September 21, 2022 • 27 mins
Artist, FEWOCiOUS aka Victor Langlois, brings his infectious energy and palpable authenticity to the podcast this week. Sharing his journey of self-discovery through art with Betty Who, Victor breaks down the vibrant and unfiltered style to which he attributes all his success. Creating everything from dynamic paintings and sculptures to digital art and NFTs, Victor’s work has broken records with the iconic Christie’s Auction House. Gaining him global attention as one of the most popular NFT artists of his generation, Victor is only just getting started.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey everyone, and welcome back to unfiltered, the JB L podcast,
and I heart radio production in partnership with JB L.
I am your host, Betty who. It's me now. This
podcast is a place to minimize the noise and tune
into authentic and unfiltered conversations about identity, art, self expression
and so much more, and today's episode I couldn't be
(00:27):
more excited about. We have an incredible guest who I
think completely encompasses the idea of living authentically and being
true to yourself. I am so excited to get to
talk to this incredible artist. Yes, I am going to
be joined by an insanely successful rising star in the
art world, Victor Lanois. Using his bold and vibrant work,
(00:48):
he has shared his vision and experiences with the world
across numerous mediums, from vibrant paintings and sculptures to killer
collapse and N F T S. Victor's work has broken
records with Christie Auction House and he has gained global
attention as one of the most popular and ft artists
of his generation. I am so excited to talk to him.
I have so many questions. Let's get to know him
(01:10):
a little better and hear about his incredible journey. Well, Victor,
a k a focious, I'm so happy that you're here
with us today. You have all of these crazy stats
under your belt at this point. Like tell us about
where it all started. Um, I feel like a lot
of little kids just start drawing because it's just a
(01:32):
little kid thing. You get a color and book and crayons,
but I I loved it. You were just really good.
I don't know like other kids, and they knew how
to stay in the lines or they're like, obviously a
fire truck is red, but mine would be like blue,
or I would just pick the wrong colors, whatever that means.
And as I got older, all the other kids gravitated
(01:55):
towards running around the playground and pretending to be fairies
and stuff, but I still wanted a key drawing in
the little coloring books. And then also the coloring books
have worlds, like you get like a spoder man coloring
book or whatever theme Coloring Book, and I love being
immersed in that world. And I think I've never actually
thought about being four and coloring, but now I'm like, yeah,
(02:18):
it kind of where it began. Yeah, like you're in
this world of different creative universes, whether it be superheroes
or princesses whatever, and I think that's where that started.
That's amazing. You work with a bunch of different mediums, right.
What mediums do you love to work with? Where did
you stop and, like, how did you end up where
you are now? So I started first coloring books, then drawing,
(02:41):
then painting a little bit, but then my parents will
be like you can't paint in the house. I was
like okay. So then I went back to drawing and
I was like Hey, Grandpa, can you get me more
color pencils? And he's like no, they're expensive. I can't
just keep buying you art supplies, and I was like
that makes sense. Well, now what I do? And I
found the world of digital art sick. And now there's
(03:05):
ipads where you can just download an APP for like
eight dollars and the apple pencils great, but when I
got into digital art, there wasn't the cool ipads where
it's really nice. When I started, you get it's like
a black plastic thing that you hook up to a
computer and the black plastic thing doesn't have a screen,
so you're drawing on the black plastic thing. But looking
at a screen in front of you and it's very
(03:27):
does not hit your brain right. You're like, I'm drawing
on this thing, but I can't see it. It's really weird.
But uh, I started doing that and that opened my
eyes to Oh, infinite colors, that I don't have to
pay for that, I can make the canvas as big
as I want. I don't have to pay. Canvas is
really expensive. I don't have to pay for that. I
could just make my own worlds. And then, you know,
(03:48):
I'll watch youtube videos and it's like, oh, video is art,
and then music is art. So then it's like everything.
I like all the media's. That's amazing. You have a
really crazy story that I want to kind of maybe
here in your own words. Tell me about the Christie's auction. Okay,
so I feel like a lot of people don't even
know what Christie's is like. Honestly, I didn't know what
(04:09):
Christie's was. It's like, I mean it's a massive auction house, right,
so it's like incredible art goes through this place and
they yeah, it's like the kind of thing where, like
if there's a Picasso or like a big sale, it's
probably a Christie's or as southby's. So Christie's is a
big deal for an artist if they get in. And
before I got into Christie's digital art piece that was
(04:31):
by an artist named people sold a digital art piece
for sixty nine million dollars and that was the first
time really in the news and everything, that a lot
of people were talking about just digital art and I
was like, oh, Christie's messages with that, like they like
(04:53):
or I thought they would laugh in my face or something.
So I was talking to my manager and he was like,
by the way, like that six nine million was crazy.
Have you talked to Christie's before? And I was like no,
I didn't know you could just talk to Christie's, like
the biggest auction house in the world. I didn't know
they're accessible like that. He's like yeah, they're emails on
their website. I'm just gonna email them right now. So sick.
(05:16):
It's so indicative, though, of your of your talent. Right
it's like the email is literally on the website. Anybody
can email Christie's and be like hey, I have add
like literally have public information. It's available and the fact
that they replied and we're like, sick, yes, please, is
so crazy and so cool, and how you were really young. Right.
How old are you? Seventeen. I was eighteen. And how
old are you now? You're nineteen. Now I'm nineteen. Oh
(05:39):
my gosh, this is just happened. Still, basically it's okay.
So Christie's emails you back. They're like yes, we're obsessed,
like what's the vibe? Yeah, they're like yeah, you're so cool.
Like people is an older artist and the whole thing
that he sold was years of his art in one
big piece compiled together, and they were like we think
it's really cool. We just did him. You're so young,
(06:02):
like it's this cool like next step of opposition, new
person coming up. Yeah, yeah, and so we get in
a meeting and there's a moment where my manager we're
talking about life. We just got connected, so my relationship
with him was new, and he was like, I was
looking at your instagram, just looking for inspiration, seeing all
(06:24):
the stuff you've done before, and I saw that your
earlier art you signed it Victoria and not Victor and
I've never talked about this with someone before. So there's
a moment where my heart drops and I'm like, Oh
my God, I literally forgot about that. Yeah, WHO's that? Yeah,
I was so involved in like being eighteen, moved out
(06:46):
and just not telling anyone that I'm trans, that I
was like, Oh yeah, like I am trans, like I've
never talked about this, and he was like if you
feel comfortable, is that something you want to talk about?
He was like if you don't want to, we don't
have to talk about that to the public, like that
can be your own, you know, your own journey, and
(07:07):
I was like no, you're so right. Like I grew
up like not seeing that many trans men in the
world and the ones that I did see in like
ad campaigns or whatever, like just visible. It gave me
hope to be alive, honestly, and it was this moment
on the phone with him where my brain clicked and
I was like, yeah, this Christie sale is going to
(07:27):
be about I'M gonna officially come out. Literally, the auction
title for my piece was hello, my name is Victor,
I just got Christ bones all over my body. Oh
my God, I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud
of you. That's so cool. Thank you. And then they
put you in the auction and then you had this
like so it's like a record breaking auction. It's really crazy. Yeah,
so it was five lots, so five different paintings that
(07:50):
we put on there and then, you know, it's just
all online. So my heart's racing. The auction opens. Me
and my whole team are sitting at the laptop refreshing, like,
Oh my God, it's open. And then the site crashes
because you're so lit and everybody is so obsessed with
you and wants your art so bad. Oh my gosh,
and we're like what, Christie's can crash. Everyone's freaking out.
(08:14):
They're like, whoa like y'all care about digital art like that?
My tour has blown up. It was crazy. And then
the traditional art world, people that don't even know that
you can have digital art in an auction house. We're
really confused. They're like what, you crashed the website. How
do you do that? Well, and so it's all of
(08:34):
the art that you made for the Christie's auction particularly.
Is All of that exclusively digital, or was it mixed media?
Is it's like, I know that's something that you have
done in the Pasta is working with physical art and
then n f t s and sort of trying to
combine stuff like what's your for the Christie's one? What
what medium was it? So the original pitch was just
all digital art, but I was like Nah, I want
(08:57):
there to be more. So the main point of the
sale was the digital art piece, but then I was like,
if you win the digital art piece, you also get
a painting that's inspired by that year of my life.
So basically how the sale worked is it was years
of my life fourteen to eighteen, and so year fourteen,
the digital piece was my reflection now at that time,
(09:23):
and then the physical piece I made it so that
it's just all my thoughts at that time. Like it's
like physical versus kind of emotional. Yeah, like the physical
one would say like I feel hopeless, and then the
digital one would say if only you knew how life
could change. I love that. So it's like me hugging
(09:44):
my past self in the digital version. It sounds obviously
like you've really found yourself professionally. You've definitely had this
moment of recognition and a taste of success in this
really in a large, like serious way. Do you feel
more confident because you've had this sort of like external validation,
or are you just like that thing happened. Wasn't that crazy?
(10:04):
I'm still just trying to figure it out. You know,
I think probably both, but I want to hear it
kind of how you feel. So the Christie's, all the
five pieces of Christie, still the total was like a
hundred thousand dollars, like all of it added and you know,
I've never seen money like that. Blew my mind. That's incredible.
But Um, after that happened, it was my first time
(10:27):
in New York too, so I'm just like in this
new city and the biggest thing ever in my life
just happened and it showed my name to beyond my
Internet friends. It's like, oh, like random people know who
I am now and we'll like stop me on the
street and be like Hey, you're that guy that pained that,
and it's like Whoa. And I found myself getting really
(10:49):
sad because it's this thing I've always wanted, like a
city like New York and dollars like what? Like who
doesn't want that? Like on paper, like it's the big dream.
And then I found myself feeling so sad because I
didn't feel like instantly happy. I felt grateful, but like
(11:11):
I thought he would like fix all the problems or
all the trauma, everything that I went through in my life.
I thought it like I would all go away or
something if I reached this or I didn't even think
it was possible to reach something like that at eighteen.
I thought I'd be like forty or like maybe it
would happen after I die to reach that success, and
the fact that it happened like my first year as
(11:32):
an adult. It's crazy. Well, and I think also like
thank you for sharing that so candidly with me. I
really think that, like this is something that I still
really struggle with and I think is very much something
that artists go through all the time. It can be
really hord and it can be really strange to like
have this moment where you're like, I'm supposed to be
feeling like everything is perfect and I've made it in
(11:53):
this moment. Why don't I feel like that? And so
I think the thing I'm I'm trying to work on
at least, and I would love to know how you
feel about this. It's like it's about the experience of
it right, as opposed to like cool, now the artist
finished and now everybody else has to love it or
it doesn't mean something. It's like, no, the whole point
is to be sitting in your studio wherever you make out, like,
doing the art, and then you're like cool, that that
was the experience. Is the actual creation of it. People's
(12:15):
perception of it later. I can't control that pot you know. Yeah,
I feel a lot better now. I feel I'm happy
to I've ever been now, like a year and a
half later. We'd love to hear it, we'd love to
see it. I realized that I don't think I was
actually living in my life, like all these big things
happening and people being like you're in history, blah, blah, blah.
(12:37):
It's like, well, if I'm here now, like, what's going
to happen when I like later, like stuffs being so
excited and and so it's like being anxious. But I
think I forgot that it was my life and that
it's so exciting and like yeah, so much time to explore.
It is your freaking life and you can do whatever
you want with it. It's so true. You get so
(12:59):
caught up and everybody else's perception of you you forget
that you have so much more control than you think
that you do to do exactly what you want be,
whoever you want to be, and I think something that
like is maybe a theme that I may be going
to talk about a lot on this podcast in general,
is just like giving yourself the time and space, especially
as an oddist, especially as a young person, to make
different decisions, like I want that, you know I want more,
(13:21):
but it's odd when you're like no, but that isn't
who I am and I've never been that way and
now I'm afraid it's like no, you get to do
whatever you want and make whatever decision is best for you,
and giving yourself the space and grace to experiment and
like try different things and see if you like it
and see how it feels and then let it go.
I think letting go it is probably the hard part.
I'm about at that part at least. I don't know
(13:41):
about you. Yeah, it's tough and I think looking at
all my favorite artists that went through all these different
eras and experiment and stuff, I would look at it
as like a science of like okay, ten years later
and they did this, and then like try to dissect
it and then I'm like no, they were just they
didn't want to do that last thing anymore. So they
(14:03):
followed their heart and it's like, Oh, you just gotta
the answers. Stopped looking at other people's sciences and like
just Yep, listen to you, like what do you want
to do right now? If you don't want to do that,
don't do it no more. which maybe is like a
good tie into all of this, for like the fact
that this whole podcast is about, you know, being authentic
and trying to find yourself. Like I want to know
sort of about you being so young still and having
(14:26):
such a good head on your shoulders and being in
a really good spot in your life, which I'm so
happy for you. Like what are the tools that you
have cultivated, especially over the last couple of years as
you've come into yourself, you've come out. You seem so
grounded and comfortable with who you are. Like, I guess,
what are some of the tools that helped you get there? Like,
what do you do to take care of yourself? The
(14:46):
first thing I did when I made money was get therapy.
That's so smart. Literally the first thing I was like, wow,
of more than a dollar, I'm gonna invest this. Most
people buy a new car. It's really smart that you
were like I need to. That's just inside work before
I stuff. It's really amazing. Yeah, well, on unfiltered at
(15:09):
the JB'll podcast after a quick break and now back
to the show. I'm always so curious, like do you
when you're working, especially, do you work at night? Do
(15:32):
you work during the day? Do you like to listen
to music? Do you need silence, like what's your process?
Paint the picture for me with your words. Silence is
real hard for me. I don't I don't know how
people sit in silence and relate that. My brain will
just run a million miles a second. I need like
noise to it like puts my thoughts at peace. Or
(15:53):
if I'm painting and I get stuck, I can listen
to a song's lyrics or thinking about like the insture
mental and get caught up in that, on their storytelling,
and then it like makes me feel safe and not
just like it's all on me in a way. Like
I feel like if I want to cultivate a particular mood,
I'll put on other album or just a good playlist
(16:14):
and it's like they're helping me. Amazing. You know, I
often think about so much of add I feel like,
you know, at some point you are making it for yourself, right,
because you have to want to make it for yourself,
to want to make it. So there has to be
some kind of instinctive like I want to do this,
I have a vision for this. And then I think,
especially because then art is meant to be shown or
consumed by and be shared. At some point you also
(16:37):
have to think like, okay, what do I want other
people to feel when they see this or they experience this? Like,
is there a theme to your work? Is it kind
of always different with every piece? Like, do you have
any kind of feelings that you're trying to pull out
of people or share with people when you're creating? I
think it will start with just purely how I feel,
just completely selfish, just pretending an audience doesn't even exist,
(16:59):
and then I'll look at it in a like is
this clear enough? If I'm a stranger that knows no
context about who I am, will you understand the story
I'm trying to tell you, even if the story is
very personal and whatever? And then I'll go in and
I'll change it. I'm getting out of this now, but
I found myself within the last few months now that
I am getting so much success and people are seeing
(17:19):
my art, I found myself feeling like my art needs
to be more polished. But what does that even mean?
And I think I was just scared in a way
to just be myself. And my art does require like
putting tape and gluing paper and you see the glue
and there's Pastel and it looks a little bit, not bad,
(17:42):
but just it's just free. And I was trying to
make all the lines really clean because I thought that
would make it better and nicer. And if I'm getting
to this level like refined or something, yeah, I need
to be more refined. But I realized that's not me.
What am I even doing? I think I was just
seeing other people when I got scared. So I wonder, like,
when you're getting more success in music and stuff, did
(18:04):
you have that moment where you're changing yourself a big time?
Oh my God, that's like all I did for the
first ten years of my career is trying to figure
out how to be everybody else, because that's all you see, right.
I think that's so hard when you're trying to find
your own path, right, because you look around and everybody
else is on their own paths. But you don't know
what your path is yet because you're on it and
you can't see it kind of through the haze of
everything that you're doing. That's kind of where I'm at now,
(18:26):
where I'm like, I think I've been neglecting myself while
trying to figure out how to be everybody else, and
then you're like, actually, nobody can do what I can do. Right,
you have to know that you are special. You have
to know that the thing that you're doing is individual
or like. You know, you want to be contributing something,
(18:46):
you're making art right, you want to stand out, you
want to do the thing that feels like nobody else
could be doing it. This is so me. No one
else could do this thing that I'm doing. I think,
if anything, like draw more outside the lines, like that's
probably the right instinct. You know, you get become more
or yourself, as opposed to I think you're, you said before,
like putting your blinders on kind of and like really
focusing on what you're doing and stopping to not look
(19:08):
around at what everyone else is doing. That's like probably
the key. You're really doing it. Thank you. Do you
ever listen to old music that you made or like
I look at my old paintings and be like why
do I like this more than now? And I'm like, Oh,
because no one knew, like, even though technically I don't
like it, more like conceptually, like something about it was
just so free, and I'm like, oh, that's because I
(19:30):
didn't care about anyone else. It was just me in
my bedroom making this thing and I've been trying to
unlock that again. I don't care, like I'm just having
a good old Tom I think your instincts are really right,
you know what I mean? They're really good to be
like have the feeling or have the thought or have
the fear and then be like wait, this is who
I am. Hindsight again, you're looking at these oddists who
have been dead for a hundred years and you're like, well,
(19:52):
they made every right decision. It's like no, no, they
were just, you know, messing around and trying to figure
out life. And now we look back at it and
you're like, Oh, you had it so figured out. Even
you to yourself two years ago, you're like, I had
it so figured out back then. It's like if you
ask yourself two years ago, you'd be like no, I
don't you know. Okay, you're amazing. I have a couple
(20:12):
more questions for you. I like, I just I'd ever
want to let you go, because I could talk to
you forever. I really want to know. I feel like
you're so confident. That's my perception of you. Oh yeah,
I feel real confident. Yes, this is what we love
to see, because people sometimes they're like you're so confident
and then like I'm really faking it today, like please.
So I love that you're like yes, I'm confident, I'm here.
Were you sort of always born a little bit with that,
(20:33):
like yeah, I'm confident, like this part of my personality,
or did you have to really develop it and kind
of have you arrived somewhere that now you've like I
did all this work to get here. All Right, I'm
about to be honest, be so honest, obsessed. You're safe
with me. I always felt very confident, but my family,
(20:54):
it was really mean and abusive to me and like
would always push me down. But I always is just
like what I make is dope, or like I'll like
draw a little like smiley faced. I'm like this is
the coolest smiley face ever, and not not even that.
I'm better than anyone, but like I'm just the best
me for me right now, when you're celebrating yourself, it
is not taking away from anybody else, and I'm very believable.
(21:16):
I can say I'm dope and not be like I'm
not better. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody that.
I didn't say that. I'm saying I think I'm awesome, exactly. So,
like I always felt that. But then my family wasn't
giving me that energy. So I was starting to feel
like a little bit crazy. I was like, but I
think what I'm doing is cool, like my art is cool,
like I've never seen nothing like it and it's just
(21:36):
so vibrant. Why is all the paintings Beige and I
want to see white, blue and red, and my parents
would be like no, it shouldn't be read it should
be realism. Why are you doing abstract art? And I
was like because it's cool. Like I don't know, I've
always felt that, because I feel it. Yeah, you feel
it's odd, like it's coming from inside of you. I
(21:56):
feel that. Yeah. So, yeah, I've allways felt then and
there are things I've had to work on. But I
was talking to my therapist the other day and I
was telling her about my anxieties in like personal life
and nothing even having to do with art. I didn't
know how to tell her that I feel nervous to
talk to people sometimes. So I was like, I told
her when I'm painting, I feel I don't feel nervous aid. Oh,
(22:18):
I feel like I'm flying. I can just do anything
and even if it doesn't look good or the story
isn't right and I'm frustrated, I don't feel less confident.
I just know that I'm like I can be better
and I want to make it better. And she was
like what is that feeling? When you're painting, like you
should channel that when you're talking to people. You should
channel that and your personal life too, and I was like, Oh,
(22:40):
I can even do this anywhere. Yeah, oh my gosh,
that's a good therapist and that sounds like maybe that
has a lot to do with this place that you're
at in your life or you're feeling really confident and
really happy, like finding the way that you feel. That's
so special and so cool. Okay, well, I always have
believed that, like queerness is magic, like Queer people are joy.
I think that like just what you said made me
(23:02):
think about how like the world is so beige and
queer people in so many ways, people who are different,
people who are other. Are The colors? Are the bright
blue and the red and the vibrants, like do you
feel like your aunt is really kind of like loud
and colorful because you're sort of representing this part of
(23:23):
yourself that is that sort of otherness? Do you feel
like you're is there any kind of purposefulness as far
as it tying into your queerness and being yourself and
being like, I'm different and I don't see the world
in the same way as everybody else? In my aut
has to reflect that. Like, I don't want to put
words in your mouth, I want to know how you feel.
It's so interesting that you said that. I think being
queer gave me like just a different Lens on the world,
(23:47):
seeing like, Oh, why do y'all do it this way,
like why? Why do you feel this way? And then
it's like, I think sometimes I'll paint something not even
thinking about being queer, and then I'll look at it
and be like, Oh, like this, it is very clear
and like has so many other meanings and it's just
so funny what you said is right. I think it's
so cool. It's like your I can see, I mean
(24:08):
when I look at your odd I can feel that
sort of exactly what you said is so correct and
it's so special where you're like why is the World Beige?
I see it differently and I just wanted to be better.
And Art is supposed to reflect the world that you
want to see, sometimes not necessarily the world as it is.
And so you're taking this beige world around you of
not being supported, dealing with abuse and feeling like you
(24:31):
can't compy yourself, and so you're making this ought that's
so in opposition to that, that is so you and
is and having these feelings of like should I change,
and then you're like no, I have to be myself
twice as hot. It's like you're on this such a
beautiful journey and you are the absolute perfect honest for
us to have here on this podcast that is literally
exclusively about being yourself and being authentic. I'm so I'm
(24:53):
leaving this conversation feeling so inspired by you. Thank you. Oh,
I'm so glad. I think there's some about here, or
even if it's a really sad song or the happiest song, like,
whatever it is, you listen and you can if you
just feel that they felt that it transcends no matter
how technically good or how simple the song is, like
you just feel it, it like goes beyond anything. So amazing.
(25:18):
It also goes to show how connected we all are.
Right like all of the stuff that you're talking about,
I'm like, I know, literally know exactly what you mean,
and it's just because I'm a creative person and I'm
an honest and we're all going through so much of
the same stuff all the time. But it feels like
we so often feel like we're so different and like
there's a lot that's different between you and me, first
(25:39):
of all being, you know, the ten year age gap
and minute you know, it's like we have a very
different life in all these ways. But it's like I
totally feel like I see you and can meet you
where you're at and understand what you're talking about and
it's like yeah, because we're all we're all connected, and
is a huge part of what does that. So thank
you for being so candid and honest and sharing yourself
with me today, Victor. I'm so I'm so blessed to
be here with you too has to be stressed. Babe.
(26:03):
I'm just happy to be here. It's nice talking about
art with people. I'm always by myself drawn, so it's like, yeah,
you might art too. Cool. Well, I love your work
and I'm so grateful that we got to spend a
little bit of time. Thank you so much for being yourself.
We're so lucky to have you. Thank you. I want
(26:25):
to say thank you the victor again for joining me today.
The way he is changing the art game is no joke.
It really goes to show how our experiences and self
expression can resonate far beyond our own world. Victor's maturity
and thoughtfulness and spirit really really resonated with me today
and I'm so grateful to be sharing this experience with
you guys. That's it for today's episode, but join me
(26:48):
again next week when we talk about, wait for it,
the art of drag. Oh yes, it's gonna be a
good one, so don't forget to join in on the conversation.
I want to hear from you and know what you
think of the podcast. Who Do you think we should
have on the show? How have you been using your creativity?
Share your thoughts with me on socials, or leave a
rating and review for the PODCAST. Wherever you're listening, you
(27:08):
can always find me on instagram and twitter at Betty who,
and on Tiktok and Youtube at Betty who music. Until
next time, unfiltered. The JBL PODCAST is produced by I
HEART RADIO AND PARTNERSHIP WITH J B l. Our show
is hosted by me, betty who. Our executive producer is
molly sosha. Our EP of post production is Matt Stillo.
Our editor is Sierra spreen. This episode was written and
produced by Sierra Kaiser. Special thanks to our friends at
(27:31):
JB L initiative and Donna
Hey everyone, and welcome back to unfiltered, the JB L podcast,
and I heart radio production in partnership with JB L.
I am your host, Betty who. It's me now. This
podcast is a place to minimize the noise and tune
into authentic and unfiltered conversations about identity, art, self expression
and so much more, and today's episode I couldn't be
(00:27):
more excited about. We have an incredible guest who I
think completely encompasses the idea of living authentically and being
true to yourself. I am so excited to get to
talk to this incredible artist. Yes, I am going to
be joined by an insanely successful rising star in the
art world, Victor Lanois. Using his bold and vibrant work,
(00:48):
he has shared his vision and experiences with the world
across numerous mediums, from vibrant paintings and sculptures to killer
collapse and N F T S. Victor's work has broken
records with Christie Auction House and he has gained global
attention as one of the most popular and ft artists
of his generation. I am so excited to talk to him.
I have so many questions. Let's get to know him
(01:10):
a little better and hear about his incredible journey. Well, Victor,
a k a focious, I'm so happy that you're here
with us today. You have all of these crazy stats
under your belt at this point. Like tell us about
where it all started. Um, I feel like a lot
of little kids just start drawing because it's just a
(01:32):
little kid thing. You get a color and book and crayons,
but I I loved it. You were just really good.
I don't know like other kids, and they knew how
to stay in the lines or they're like, obviously a
fire truck is red, but mine would be like blue,
or I would just pick the wrong colors, whatever that means.
And as I got older, all the other kids gravitated
(01:55):
towards running around the playground and pretending to be fairies
and stuff, but I still wanted a key drawing in
the little coloring books. And then also the coloring books
have worlds, like you get like a spoder man coloring
book or whatever theme Coloring Book, and I love being
immersed in that world. And I think I've never actually
thought about being four and coloring, but now I'm like, yeah,
(02:18):
it kind of where it began. Yeah, like you're in
this world of different creative universes, whether it be superheroes
or princesses whatever, and I think that's where that started.
That's amazing. You work with a bunch of different mediums, right.
What mediums do you love to work with? Where did
you stop and, like, how did you end up where
you are now? So I started first coloring books, then drawing,
(02:41):
then painting a little bit, but then my parents will
be like you can't paint in the house. I was
like okay. So then I went back to drawing and
I was like Hey, Grandpa, can you get me more
color pencils? And he's like no, they're expensive. I can't
just keep buying you art supplies, and I was like
that makes sense. Well, now what I do? And I
found the world of digital art sick. And now there's
(03:05):
ipads where you can just download an APP for like
eight dollars and the apple pencils great, but when I
got into digital art, there wasn't the cool ipads where
it's really nice. When I started, you get it's like
a black plastic thing that you hook up to a
computer and the black plastic thing doesn't have a screen,
so you're drawing on the black plastic thing. But looking
at a screen in front of you and it's very
(03:27):
does not hit your brain right. You're like, I'm drawing
on this thing, but I can't see it. It's really weird.
But uh, I started doing that and that opened my
eyes to Oh, infinite colors, that I don't have to
pay for that, I can make the canvas as big
as I want. I don't have to pay. Canvas is
really expensive. I don't have to pay for that. I
could just make my own worlds. And then, you know,
(03:48):
I'll watch youtube videos and it's like, oh, video is art,
and then music is art. So then it's like everything.
I like all the media's. That's amazing. You have a
really crazy story that I want to kind of maybe
here in your own words. Tell me about the Christie's auction. Okay,
so I feel like a lot of people don't even
know what Christie's is like. Honestly, I didn't know what
(04:09):
Christie's was. It's like, I mean it's a massive auction house, right,
so it's like incredible art goes through this place and
they yeah, it's like the kind of thing where, like
if there's a Picasso or like a big sale, it's
probably a Christie's or as southby's. So Christie's is a
big deal for an artist if they get in. And
before I got into Christie's digital art piece that was
(04:31):
by an artist named people sold a digital art piece
for sixty nine million dollars and that was the first
time really in the news and everything, that a lot
of people were talking about just digital art and I
was like, oh, Christie's messages with that, like they like
(04:53):
or I thought they would laugh in my face or something.
So I was talking to my manager and he was like,
by the way, like that six nine million was crazy.
Have you talked to Christie's before? And I was like no,
I didn't know you could just talk to Christie's, like
the biggest auction house in the world. I didn't know
they're accessible like that. He's like yeah, they're emails on
their website. I'm just gonna email them right now. So sick.
(05:16):
It's so indicative, though, of your of your talent. Right
it's like the email is literally on the website. Anybody
can email Christie's and be like hey, I have add
like literally have public information. It's available and the fact
that they replied and we're like, sick, yes, please, is
so crazy and so cool, and how you were really young. Right.
How old are you? Seventeen. I was eighteen. And how
old are you now? You're nineteen. Now I'm nineteen. Oh
(05:39):
my gosh, this is just happened. Still, basically it's okay.
So Christie's emails you back. They're like yes, we're obsessed,
like what's the vibe? Yeah, they're like yeah, you're so cool.
Like people is an older artist and the whole thing
that he sold was years of his art in one
big piece compiled together, and they were like we think
it's really cool. We just did him. You're so young,
(06:02):
like it's this cool like next step of opposition, new
person coming up. Yeah, yeah, and so we get in
a meeting and there's a moment where my manager we're
talking about life. We just got connected, so my relationship
with him was new, and he was like, I was
looking at your instagram, just looking for inspiration, seeing all
(06:24):
the stuff you've done before, and I saw that your
earlier art you signed it Victoria and not Victor and
I've never talked about this with someone before. So there's
a moment where my heart drops and I'm like, Oh
my God, I literally forgot about that. Yeah, WHO's that? Yeah,
I was so involved in like being eighteen, moved out
(06:46):
and just not telling anyone that I'm trans, that I
was like, Oh yeah, like I am trans, like I've
never talked about this, and he was like if you
feel comfortable, is that something you want to talk about?
He was like if you don't want to, we don't
have to talk about that to the public, like that
can be your own, you know, your own journey, and
(07:07):
I was like no, you're so right. Like I grew
up like not seeing that many trans men in the
world and the ones that I did see in like
ad campaigns or whatever, like just visible. It gave me
hope to be alive, honestly, and it was this moment
on the phone with him where my brain clicked and
I was like, yeah, this Christie sale is going to
(07:27):
be about I'M gonna officially come out. Literally, the auction
title for my piece was hello, my name is Victor,
I just got Christ bones all over my body. Oh
my God, I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud
of you. That's so cool. Thank you. And then they
put you in the auction and then you had this
like so it's like a record breaking auction. It's really crazy. Yeah,
so it was five lots, so five different paintings that
(07:50):
we put on there and then, you know, it's just
all online. So my heart's racing. The auction opens. Me
and my whole team are sitting at the laptop refreshing, like,
Oh my God, it's open. And then the site crashes
because you're so lit and everybody is so obsessed with
you and wants your art so bad. Oh my gosh,
and we're like what, Christie's can crash. Everyone's freaking out.
(08:14):
They're like, whoa like y'all care about digital art like that?
My tour has blown up. It was crazy. And then
the traditional art world, people that don't even know that
you can have digital art in an auction house. We're
really confused. They're like what, you crashed the website. How
do you do that? Well, and so it's all of
(08:34):
the art that you made for the Christie's auction particularly.
Is All of that exclusively digital, or was it mixed media?
Is it's like, I know that's something that you have
done in the Pasta is working with physical art and
then n f t s and sort of trying to
combine stuff like what's your for the Christie's one? What
what medium was it? So the original pitch was just
all digital art, but I was like Nah, I want
(08:57):
there to be more. So the main point of the
sale was the digital art piece, but then I was like,
if you win the digital art piece, you also get
a painting that's inspired by that year of my life.
So basically how the sale worked is it was years
of my life fourteen to eighteen, and so year fourteen,
the digital piece was my reflection now at that time,
(09:23):
and then the physical piece I made it so that
it's just all my thoughts at that time. Like it's
like physical versus kind of emotional. Yeah, like the physical
one would say like I feel hopeless, and then the
digital one would say if only you knew how life
could change. I love that. So it's like me hugging
(09:44):
my past self in the digital version. It sounds obviously
like you've really found yourself professionally. You've definitely had this
moment of recognition and a taste of success in this
really in a large, like serious way. Do you feel
more confident because you've had this sort of like external validation,
or are you just like that thing happened. Wasn't that crazy?
(10:04):
I'm still just trying to figure it out. You know,
I think probably both, but I want to hear it
kind of how you feel. So the Christie's, all the
five pieces of Christie, still the total was like a
hundred thousand dollars, like all of it added and you know,
I've never seen money like that. Blew my mind. That's incredible.
But Um, after that happened, it was my first time
(10:27):
in New York too, so I'm just like in this
new city and the biggest thing ever in my life
just happened and it showed my name to beyond my
Internet friends. It's like, oh, like random people know who
I am now and we'll like stop me on the
street and be like Hey, you're that guy that pained that,
and it's like Whoa. And I found myself getting really
(10:49):
sad because it's this thing I've always wanted, like a
city like New York and dollars like what? Like who
doesn't want that? Like on paper, like it's the big dream.
And then I found myself feeling so sad because I
didn't feel like instantly happy. I felt grateful, but like
(11:11):
I thought he would like fix all the problems or
all the trauma, everything that I went through in my life.
I thought it like I would all go away or
something if I reached this or I didn't even think
it was possible to reach something like that at eighteen.
I thought I'd be like forty or like maybe it
would happen after I die to reach that success, and
the fact that it happened like my first year as
(11:32):
an adult. It's crazy. Well, and I think also like
thank you for sharing that so candidly with me. I
really think that, like this is something that I still
really struggle with and I think is very much something
that artists go through all the time. It can be
really hord and it can be really strange to like
have this moment where you're like, I'm supposed to be
feeling like everything is perfect and I've made it in
(11:53):
this moment. Why don't I feel like that? And so
I think the thing I'm I'm trying to work on
at least, and I would love to know how you
feel about this. It's like it's about the experience of
it right, as opposed to like cool, now the artist
finished and now everybody else has to love it or
it doesn't mean something. It's like, no, the whole point
is to be sitting in your studio wherever you make out, like,
doing the art, and then you're like cool, that that
was the experience. Is the actual creation of it. People's
(12:15):
perception of it later. I can't control that pot you know. Yeah,
I feel a lot better now. I feel I'm happy
to I've ever been now, like a year and a
half later. We'd love to hear it, we'd love to
see it. I realized that I don't think I was
actually living in my life, like all these big things
happening and people being like you're in history, blah, blah, blah.
(12:37):
It's like, well, if I'm here now, like, what's going
to happen when I like later, like stuffs being so
excited and and so it's like being anxious. But I
think I forgot that it was my life and that
it's so exciting and like yeah, so much time to explore.
It is your freaking life and you can do whatever
you want with it. It's so true. You get so
(12:59):
caught up and everybody else's perception of you you forget
that you have so much more control than you think
that you do to do exactly what you want be,
whoever you want to be, and I think something that
like is maybe a theme that I may be going
to talk about a lot on this podcast in general,
is just like giving yourself the time and space, especially
as an oddist, especially as a young person, to make
different decisions, like I want that, you know I want more,
(13:21):
but it's odd when you're like no, but that isn't
who I am and I've never been that way and
now I'm afraid it's like no, you get to do
whatever you want and make whatever decision is best for you,
and giving yourself the space and grace to experiment and
like try different things and see if you like it
and see how it feels and then let it go.
I think letting go it is probably the hard part.
I'm about at that part at least. I don't know
(13:41):
about you. Yeah, it's tough and I think looking at
all my favorite artists that went through all these different
eras and experiment and stuff, I would look at it
as like a science of like okay, ten years later
and they did this, and then like try to dissect
it and then I'm like no, they were just they
didn't want to do that last thing anymore. So they
(14:03):
followed their heart and it's like, Oh, you just gotta
the answers. Stopped looking at other people's sciences and like
just Yep, listen to you, like what do you want
to do right now? If you don't want to do that,
don't do it no more. which maybe is like a
good tie into all of this, for like the fact
that this whole podcast is about, you know, being authentic
and trying to find yourself. Like I want to know
sort of about you being so young still and having
(14:26):
such a good head on your shoulders and being in
a really good spot in your life, which I'm so
happy for you. Like what are the tools that you
have cultivated, especially over the last couple of years as
you've come into yourself, you've come out. You seem so
grounded and comfortable with who you are. Like, I guess,
what are some of the tools that helped you get there? Like,
what do you do to take care of yourself? The
(14:46):
first thing I did when I made money was get therapy.
That's so smart. Literally the first thing I was like, wow,
of more than a dollar, I'm gonna invest this. Most
people buy a new car. It's really smart that you
were like I need to. That's just inside work before
I stuff. It's really amazing. Yeah, well, on unfiltered at
(15:09):
the JB'll podcast after a quick break and now back
to the show. I'm always so curious, like do you
when you're working, especially, do you work at night? Do
(15:32):
you work during the day? Do you like to listen
to music? Do you need silence, like what's your process?
Paint the picture for me with your words. Silence is
real hard for me. I don't I don't know how
people sit in silence and relate that. My brain will
just run a million miles a second. I need like
noise to it like puts my thoughts at peace. Or
(15:53):
if I'm painting and I get stuck, I can listen
to a song's lyrics or thinking about like the insture
mental and get caught up in that, on their storytelling,
and then it like makes me feel safe and not
just like it's all on me in a way. Like
I feel like if I want to cultivate a particular mood,
I'll put on other album or just a good playlist
(16:14):
and it's like they're helping me. Amazing. You know, I
often think about so much of add I feel like,
you know, at some point you are making it for yourself, right,
because you have to want to make it for yourself,
to want to make it. So there has to be
some kind of instinctive like I want to do this,
I have a vision for this. And then I think,
especially because then art is meant to be shown or
consumed by and be shared. At some point you also
(16:37):
have to think like, okay, what do I want other
people to feel when they see this or they experience this? Like,
is there a theme to your work? Is it kind
of always different with every piece? Like, do you have
any kind of feelings that you're trying to pull out
of people or share with people when you're creating? I
think it will start with just purely how I feel,
just completely selfish, just pretending an audience doesn't even exist,
(16:59):
and then I'll look at it in a like is
this clear enough? If I'm a stranger that knows no
context about who I am, will you understand the story
I'm trying to tell you, even if the story is
very personal and whatever? And then I'll go in and
I'll change it. I'm getting out of this now, but
I found myself within the last few months now that
I am getting so much success and people are seeing
(17:19):
my art, I found myself feeling like my art needs
to be more polished. But what does that even mean?
And I think I was just scared in a way
to just be myself. And my art does require like
putting tape and gluing paper and you see the glue
and there's Pastel and it looks a little bit, not bad,
(17:42):
but just it's just free. And I was trying to
make all the lines really clean because I thought that
would make it better and nicer. And if I'm getting
to this level like refined or something, yeah, I need
to be more refined. But I realized that's not me.
What am I even doing? I think I was just
seeing other people when I got scared. So I wonder, like,
when you're getting more success in music and stuff, did
(18:04):
you have that moment where you're changing yourself a big time?
Oh my God, that's like all I did for the
first ten years of my career is trying to figure
out how to be everybody else, because that's all you see, right.
I think that's so hard when you're trying to find
your own path, right, because you look around and everybody
else is on their own paths. But you don't know
what your path is yet because you're on it and
you can't see it kind of through the haze of
everything that you're doing. That's kind of where I'm at now,
(18:26):
where I'm like, I think I've been neglecting myself while
trying to figure out how to be everybody else, and
then you're like, actually, nobody can do what I can do. Right,
you have to know that you are special. You have
to know that the thing that you're doing is individual
or like. You know, you want to be contributing something,
(18:46):
you're making art right, you want to stand out, you
want to do the thing that feels like nobody else
could be doing it. This is so me. No one
else could do this thing that I'm doing. I think,
if anything, like draw more outside the lines, like that's
probably the right instinct. You know, you get become more
or yourself, as opposed to I think you're, you said before,
like putting your blinders on kind of and like really
focusing on what you're doing and stopping to not look
(19:08):
around at what everyone else is doing. That's like probably
the key. You're really doing it. Thank you. Do you
ever listen to old music that you made or like
I look at my old paintings and be like why
do I like this more than now? And I'm like, Oh,
because no one knew, like, even though technically I don't
like it, more like conceptually, like something about it was
just so free, and I'm like, oh, that's because I
(19:30):
didn't care about anyone else. It was just me in
my bedroom making this thing and I've been trying to
unlock that again. I don't care, like I'm just having
a good old Tom I think your instincts are really right,
you know what I mean? They're really good to be
like have the feeling or have the thought or have
the fear and then be like wait, this is who
I am. Hindsight again, you're looking at these oddists who
have been dead for a hundred years and you're like, well,
(19:52):
they made every right decision. It's like no, no, they
were just, you know, messing around and trying to figure
out life. And now we look back at it and
you're like, Oh, you had it so figured out. Even
you to yourself two years ago, you're like, I had
it so figured out back then. It's like if you
ask yourself two years ago, you'd be like no, I
don't you know. Okay, you're amazing. I have a couple
(20:12):
more questions for you. I like, I just I'd ever
want to let you go, because I could talk to
you forever. I really want to know. I feel like
you're so confident. That's my perception of you. Oh yeah,
I feel real confident. Yes, this is what we love
to see, because people sometimes they're like you're so confident
and then like I'm really faking it today, like please.
So I love that you're like yes, I'm confident, I'm here.
Were you sort of always born a little bit with that,
(20:33):
like yeah, I'm confident, like this part of my personality,
or did you have to really develop it and kind
of have you arrived somewhere that now you've like I
did all this work to get here. All Right, I'm
about to be honest, be so honest, obsessed. You're safe
with me. I always felt very confident, but my family,
(20:54):
it was really mean and abusive to me and like
would always push me down. But I always is just
like what I make is dope, or like I'll like
draw a little like smiley faced. I'm like this is
the coolest smiley face ever, and not not even that.
I'm better than anyone, but like I'm just the best
me for me right now, when you're celebrating yourself, it
is not taking away from anybody else, and I'm very believable.
(21:16):
I can say I'm dope and not be like I'm
not better. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody that.
I didn't say that. I'm saying I think I'm awesome, exactly. So,
like I always felt that. But then my family wasn't
giving me that energy. So I was starting to feel
like a little bit crazy. I was like, but I
think what I'm doing is cool, like my art is cool,
like I've never seen nothing like it and it's just
(21:36):
so vibrant. Why is all the paintings Beige and I
want to see white, blue and red, and my parents
would be like no, it shouldn't be read it should
be realism. Why are you doing abstract art? And I
was like because it's cool. Like I don't know, I've
always felt that, because I feel it. Yeah, you feel
it's odd, like it's coming from inside of you. I
(21:56):
feel that. Yeah. So, yeah, I've allways felt then and
there are things I've had to work on. But I
was talking to my therapist the other day and I
was telling her about my anxieties in like personal life
and nothing even having to do with art. I didn't
know how to tell her that I feel nervous to
talk to people sometimes. So I was like, I told
her when I'm painting, I feel I don't feel nervous aid. Oh,
(22:18):
I feel like I'm flying. I can just do anything
and even if it doesn't look good or the story
isn't right and I'm frustrated, I don't feel less confident.
I just know that I'm like I can be better
and I want to make it better. And she was
like what is that feeling? When you're painting, like you
should channel that when you're talking to people. You should
channel that and your personal life too, and I was like, Oh,
(22:40):
I can even do this anywhere. Yeah, oh my gosh,
that's a good therapist and that sounds like maybe that
has a lot to do with this place that you're
at in your life or you're feeling really confident and
really happy, like finding the way that you feel. That's
so special and so cool. Okay, well, I always have
believed that, like queerness is magic, like Queer people are joy.
I think that like just what you said made me
(23:02):
think about how like the world is so beige and
queer people in so many ways, people who are different,
people who are other. Are The colors? Are the bright
blue and the red and the vibrants, like do you
feel like your aunt is really kind of like loud
and colorful because you're sort of representing this part of
(23:23):
yourself that is that sort of otherness? Do you feel
like you're is there any kind of purposefulness as far
as it tying into your queerness and being yourself and
being like, I'm different and I don't see the world
in the same way as everybody else? In my aut
has to reflect that. Like, I don't want to put
words in your mouth, I want to know how you feel.
It's so interesting that you said that. I think being
queer gave me like just a different Lens on the world,
(23:47):
seeing like, Oh, why do y'all do it this way,
like why? Why do you feel this way? And then
it's like, I think sometimes I'll paint something not even
thinking about being queer, and then I'll look at it
and be like, Oh, like this, it is very clear
and like has so many other meanings and it's just
so funny what you said is right. I think it's
so cool. It's like your I can see, I mean
(24:08):
when I look at your odd I can feel that
sort of exactly what you said is so correct and
it's so special where you're like why is the World Beige?
I see it differently and I just wanted to be better.
And Art is supposed to reflect the world that you
want to see, sometimes not necessarily the world as it is.
And so you're taking this beige world around you of
not being supported, dealing with abuse and feeling like you
(24:31):
can't compy yourself, and so you're making this ought that's
so in opposition to that, that is so you and
is and having these feelings of like should I change,
and then you're like no, I have to be myself
twice as hot. It's like you're on this such a
beautiful journey and you are the absolute perfect honest for
us to have here on this podcast that is literally
exclusively about being yourself and being authentic. I'm so I'm
(24:53):
leaving this conversation feeling so inspired by you. Thank you. Oh,
I'm so glad. I think there's some about here, or
even if it's a really sad song or the happiest song, like,
whatever it is, you listen and you can if you
just feel that they felt that it transcends no matter
how technically good or how simple the song is, like
you just feel it, it like goes beyond anything. So amazing.
(25:18):
It also goes to show how connected we all are.
Right like all of the stuff that you're talking about,
I'm like, I know, literally know exactly what you mean,
and it's just because I'm a creative person and I'm
an honest and we're all going through so much of
the same stuff all the time. But it feels like
we so often feel like we're so different and like
there's a lot that's different between you and me, first
(25:39):
of all being, you know, the ten year age gap
and minute you know, it's like we have a very
different life in all these ways. But it's like I
totally feel like I see you and can meet you
where you're at and understand what you're talking about and
it's like yeah, because we're all we're all connected, and
is a huge part of what does that. So thank
you for being so candid and honest and sharing yourself
with me today, Victor. I'm so I'm so blessed to
be here with you too has to be stressed. Babe.
(26:03):
I'm just happy to be here. It's nice talking about
art with people. I'm always by myself drawn, so it's like, yeah,
you might art too. Cool. Well, I love your work
and I'm so grateful that we got to spend a
little bit of time. Thank you so much for being yourself.
We're so lucky to have you. Thank you. I want
(26:25):
to say thank you the victor again for joining me today.
The way he is changing the art game is no joke.
It really goes to show how our experiences and self
expression can resonate far beyond our own world. Victor's maturity
and thoughtfulness and spirit really really resonated with me today
and I'm so grateful to be sharing this experience with
you guys. That's it for today's episode, but join me
(26:48):
again next week when we talk about, wait for it,
the art of drag. Oh yes, it's gonna be a
good one, so don't forget to join in on the conversation.
I want to hear from you and know what you
think of the podcast. Who Do you think we should
have on the show? How have you been using your creativity?
Share your thoughts with me on socials, or leave a
rating and review for the PODCAST. Wherever you're listening, you
(27:08):
can always find me on instagram and twitter at Betty who,
and on Tiktok and Youtube at Betty who music. Until
next time, unfiltered. The JBL PODCAST is produced by I
HEART RADIO AND PARTNERSHIP WITH J B l. Our show
is hosted by me, betty who. Our executive producer is
molly sosha. Our EP of post production is Matt Stillo.
Our editor is Sierra spreen. This episode was written and
produced by Sierra Kaiser. Special thanks to our friends at
(27:31):
JB L initiative and Donna
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