Spread the Love
By Hailey Stangebye
Photos courtesy of Bryant Anthony
Bryant Anthony wears his heart on his sleeve.
His work creates spaces for openness and vulnerability — something, Bryant says, we need more than ever in this time and place.
But it wasn’t always easy for Bryant to be open. He grew up on the east side of Cleveland. That environment forced him to wear a mask because “it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows.”
“I’ve just seen a lot,” Bryant says. “It made me aggressive. Angry. They say you’re a product of your environment. Sometimes, that can be true. I did a lot of street art and graffiti art. I didn’t see anything wrong with it because that’s what I saw growing up. That was art. The streets were my gallery.”
“I did a lot of street art and graffiti art. I didn’t see anything wrong with it because that’s what I saw growing up. That was art. The streets were my gallery.”
Bryant has created art for as long as he can remember. He went from drawing paper soldiers as a child to graffiti as a young teen. At 14 years old, he got his first job at an airbrush shop.
“I actually got into airbrushing because I got into trouble. The police officer was like, ‘Man, you’re talented. You’re a really talented kid,’” Bryant says. “He knew a family friend that airbrushed.”
Throughout high school, Bryant continued to hone his craft. He started by airbrushing t-shirts, but soon found himself airbrushing shoes, cars and motorcycles. He moved to Columbus to study at the Columbus College of Art and Design, where he is close to completing his illustration degree.
Bryant says that Columbus didn’t welcome him with open arms. At least at first.
“Galleries here have said my work was too ‘street’ or ‘too urban.’ I’ve heard that a lot,” Bryant says. “Unfortunately, I had to leave Ohio to get recognition. I have more exposure in the Miami and L.A. areas than anything. The feedback I get from them is two times more than what I get from Ohio.”
“Galleries have said my work was too ‘street’ or ‘too urban.’ I’ve heard that a lot. Unfortunately, I had to leave Ohio to get recognition.”
Now that Bryant has national recognition, Columbus has slowly warmed up to his style. But there’s still a long road ahead.
Through all of his challenges, Bryant recognized a theme: People across Ohio and the world are hungry for love and acceptance. This idea became the impetus for his current campaign — Spread More Love.
“Spread More Love is about giving the people their hearts back,” Bryant says. “At the very foundation of love is to be kind and respectful toward one another. I think we’re all supposedly taught that as a child. ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ It has nothing to do, necessarily, with loving a partner or a spouse or marriage or anything like that. It has to do with the base of human interaction. Be kind to one another. If you need a hug, give a hug.”
“It has nothing to do, necessarily, with loving a partner or a spouse or marriage or anything like that. It has to do with the base of human interaction. Be kind to one another. If you need a hug, give a hug.”
Sometimes Bryant receives pushback against his campaign. People ask him, ‘Why are you, a grown man, painting red and pink hearts?’
The cure for that resistance is dialogue. Once Bryant explains his motivation behind the campaign and the struggles he’s overcome from growing up in Cleveland, he can melt hearts.
“The toughest guys conform at that very moment,” Bryant says. “It’s not that they’re putting on a facade, but so many people are told, ‘Be tough, be strong,’ you know? Especially with men. I feel like we have to live up to that stigma.”
Bryant says his work has the power to pull people out of their shells. It’s a space where it’s not only acceptable to be vulnerable, it’s encouraged.
Spread More Love fit like a glove with the goals of the Harlem Renaissance celebration in Columbus.
“I realized that people of the Harlem Renaissance did it for themselves and nobody else,” Bryant says. “They showed each other love because they couldn’t get love from the outside world.”
“I realized that people of the Harlem Renaissance did it for themselves and nobody else. They showed each other love because they couldn’t get love from the outside world.”
One of his latest projects, a mural called ‘Spread More Love,’ is at 1033 N. High St. It will be featured at the upcoming Harlem Renaissance Gallery Hop.
Bryant hopes that this piece makes people pause, take a picture and Spread More Love.
“Show some love. Spread More Love. Because, right now, we’re in a crazy time and a crazy place. I feel like everybody needs to show more love and receive more love.”
Bryant’s Work
