Local Jacksonville artist, Dev Kai, illustrates his passion of rebelling against African-American stereotypes into his art.

With over 3,800 social media followers on his art instagram, Dev Kai’s artwork is a testimony to liking certain things other children did not find as fascinating.

“Liking certain things that other Black kids don’t like,” stated Kai. “Liking anime, different artists and certain video games outside of ‘NBA Live’ and ‘Madden’ and stuff like that. I was always seen as weird so I took that and applied it to my work.”

Instead of succumbing to ridicule, he used the criticism to develop his skills as an artist. According to Kai, the inspiration of his art stems from rebelling against the stereotype of what African-American kids were supposed to enjoy, such as gangster rap and movies that have low-income housing settings.

Dev Kai has sold hundreds of pieces to consumers all over Jacksonville by having his artwork featured in local fashion stores and galleries, but his biggest commission came in September of 2020. 

Kai was commissioned to paint an entire wall in “The Laughing Wolf” children boutique. Curtis Brown Jr. is a store owner of a kids boutique located in the Orange Park Mall called “The Laughing Wolf.” According to Brown, it took Kai seven days to paint his wall. Brown stated his store was new and in need of a makeover, so he called Kai with whom he had previously commissioned to design a pair of shoes.

“Well it started off with would you do some shoes for me and he did,” Brown stated. “After that, I opened up a store and he was standing in here one day and I was like ‘Would you do me a favor?’”

Dev Kai was commissioned to paint an entire wall in “The Laughing Wolf” boutique. According to Curtis, it took Dev seven days to paint his wall. 

 Kai believes that he has been so successful because of the passion he has instilled in his artwork. According to Kai, consumers that purchase his work can see the passion in his artwork—which is why he has become so successful. By defying stereotypes that may define a culture or ethnicity, he has found something more valuable: acceptance and admiration for being who he is.

 “People see the passion in what you do,” Kai stated. “Automatically, they are probably gonna be like ‘I don’t care who this is, I’m gonna buy this because I haven’t seen someone really commit to doing it this way in a while, so I wanna invest in your work.’”

For more information, click here for Dev Kai’s Instagram.

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