Alex Kizu, or Defer as he is more widely known, emerged from heightened racial and socio-economic tensions compounded by police brutality, racial profiling, and gang violence. Hailing from the Boyle Heights neighbourhood in Los Angeles, Kizu honed his craft on the very streets that cradled the genesis of this movement as a first-generation pioneering member of the LA graffiti scene founding respected crews such as K2S, STN & KGB.

Defer’s work expresses the raw essence of his roots, embracing the unadulterated ambience of Graffiti and his formative years in the urban terrain of Los Angeles. Through a term he calls “Spiritual Language,” Defer channels this deep bond between his artistic self and the urban milieu, forging a form of gestural abstraction that transcends mere technique as he melds with his brush and flows across his chosen surface.