Chaz Bear

Chazwick "Chaz" Bear was born in Columbia, South Carolina and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Known professionally as Toro Y Moi a singer, songwriter, and record producer identified with the rise of the Chillwave movement in 2010 and 2011. Though he has an active music career Chaz has always maintained a consistent studio practice of painting and design.

Chaz's visual art carries many similarities to his musical explorations. There is a feeling of space, joy and natural purposefulness in the work. Chaz's color sensibility depicts a limited pensiveness; nothing unneeded just well balanced shaes and linear expression. The work owes much to the transitional paintings of the 1950's Abstract Expressionism and early 1960's work during the birth of Pop Art. Calder seems to be a major inspiration with the use of childlike shapes, nicely balanced compositions and a simplistic play on basic primary colors.