Justus Roe

Justus Roe (b. 1977) is a painter, sculptor and music producer based in Chicago whose large-scale paintings and sculpture work can be found in a number of high profile locations throughout Chicago and surrounding areas. Identified by a freestyle mark making technique based on wildstyle lettering, Roe's pieces often visually echo and thus challenge the viewer's perceptions of the surrounding environment. In this way, they can be interpreted as uniquely local, site specific works of art. Though based in Chicago, Roe's work is not exclusive to his home region of the American Midwest. The Roncevalles Pedestrian Bridge in Toronto, for example, was commissioned by the city in 2017 and is typical of Roe's signature In-Situ, improvised style.
== Early Life and Education ==
Roe grew up in the Chicago neighborhoods of Lincoln Park, Chicago and Uptown, Chicago were he was introduced to the graffiti culture of the 1980's and 1990's, a scene that had tremendous influence over his aesthetic development. In the late 90's, he was instrumental in forming independent hip hop label Galapagos4 and produced/engineered records for some of the key artists of the Chicago underground hip hop scene, including Typical Cats, Qwel and Royce.
Stepping away from from spray paint as a primary medium, Roe received his BFA in Painting from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1999, focusing on traditional canvas pieces. This work attempted to incorporate a similar aesthetic, but traded the traditional scale and medium for a greater level of detail and layering. 
Roe received his MFA in Arts & Media at Columbia College Chicago in 2008.
Roe comes from a long line of notable Americans, including Revolutionary spy Austin Roe (1748-1830) and Justus Roe (1838-1900) who the invented the Tape measure. His father Jesse Roe played organ for Michael and the Messengers and the band Jelly whose only album, A true Story (1977) was released by Asylum Records. His great-grandmother was Mary Jane Mackinnon Gilmore of Chicago, the first female projectionist.
== Work ==
Following his MFA, Roe began to paint the large-scale pieces he is recognized for today. These massive exterior pieces have become landmarks within the Chicago built environment. On developing his visual style, Roe says he conceives his work as the "abstraction of metropolitan landscapes and experiences executed through a learned, but spontaneous improvisational style."
This free-style approach to infrastructure art is evident in the mural Roe painted onto the Roncevalles Pedestrian Bridge in Toronto in which the design twists, turns and generally reflects the urban particulars of the bridge's surroundings. The project, commissioned through the Sister Cities Mural Exchange, has bee said to supply a "shock of color and joy" onto passersby.
In addition to a number of walls, entrances and building facades, Roe has also expanded this site-specific approach improvisational approach to public venues. In 2018, as part of a program to celebrate the U.S. open's 50th anniversary, Roe was commissioned to paint the tennis courts in Ivanhoe Park outside of Chicago in Riverdale, Illinois. According to the New York Times, "the program was funded by Chase as part of a $500,00 effort to support to support youth tennis."Five artists were chosen to create designs for rehabilitated public courts around the country with Roe being one of them.
One of Roe's most prominent works, and one of the largest single-person, hand-painted murals in all of Chicago, can be found on the northern exterior of the 1001 State St. building. Titled "Standing Wave," Roe's massive mural was one of 18 projects commissioned from artists around the globe to makeover the Wabash Arts Corridor as part of the Big Walls 2016 initiative.
In 2021, Roe was chosen to be among the artists for the Vax*Chi*Nation campaign put on by the Design Museum of Chicago. The exhibition commissioned over 80 local artists to "design original art exploring themes of health, vitality, community and vaccine distribution to encourage everyone to get vaccinated."
In 2021, Roe was selected for a commission in the atrium of the new Ilini Hall project at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Titled "Epiphany," the work will consist of wall-mounted and suspended sculptures that guide viewers up and through the various stories of the atrium.
== Other Notable Works ==
=== Interior Sites ===
1871
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago
Old Chicago Post Office - Metal Plaines 1 & 2
Ivanhoe Cambridge - 10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2050 
MOI - Washington D.C.
Le Méridien Chicago 
Madison Public Library
Walgreens HQ Chicago
Zeno Group
=== Exterior Sites ===
South Shore 
Kinzie Train Depot - Fulton Market
49th Ward
Ridge & Broadway25th Ward
Bloomington City Garages - Bloomington, IL
Bryn Mawr Red Line station
Hollywood Ave. Underpass
Andersonville Olive and Clark
Rockford Gateway
Gary City Garages - Gary, IN 
Category:Painters
Category:1977 births
Category:Sculptures 
Category:Record producers