B Scene Zine

B Scene Zine

May, 2023.

Espressoism Jo Tixe, the EV's hottest new artist talks art and her twisted obsession.

PLUS: 10 other emerging EV artists, the nabe's newest gallery, art on wheels, embracing fake art, the lost weekend

Jo Tixe's Buzz Jo had always been fascinated with coffee. The aroma of freshly brewed espresso, the sound of milk frothing, the steam rising from a cup - it was all so captivating to her. She would spend hours sitting in coffee shops, sketching the various cups she saw, trying to capture their unique qualities. Eventually, she realized that her true passion lay not in coffee, but in the cups themselves.

She started to experiment with different mediums, trying to create the perfect image of a Tixe Cup - a name she had given to her imaginary coffee cups. She used watercolors to capture the translucency of the porcelain, spray paint to create bold, graphic designs, ink to make delicate line drawings, fabric to give texture, and stencils to add patterns.

Her small apartment in the East Village quickly became a cluttered, chaotic workspace, filled with stacks of paper, jars of paint, and rolls of fabric. But amidst the mess, Jo found her creative flow.

She would spend hours working on a single piece, experimenting with different techniques and colors until she felt she had captured the essence of the Tixe Cup. As her portfolio grew, Jo started to share her work on social media, and soon, she began to gain a following. Her Tixe Cups caught the attention of art critics and collectors alike, and she was featured in several magazines, including Artist Closeup and Retne.

Despite her growing success, Jo remains humble and grounded. She continues to create her Tixe Cups in her small apartment, always striving to push her artistic boundaries. And though her work could become more and more valuable, she keeps her prices low, wanting to make her art accessible to anyone who appreciates it.

Jo believes her Tixe Cups have limitless potential and many collectors seem to agree; her works sell out almost as fast as she can create them.

“I’m going to keep going until Tixe Cups become a staple in the art world,” she said in an interview with B Scene Zine. “I love the fact that my Tixe Cups are both ever-changing and constant. I make them using all different media, colors and technique, but at the same time there is consistency. I always use the same cup, the same size, just a little smaller than life-size. So they are both the identical and different at the same time. And that’s my artistic statement,” she said.

But no matter how famous she may become, Jo vows never to forgot her humble beginnings as a young artist, sitting in coffee shops, sketching the cups that would one day define her career.