Although Terrenceo is not a well-known artist, his art is located practically all over the globe. Not in galleries, but in the residences of individuals who truly appreciate his artistic ability. Terrenceo has so far traveled to many countries in his lifetime and he seeks to experience more. As he develops acquaintances and friends along the way, he makes an effort to provide them with some form of artwork, with the condition that they present it somewhere for others to see and appreciate.

ARTIST   STATEMENT

I create iconic work that reflects the electronic-media dominated urban world that surrounds us.

I try to find some common ground between the historical form of painting and the indexed layering of images created by digital media. Playing between childhood flashbacks and visions of the future, snapshots of memories peer from the screens of our computers, our television screens, smart phone screens, and the digital reproduced signage of our streets. Even graffiti is now digitally reproduce and stuck on walls thanks to the help of cheap computers and printers.

Our surroundings, and our lives, read like both autobiography and biography combined with a fictional account created by (and for?) media and public consumption. Which memories or perceptions are really ours? The false ones that we think we had, based on some reality show or gossip show or music videos, impressed on and saturated into our social consciousness, as if they are our own experiences? Reality is what we make it, and I'm fascinated by the ways in which our urban realities reflect the complexities and tensions among our differing perceptions and perspectives.

Terrenceo attended Long Beach State University on a scholarship to study Fine Art and Asian Theater (Kabuki). During this time he commuted from the notoriously gang and drug infested L.A. neighborhood known as “the jungle” (featured in the film “Training Day”) where he lived with his uncle, B movie actor Naaman Brown. After three years witnessing violence and murder on a near daily basis, he moved to Hollywood, bringing personal demons with him. Unable to cope with the horrors he’d experienced and lacking family support Terrenceo succumbed to those demons and found himself homeless, becoming part of the Hollywood street scene – living in abandoned buildings and houses known at the time as “squats” with street kids and runaways, homeless punk rockers and hip hoppers. Spending nights at the infamous underground art gallery “Zero One,” Terrenceo befriended other Hollywood street scensters, like legendary L.A. graphic artists “Skate” and “Zodiac.”

To generate income Terrenceo began creating street art to sell to the many tourists on Hollywood Boulevard. Not having much capital he started with small pieces of plastic onto which he etched and painted original figurative Afro-centric works. This brought him enough capital to create the sculpture series “Dead Clowns” -   terracotta clowns that had died from such causes as middle class envy, aggravation, and neurosis. Terrenceo then moved on to wood block prints and oil and acrylic paintings depicting subjects such as liquor store hold ups, drive by shootings, crowd scenes outside L.A. clubs, and angry black men with large penises firing handguns. By the mid-90s he had a small following and began work on a series of guerrilla art shows called “Gallery in Motion” in which he and long time downtown L.A. art impresario Jim Fittipaldi of “Bedlam” and a group of young artists took over spaces, such as abandoned houses and parking lots all over the L.A. area. One aptly named show “The Talk Show Media Hype” suffered from low attendance because it coincided with the much-hyped “slow speed chase” of O.J. Simpson on national television.

Terrenceo’s street performances soon morphed into a career as a stand-up comic whose approach is more about making one think, than making one laugh, hence, Terrenceo’s “big black dick and soap box monologues.” Regularly squaring off with Robin Williams in a rapid-fire exchange of multi-character “pure improv” soon lead to an established persona at the Comedy Store, marriage, and fatherhood. Terrenceo has the distinction of being the first comic to be barred for life. This lead Terrenceo into that exalted land of Hollywood, or as he puts it, the “evil soul sucking den of self-important pricks.” After a 15 year stint from Scenic Painter to Art Director, Terrenceo escaped from Hollywood to explore his personal demons and ultimately land in NYC.