Skip to main content

Getting to Know Urban Aesthetics with Fin DAC

One can not walk the streets of city life these days without a glimpse of what the modern world calls art. Many argue that street art has been on the rise since the early 1900s and the Futurists’ Manifesto with the belief “that we will destroy all museums.” And though the manifesto did redefine the way art was created and conceptualized, the artists’ intent was not to truly destroy museums but evade their constraints and to make art available to the public without admission. The concepts and delivery of street art continued to develop over the century and especially with the rise of graffiti art. Street art was now at the fingertips of the artists, to be distributed at a moment’s notice. Graffiti art attached itself to hip hop culture and eventually, the urban art world evolved into statement pieces, stencils, and murals encompassing entire buildings. And where most know Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Invader, Roa, and Titi Freak, a muralist of Urban Aesthetics known as Fin DAC should also be on your radar.

Fin Dac - The Wild Roses

Originating from Ireland and now residing in London, Fin DAC (Dragon Armory Creative) has perfected an atypical paint and stencil style. His work is generally found in large format, covering entire building sides or rooftops. The colors are bright, his creations are beautiful, and the works always depict a bit of mystery. Fin DAC is a self-taught street artist who has perfected an unconventional spray paint style he has defined as Urban Aesthetics — modern urban stencil art combined with traditional portraits. While his art can be found framed in private display and on the auction block, Fin DAC has always preferred instead to let the streets be his studio as he parades around the globe, intent on finding his next canvas.

Fin Dac

Fin DAC’s muses are vibrant renditions of females from around the world, dressed in the clothing of their heritage with distinctive makeup, stylish jewelry, tattoos, incomprehensible hairstyles, and are almost always masked with vibrant colors. Though the origin or meaning of the masks has never been detailed, they are painted as color splashes, complementing the entire piece. Yes, the women are all easy on the eye, but there is something about their eyes staring you down that also evokes compassion toward the viewer. You want to stare right back at them all while trying to figure out their story. They are not going to follow you around the room like the Mona Lisa, but they seem to lay as much judgment on you as you on them.

StreetArt360

Fin Dac pulls influence from dark and graphic novels from Francis Bacon or Audrey Beardsley while finding creativity from travels and cultures of the world, further implying his art intends its viewers take whatever they want from the ambiguity of his craft. The size of his work certainly doesn’t leave much room for the eye to stray, but there is no need, as his soft touch with the spray can invites everyone to enjoy the well-manicured portraits of his Urban Aesthetic self-defined style. Unlike other street artists’ use of stencils for the entirety of their work, Fin DAC simply details the outline then finishes the piece by hand and with spray paint.

Street Art News

He works in the public eye and since the size of his pieces dismisses the option to hide his progress, you can pull up a chair and watch almost every paint stroke. Fin DAC tends to work alone and rarely embarks on collaborations. He lets the love and passion of his craft depict the direction in which he travels, lets cultural experiences fuel the fire of his work, and finds beauty in the character of his muses. He is self-taught and has been relevant to the urban art scene since 2008, while his work continues to stand alone and has never been replicated.

“When I paint, I forget everything for hours, even days. I have no plans until when I find something.” – Fin Dac

Fin DAC’s art is showing up on more and more buildings as major cities truly begin to embrace public art with the realization of its beauty and ability to decorate a skyline. His murals can be found around the world in cities like Los Angeles, Madrid, London, Montreal, Seattle, and San Diego. He lets the love and passion of his craft depict the direction in which he travels, and lets cultural experiences fuel the fire of his work.

Ben Hitch
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ben Hitch, well, he's the first of his name and one hell of a character. You can find him exploring the streets of San Diego…
The 16 best war movies of all time, ranked
From Inglourious Basterds to The Thin Red Line, there are the best war movies that you can stream now.
Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, and other actors playing as American soldiers riding a boat in "Saving Private Ryan."

War movies are among the most morally sticky films produced in Hollywood. While the best war movies go out of their way to reveal the violence and bloodshed that comes with any armed conflict, many can't help but valorize the men and women who fight in these wars. As a result, many movies about war end up glorifying war even if the creative voices behind the project didn't intend them to. In the best war movies, though, moral questions are never easily answered. Well, unless your war movie is a Star Wars movie. 
If you want black-and-white morality, this list of the best action movies on Netflix may better fit the bill. 

War movies, on the other hand, often speak to the way that violence breaks men, even if they believe in their cause. These war movies will shake you to your core, and remind you that humanity is capable of being messy and violent just as frequently as it is brave and valorous. 

Read more
The 10 best action movies on Amazon Prime that will blow you away
From The Tomorrow War to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, these are the best movies you can watch on Amazon Prime
how to watch the tomorrow war online

There's a reason action movies are so popular. The best action movies can thrill you with a dazzling combination of car chases, fight scenes, and special effects. The best action movies can also, and this is important, be wonderfully dumb. Indeed, the plot of an action movie is typically fairly unimportant, as long as the set pieces that get you from sequence to sequence are compelling enough. If you're looking for some great action, you don't need to look much further than these, which are some of the best action movies on Amazon Prime. Whether your goal is to find something gritty and realistic or something completely silly but joyous nonetheless, Prime has plenty of great movies to choose from.

For more great action movies, you can check out the best action movies on Netflix or the best action movies on Hulu.

Read more
The 11 best Sean Connery movies of all time
These films starring the Scottish actor rise above the rest
best sean connery movies ranked seanconnery1

Connery leans on the classic Bond Aston Martin on the set of Goldfinger.
If you're too young to remember the hype around Sean Connery, ask your parents or grandparents what it was like to be a movie fan during his era of stardom. There wasn't a person on the planet who didn't immediately think of Connery when listing the actors with the biggest screen presence. But what is it that makes this man so incredibly iconic? Could it be because he never changes his voice for movies because “the emotions should be the same, internationally”? Perhaps it’s because of his unique Scottish accent that any novice impersonator is sure to try and mimic. All we know for sure is: Connery’s James Bond is -- for an overwhelming majority -- the best and most memorable of all 007 iterations in history.
Though his big on-screen break was as the devilishly handsome and smooth secret agent, real fans know that Sean Connery was much more than that. Besides being a respectful, earnest, and successful actor, Connery spent his first 25 years -- starting at the age of 7 -- working manual labor jobs and eventually joining the Royal Navy at 16. Truly a man of many hidden talents, he also took dance lessons for 11 years, was offered a soccer contract with Manchester United, and also spent time working as a nude model for art students after being honorably discharged from the military.
There are so many reasons to love the late, great Sir Sean Connery, but we are here to praise him for his most memorable on-screen performances. Yes, James Bond will, of course, be mentioned, but we also bring out the later films in his career that made him so much himself. So mix yourself a vodka martini “shaken, not stirred” and help us celebrate the shining star that was Sean Connery.

Dr. No (1962)

Read more