Graffiti artist Peyton Russell’s latest works confront ICE surg

Minneapolis graffiti artist Peyton Scott Russell believes that transforming public space is central to building and honoring movements.

During the 7th World Conference on Remedies to Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality, Russell painted live and held a one day gallery exhibition to show academics and artists from around the globe how the Twin Cities have been impacted by President Donald Trump’s federal immigration enforcement surge.

“We, as artists, are the storytellers of humanity, and so we use infrastructure as canvases to tell the story,” Russell said. “I feel like that needs to be protected, but of course, powers that be don’t want too much freedom and too much outspoken voices because that can’t be controlled.”

On Aug. 3-5, the three-day conference, which has brought academics and artists from around the globe together since 1996, returned to Minneapolis for the first time in a decade. After two days spent painting live outside the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School Conference Center, Russell displayed the art he created during the conference, as well as his recent works at Roberts Gallery in North Minneapolis.

Russell’s exhibit greeted viewers with a direct reminder of the months of protest against elevated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence: posters and signs calling for ‘ICE OUT’ and remembering Alex Pretti and Renée Good, who were both killed by federal law enforcement earlier this year. The art, designed by Russell in collaboration with other artists, was given to friends and colleagues who attended anti-ICE demonstrations.

“It was in marches, it was in protests, and they survived, and now they’re back here on exhibit,” Russell said. “I had another few banners. I had a ‘No Kings’ banner that disappeared, and then a few other signs that just didn’t make it. Broken, stepped on, and just ruined. But those survived, and I’m able to exhibit those.”

During the height of ICE activity in Minnesota, Russell considered relocating. That decision never crossed his mind during the elevated federal and local law enforcement presence following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Russell’s mural of Floyd, “Icon of a Revolution,” now stands as one of the most well-known pieces honoring Floyd’s memory.

“With George Floyd, it just wasn’t to that degree,” Russell said. “It’s just the age-old Black and white fight. I’m a biracial person. I’m 50% Black and white, so that’s just my entire existence. I wasn’t going anywhere based on that. It wasn’t even a question. It was brought to my doorstep. But when we started talking about military occupation, that’s different.”

A set of three abstract paintings, which Russell describes as “masks of visages” set a tone for self-introspection. Russell crafted more than 20 visages, the majority of which sold in earlier showings.

“They’re all faces, and the position, the expressions, the gestural connotations that are in the work are there for the viewer to generate their own ideas about your experiences: any traumas, any triumphs, things that have shaped your identity and who you are, and then how you look at the world through that lens,” Russell said.

The center of the gallery held Russell’s most recent work, the live painting completed during the conference, which mirrors his “Clarification of Posture” triptych on the opposite wall. The central painting shows the Minnesota state flag containing an abstract face.

The painting next to it, clearly portraying a face, represents people of color. Russell’s live painting, in contrast, is rendered as a menagerie of eyes, mouths and noses.

On the opposite side is a camouflage abstract painting of an ICE agent, which Russell rendered to appear “void of spirit.” In this painting, a single blue line dripping through the canvas represents Russell’s relationship with police. Russell is also a use-of-force instructor at a Minneapolis police academy, though he says his individual school hasn’t hosted a training since 2020.

“I’m really pushing that to try to create more relationship building, so that when you go out there, you actually recognize people,” Russell said. “That saved me a bunch of times. I’ve been profiled a lot, and then when [police] pull me over, they recognize me.”

Nearby, two vertical paintings cast in red, black and white show ICE’s brutality. After each day of painting in front of delegates during the conference, Russell returned to the studio to work on the two pieces. Now, Russell considers them “finished enough to where I felt like they were exhibit-worthy,” but plans on further developing both.

In the basement of Roberts Gallery, “Slipping on ICE in Minnesota,” a multi-panel painting portrays layers of resistance and state violence during Operation Metro Surge and reflects a color scheme similar to “Clarification of Posture.”

Another room held Russell’s “Self Efficacy” series of self-portraits, each showing a distinct emotion. It’s among the first self-portrait series that Russell has completed and is partially inspired by his teaching at SPRAYFiNGER, a graffiti arts education program that Russell founded in 2012.

“It’s the aesthetic of the [graffiti] art form that has an artistic value to it, and that’s what I promote and teach and preach,” Russell said.

“I teach it with the gloves off,” Russell continued. “All its glory and all its negativity, so that people understand exactly how it was developed from the history of it since the ’60s, how it’s transformed, how it’s grown, and the potential future of it.”

For more information about Russell’s work, visit houseofdaskarone.com.

Callisto Martinez is a recent Macalester graduate and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. They welcome reader responses at martinezcallisto@gmail.com.