Romero Britto, Botero, and Now Super Buddha Occupy the Prestigious Lincoln Road (SwanoDown Report)



Reported by Lucas "Lukey Lenz" Ballard

“What’s for you, nobody can take away.” said visual artist, Super Buddha when he was asked how he sought opportunities in the art world. The fear of complacency lingered with him from a young age and his subsequent pursuit for visual art grew from the need to express a positive message. Born in Venezuela, Buddha and his family moved to Shanghai  during his youth, where he cultivated his style in the streets of that very city. At the time, graffiti art was just becoming popular and with the shift in cultural acceptance, China began embracing influences from other parts of the world. Buddha regards himself as being one of the first to graffiti in Shanghai and even caused local police to question if what he was doing should be recognized as criminal or more significantly, art to be documented. 

Since his days of tagging in China, Super Buddha has expanded his art to a multitude of different audiences. Drawing inspiration from other artists such as Takashi Murakami, Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Kaws, it is clear to see he has studied well and figured out how to leverage his individualized imagery to appeal to contemporary minds. Only four years into the lucrative business of selling high profile art and installations, Buddha has garnered quite the list of contacts. Musical artists such as Tory Lanez and Swae Lee, business tycoon Gianluca Vacchi, and even Pope Francis himself have purchased or associated themselves with his art. When asked about his technique of building a clientele like this, he advised that shaping a genuine relationship with those interested in your work seeks as a positive propulsion strategy. 

These relationships have also opened doors for Super Buddha that have allowed him to enter a whole new arena of notoriety. At the “Painting Bridges Auction” in Italy, Buddha’s paintings sold for upwards of 80,000 dollars. In addition, his works have been in galleries in cities such as Miami, New York, and Los Angeles as well as seeing collaborations with other celebrities such as Floyd Mayweather at the Super Bowl. 

In every piece, Super Buddha seeks to spread the message that there should be positivity and consciousness in every facet of life, hence the rationale behind the “Buddha” in his title. He elaborated more on this concept by stating this: “ I see so many things wrong on the spiritual and humanistic level, so my art’s intent is to shed more light on consciousness and provide good fortune to everyone.” A message that is hard to refute.

In today’s climate, it has been difficult for many visual artists to be very frugal as galleries, auctions, and in-person shows themselves have been severely diminished. For Super Buddha, it has only provoked him to work even harder as he has plans of having more exhibits in major cities once things begin to normalize again. Soon he and other prominent artists will have their art displayed on the prestigious Lincoln Road where he will be unveiling his first ever “Good Fortune” statue. Along with this he will also be releasing his Super Buddha toy later this year, which is an incredible achievement as it is only something very few people ever get to say. Lastly, in terms of the evolution of the art world, it seems as if Non- Fungible Tokens (NFT’s) are the next big thing. This online crypto allows artists to showcase their art and get paid, Super Buddha believes this to be one of his ideal measures of diversifying his platforms for art. Be on the lookout for Super Buddha!


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