DOES is a world-renowned street creator from The Netherlands who is known for his contemporary, unreal graffiti writing. Joos van Barneveld, better known as DOES, was born in Veghel, The Netherlands, in 1982. In 1997 he discovered graffiti, a passion that coerced him into a double life.
For over a decade, he was forced to combine the daily expectations of working as an extremely sought-after skilled athlete with the covert nightly secrets of an established graffiti writer. When an injury terminated his athletic pursuits at the age of 28, DOES took it as a chance to move his focus to art.
In his drawings and paintings on and off the wall, the focal points accommodate 3D lettering, balanced color schemes, and the artist’s capability to regulate the purity of outlines and clarity of content. DOES developed his distinctive style by understanding the intricate construction of artwork and color combination and placement. The robust movements we find in his artwork seem to be wild style; however precise execution and designing are the core of all of DOES’s work. From his letters, with their dizzying color schemes stretched so much that they seem to release abstract energy and spread drips all over the wall to his elaborated paper assemblages that take the haptic 3D experience to the next level.
DOES looks at graffiti as an archive from which he can physically extract samples representing his own roots. His intention with the archeology of urban areas is keeping a trace of the geographical coordinates of his walls, readapting the tools of a science that typically deals with leisure pursuits to underline his own story and therefore the impact of graffiti culture on our society in the present. Though his style is pure, DOES doesn’t like to limit him to one discipline. Over the years, DOES’s work has varied into illustrative drawings, prints, murals, and canvases. He has quickly sculpted out a reputation as one of the most effective practitioners of the craft, and today his work is featured in exhibitions and collections across the globe.