canvas. That connectivity comes from taking ownership of these things, and being open about it, and not letting it run my life … instead I’m taking that and making art … I have no choice but to face myself.”
And Bing recently got the opportunity to pay forward what he’s learned.
Paying it forward
“This guy I used to go play basketball with on Wednesday nights was like, ‘Hey, man, ever been in front of a school or taught anything? We’re doing a subject on Basquiat. I would love for you to come talk to the kids.”
A great Pablo Picasso quote puts it into perspective: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Bing knows this to be true firsthand. And so his goal in his teaching, he said, is to show kids that they don’t have to give up their art as they grow up.
“It might be cliche to say, but my aesthetic helps, because a lot of these kids don’t hear this message from someone they can relate to.”
He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be the art teacher he wished he could’ve had. “I’m thinking, damn, how advanced would I be now if somebody was telling me it’s okay to do this — to express yourself artistically instead of holding in your rage and discomfort.”
Beyond teaching about Basquiat and how to mix colors to express emotions, Bing leaves his students with a message to “be fearless.”
“I’ve heard so many doubts from people — like, nobody’s going to buy that crazy-looking art you’re making. And now, bam, sales, connection, and it’s only up from here.”
Now that he’s fearlessly creating and sharing himself, there’s no ceiling on Bing’s dreams for his work. Goals include getting his art on Asics sneakers, he said, and potentially opening a new art gallery in Charleston.
“I want to give something to Charleston,” he said. “Part of that is working with these kids and telling them it’s cool to be creative. It’s cool to believe in yourself. Even if you don’t understand it at first, dig into it. And keep digging.”
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