SPOTLIGHT

It’s All in the Eyes…

Emerging South Florida artist Danny Doya is fascinated by Greek mythology. A year ago, he had the opportunity to intertwine this passion, along with painting, on grand scale.

Born in Miami, Danny has drawn and painted his entire life, leading him to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at Florida State University. Upon graduation, he painted two murals in downtown Hollywood before he was commissioned by Ram Real Estate in 2017 to paint his largest creation on the east side of The Alexander, a luxury apartment building in downtown West Palm Beach.

Titled “Eris and the Golden Apple,” Danny’s seven-story mural portrays a beautifully reimagined Eris, the goddess of discord, with plump teal lips and big green eyes, gazing at the golden apple she holds. According to Greek mythology, uninvited Eris tossed a golden apple with a note that read “To the fairest” into a wedding crowd. This event sparked a vanity fueled dispute among three other attending goddesses, eventually leading to the Trojan War.

Danny chose to work with acrylics for this project because of The Alexander’s scale and the paint’s versatility, effortlessness, and dry time. Acrylics are a close second to his preferred medium – oil-based paints – due to their richness and ability to blend. Oil-based paints also have a historical connection to the Renaissance masters he admires.

To Danny, a left-handed artist who uses the grid method to sketch out the composition, the mural’s most important component was capturing the look in Eris’ eyes while she’s holding the golden apple and deciding whether to throw it – a look he wanted to leave open-ended to the viewer as to what she’s thinking and feeling.

Our interpretation of the final piece? It’s a remarkable addition to West Palm Beach’s art in public spaces, sitting as it is at the epicenter of its Arts & Entertainment District, showcasing a beautiful woman of strength and perseverance. And it should not go unnoticed that she is subject to the male gaze across Fern Street from the huge mural on Alexander Lofts, which depicts a pastiche of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell by world-famous muralist Tristan Eaton. Both Ram residential projects are known together as “Alexander Living.”

Her back to him, she irrefutably exudes power, the future resting in the palm of her hands. Total #GirlBoss.

To view Alchemy’s work for The Alexander and Alexander Lofts, visit: https://alchemycommgroup.com/work/alexander-living/

To view the website of The Alexander and its sister property Alexander Lofts, visit: http://www.alexanderlivingwpb.com/

To view Danny Doya’s website, visit: https://dannydoya.com/