All throughout the second grade, Mark Dean Veca’s classmates approached him, giving him endless props on his impressive, peculiar doodling. The spotlight shone on him the most during class presentations and whenever his classmates caught glimpses of his doodling. Mark’s creative prowess gave him an identity and made him one of the cool kids. In realizing his passion, Mark mustered enough courage to share it with his family. His parents have been super supportive in all of his endeavors; encouraging him to pursue his dreams and not money.
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Mark Dean Veca was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1963 but grew up in Livermore, California — approximately 40 miles east of the Bay Area. In 1981 Veca moved to Los Angeles to study illustration at the Otis College of Art of Design. Veca took a new directive once he studied under professor and artist Jill Geierich. No longer would he continue to pursue illustration; Jill is in part responsible for introducing Veca to the world of fine arts and painting. Another one of Veca’s professors, Kent Twitchell aided in the molding of his unique style by offering him an opportunity of a lifetime. Twitchell always had an eye on Veca, noting that his work stood out considerably more than the work of his peers. During one of Twitchell’s classes, he offered an opportunity for students to assist in painting a mural. Veca was one of four students to volunteer their talents to this monumental effort. The experience would expose the students to the art of dissecting a photograph, taking its elements and transposing them onto a mural. The effort culminated in a massive piece that celebrated the cultural diversity of the 1984 Olympics titled “Freeway Artist Runing Team.” The mural a depicts children from different cultures joyously in motion along the Hollywood Freeway.
Mark Dean Veca has a clothing line called RARE and he’s partnered with the manufacture-on-demand platform, Skyou to present his high quality pieces in the best way possible. Because of this partnering, Veca is able to forward his artwork to the Skyou team to be manifested into a variety of really vibrant, funky garments. RARE features much of the imagery that Veca is revered for in the painting realm. You can find goods ranging from t-shirts, to laptop sleeves and the line also has goods for women – keep this in mind should you need a gifting option for your lady. Take a look at the brilliant collection below.
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Mark Dean Veca x RARE from RARE.SKYOU.COM on Vimeo.
Mark has collaborated with a several influential individuals and companies alike throughout his career. Not only has he worked with the likes of graphic artists, but he’s delved into the worlds of fashion and sports. All of his collaborative efforts have caused quite a stir and many of the tangible products have since sold out. Veca collaborated with KAWS and Original Fake often, but don’t get too excited — you definitely need to do some extensive searching for those rarities. KAWS, as a fan of Veca’s work, reached out to him and requested Veca to reimagine his popular ‘companion’ for a t-shirt. The success of their initial collaboration certainly gave the two the green light to work some more.
Veca was tapped by Nike to create a piece in commemoration of the Kobe 9 release. Nike carefully selected Veca and a handful of other artists to symbolize iconic moments in the Black Mamba’s career. Veca’s piece was inspired by Kobe’s MVP performance in the 2011 NBA All Star Game. In the artwork you’ll find five stars that represent Kobe’s team, different images of Kobe, his jersey and ‘Black Mamba’ written in Veca’s signature style. Nike’s partnering with Veca didn’t end with solely visual art, however. They also created a hoodie and multiple pairs of the popular Elite socks that bore Veca’s artwork.
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