DEFER - SEEING BEYOND FORM

DEFER - SEEING BEYOND FORMDefer explores letterform as meditation, rhythm and meaning — a journey from graffiti to sacred abstraction by artist Alex Kizu.

Alex Kizu, also known as DEFER, is a quiet storm. No longer painting in Los Angeles’ concrete shadows, his language now floats through light. Letters are no longer written but breathed through the brush, sometimes splashed with drops of colourful rain onto canvas, paper, linen, glass, shoes or even luxury cars. Each stroke is perfect, done à main levée.

When DEFER paints, he is meditating in motion, entering a world of perfectly organised chaos — a hymn to watch and be distracted by. Beware: if you observe him creating, you may yourself slip into a meditative state, perhaps finding a door to an inner spell, a portal.

This is no street-art crossover. This is deep thinking in motion. Letterform becomes frequency — a kind of chaos mastered by both observer and artist. Rebellion becomes rhythm. Graffiti becomes prayer.

From the fierce alleys of Boyle Heights — K2S, STN, KGB — to sanctuaries of stillness, DEFER paints not with message, but with meaning. His lines do not ask to be read. They ask to be felt. Felt in the chest. Felt in the silence between breaths and colours.

In this new show, his pieces hum. Each layer a heartbeat. Each arabesque a step inward. These are not works to be understood, but territories to inhabit.

Language becomes memory. Memory becomes music. Everything makes sense and nothing does. This is what happens when someone draws with their thoughts.

And what do we know of the man himself? He has a loyal friend, Buddy — his studio dog — who accompanies him almost everywhere. His favourite ice cream is pistachio. One of his favourite films is Rumble Fish. Above all, he loves to experiment.

DEFER’s journey is not merely personal; it is sacred. From tags on walls to temples of art, he reminds us that the soul has its own alphabet. Letters from the sky.

If graffiti sometimes screams to be seen, his work now whispers, dancing inside the eyes of the viewer. Be still. Try to decipher these arabesques. What is being said? Feel this. Remember who you are — or who you used to be — your favourite ice cream, the colours, the warmth of the sun and sky on your face. Allow yourself to travel inward.

Go and see his work. We hear he will soon be showcasing some of his magic at Woodbury House, W1S 3DX, London, alongside other artists, for an exhibition titled Los Angeles: A Visual Lineage, this coming February.

Let it touch you. And if you are fortunate enough to collect it, know this: you are collecting a vibration, not a painting.