Joey A.X’s work has been everywhere in the past two years but you wouldn’t know it. He’s not a rapper, influencer, ball player, or actor, and he loves working in the shadows anyway. The shadows of life are what made him everything he is. He’s the Creative Director behind the scenes of pop culture and the 34-year-old bipolar antihero is hitting a stride, minutes away from “having the moment.”
Since 2017, A.X has been one of the go-to creative minds in music, streetwear fashion & young luxury and has amassed a client roster that ranges from Def Jam to PUMA, umpteen fashion brands, to the NBA & EA Sports.
His trademark “surrealist punk trap” pop art style has become a staple in 2021-22’s hypebeast centric-convergence culture, a firm nod and credit to his influence. Even iconic global footwear giant Clarks knocked off his work to a tee.
Sometimes the shadows don’t last forever. He is starting to become less and less of a secret.
For the past several months, A.X has evolved the concept of what social media platform Instagram can even be by using it as the canvas for his gorgeous, darkly surreal and social commentary heavy gallery. There’s nothing like it anywhere online. So far he’s done 3 full galleries and there’s a fourth this July en route entitled “Freakshow.” which is inspired by Coney Island’s seedy history & mysticism, something the CT & NY native knows well.
“Simply put, Joey A.X is a rebel genius,” said the Global Head Of Content at Ad agency giant WaveMaker Global in 2021. He’s been compared to Hunter S. Thompson, Federico Fellani and David LaChapelle by art and scene kid zines and publications. He’s the darling of everything anti and he loves it that way.
Puma’s Head of Collabs, streetwear’s Andy Warhol Mathhew Growney went a step further stating “Joey has always demonstrated a very futuristic level of creativity. He sees trends ahead and blends timeless cues with at times shocking editorial. There is an almost sinister-like perspective that he takes when designing visuals for products or talent. It’s not a macabre sort of thing, but more of an intellectual invasion. And it always works.”
The galleries reflect the influence of all three at once. It’s a mood, a vibe, an energy. Conscious attention to double meanings and wit in a surreal world where OJ Simpson, Andy Warhol & Benny The Butcher all coexist in a LaChappell like set.
Joey A.X began these IG Gallery shows shortly after hosting NBA All-Star week for 300 Records & Def Jam, a close friend and client of his. He is part sarcastic Ryan Reynolds and part waxing poetic Russel Brand, a combo that made him ideal host material for a lot of the media slate for All-Star Week that needed that personality. “I guess it brought me out of my shell, or my shadows so to speak.” He reflects.
A.X has a full slate in 2022, having just launched his app five.me of which he was a founding member and creative mind of, his special projects with multiple fashion brands in the states and abroad, and his art direction for some of Def Jam’s biggest name acts & albums.
Website: https://joeyax.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joeyax/
