Courtesy “Sight Unseen” (left) is a 12-inch by 9-inch painting on wood blocks on display at the UTSA Satellite Space exhibit. “A Sound Most Deafening” is about mortality and is the artist’s unique way of symbolizing hearing loss.

NAME: Justin Schneider, 30

BEST KNOWN FOR: Oil paintings and sometimes, rather than paint on canvas, he likes to paint on small blocks of wood.

“When I work small, I prefer wood,” he said. “I make my own wood panels, and I make my own canvas as well. I take a little bit of pride in my woodworking. My dad taught me a bit about it.” He has a modern style that often gets him mixed in with the West Hollywood scene that he draws much of his inspiration from.

Much of his work looks like it should be featured in Juxtapoz Arts and Culture magazine, with bold shapes and colors, as well as a strong and clear message.

“A lot of what I do has to do with mortality,” he said of his painting, “A Sound Most Deafening.” Part of a series of 12-inch by 9-inch paintings on blocks of wood, the gray-complected man with the hummingbird in his ear is symbolic of losing your hearing.

Other paintings in the series aim at the other senses.

BACKGROUND: His first show was in 2005 with a graffiti artist named Shek. It was called “Out of Context” and was an immediate sign that his work was lumped together with other street and urban arts.

Schneider never really considered it that way. For him, it was what he was going to school for. He worked on a graphic arts degree at San Antonio College for more than three years and finished it off by going to the University of Texas at San Antonio to work on fine arts and painting.

“I took a drawing class, and they told me to switch to art,” he said, “and that was back in ’99.” He took up oil-painting four years later.

PAYING THE BILLS: He’s a graphic designer for an ad agency and does freelance work as well. His work sometimes shows itself in his art.

“I kind of throw in a lot of graphic elements, like really hard-edged shapes. It’s almost like I work in layers,” he said.

Although he sees how graphic design is also an art form, for him, computers are tools to make money.
“It’s my job, and it’s really hard to use it as an art tool,” he said. “I know it can totally be that way, but because I got a degree in graphic art, I see it as just a tool for advertising and design.”

CURRENTLY: Two of his pieces are on display at UTSA right now, and he’s still cleaning up from his most recent artistic endeavors.

When he has a show coming up, he paints every day. For that, he’ll need his tools.

“I’m going to start making more panels. These next pieces I just think that I want on wood,” Schneider said.

When he doesn’t have an upcoming show, he only paints a couple of times a week. “Between hanging out with my girlfriend or skateboarding, or whatever.” However, he does have a possibility in mind — he might be part of a show in November; an 18-years-and-older, more risqué show of what Schneider said will be raunchy and violent. “Just stuff you can’t really show in other galleries.

Until then, he’ll just be working on art for himself.

CHECK HIM OUT: The UTSA Satellite Space exhibit, “Welcome to the Monkey House,” noon-6 p.m. Friday-Sunday at the Blue Star Arts Complex, 116 Blue Star, on the corner of South Alamo and Probandt Street. For more information, call (210) 212-7146.

Jonathan Munson | 210SA contributor