Project Detonate (Yosiell Lorenzo)

Yosiell Lorenzo was introduced at an early age to art by his eldest sister in a time when hip hop and grafitti defined urban life.  Admiring her artwork, a combination of graffiti and fantasy-like creatures, Yosiell followed in his sister’s footsteps and found a creative outlet of his own.  He dabbled in graffiti in the mid 90’s while at the same time developing himself as a musician.  He taught himself how to play Bass guitar and has performed in several bands.  After graduating from Kolbe Cathedral High School, Yosiell attended Paier College of Art where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.  Yosiell worked full time as a Sales Associate at a local retail shop and toured around the United States with his band, while simultaneously finding the time to create a part time internet business under the name of Project Detonate, where he has designed tour paraphernalia, t-shirts, and other projects.  After doing this for some time, Yosiell realized he wanted to experiment with his art more hands on versus sitting behind a computer all hours of the day, and quickly fell in love with painting.  As a result, Project Detonate has taken a life of its own with its myriad of art projects, available products and designs. 

The artwork of Project Detonate has a simple yet formulaic style, which is recognizable for its dark images and contrasting bright colors and bold lines. The contrast also exists within the underlying theme of the paintings, adding to their appeal.  The paintings portray adorable slug-like creatures, each with a personality of its own.  However, as cute as they may appear, their presence also convey a treacherous silence implying that they can possibly do harm if enticed or touched the wrong way. Artistic influences range from horror movies, Mist UK, Japanese pop art, and video games.  Project Detonate has been making its presence known by being involved in group art shows and collaborative works with the likes of Tsai-FI (LA) and Ben the Illustrator (UK) just to name a few, for projects ranging from prints to toys.  Project Detonate is also a member of The Team Colours, a group of artists based out of the UK.  

Born and raised in Bridgeport, CT, Yosiell currently resides in New Haven, where he continues to spend many hours in front of his computer, getting involved in collaborations with other artists worldwide and adding new characters to the Project Detonate family.