Justapose Painting

BIOGRAPHY Luke D. Yocum born 7/10/1981 State College P.a. USA. The youngest of three brothers, raised in Lewistown, PA. Parents, Michal N. & Kathie L. Yocum. The young artist grew up in a ultraconservative suburban home and community. He attended a catholic primary school.1986-1991 Yocum was diagnosed with Touretts Syndrome and Attention Deficit Disorder in 1993. He started to paint as a form of therapy. 1993-1994 Luke took his first art classes in Jr. High School and fell in love with Michaelangelo, and Paul Gauguin. He made his first oil painting on canvas and donated it to the school. 1995-1999 Yocum suffered from depression and Heroin addiction while writing music and playing shows with his grunge band. In 1999 Luke dropped out of high school and entered the U.S. Army seeking a better life. Unfortunately he did not find one in the service but benefited from the structure and discipline he gained in the military. 2003-2005 Back on the street as a civilian, he found himself bouncing from one job to another. 2005 Luke decided to become a full-time artist after seeing Cy Twombly's Apollo collection at the Philadelphia Museum. He was influenced by and begins to study artist such as Elisabeth Peyton,Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso,William De Kooning, Francesco Clemente,Julian Schnabel,Barbera Kruger, Jasper Johns,Cy Twombly, Rick Prol, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Peter Doig. The ending of a romantic relationship in December of 2006 left Luke as a struggling artist/single father after he decided to raise his ex-girlfriend's child as his own while pursuing a career in art. Luke was discovered as a brilliant art talent in 2007 by Gallery directors Angela Di Bella and Robert Brooks in Chelsea, NY. Articles in small and mainstream publications highlighting Yocum's untraditional stance on art and technique appeared throughout 2007 and 2008. Public interest in his artwork and seemingly "rough and tumble" attitude caught fire in the underground art world and began to appear in blogs and subterranean art world mags. Bar fights and maniac moments on city streets in the USA and abroad have given the artist quite a reputation. A twisted trail of human wreckage and tragedy resides in his past. His works give viewers large, sometimes painful glimpses into his yesterday. Luke D. Yocum is not your typical village dwelling artisan.