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rowing up an only child combined with moving from place to place means small hands must be kept busy. For Chris Galley, of Devil Chicken Design, the obvious thing for him to turn to was creating art. With a pencil and some paper, anything was possible. It also served as a way for him to make friends at new schools. If kids see you drawing something cool, they generally gather around to check it out. Eventually, it led to students asking for art for school projects, and in high school, kids were asking for custom stick-n-poke tattoos. Even from his youngest years, people have sought outand supported his work, which increased his confidence, sense of self-belonging, and motivated him to keep pushing forward. As his art progressed, Chris made a conscious decision to switch up his approach. He wanted to take everything he was good at or wanted to learn and put it all into the art he was creating. In one of his pieces, you can find February ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
Article By: Amelia “Killer” Rose
multiple mediums including markers, collage, spray paint, acrylic and wheat paste. In my opinion, the best part of his hodge-podge style is that he didn’t care what anyone thought. If he liked it, it was a good piece, and I feel that more artists should have that mentality when creating their work. Another thing he does differently than most artists is that he tries to make his graphics look like digital printouts when in reality they’re hand drawn. He uses things like old boards and makes them look years older, covered in layers of posters and flyers. For Chris, the various materials and medium give the work structure as well as drive the story. His background in the arts is what Chris feels sets him apart from other artists in our industry. With a traditional foundation in media and an art degree, his first steps in the industry were nthrough art galleries and group shows as opposed to most other artists who are self-taught or came up through apprenticeships. The best part is that at the end of the day, they always fit together with
their work, the only difference being perspectives and styles. Most of the people he’s closest with met him through motorcycle shows and each city he has visited greeted him with amazing and supportive people. “It’s pretty easy to hit it off when you get around people you have so much in common with. This industry is full of talented and creative people who are always willing to share. It’s pretty incredible.”- Chris Galley As to how he became a part of the moto-art industry, it was the people that drew him in. Not to mention his business, Devil Chicken Designs first started out in the industry six years ago at a local gallery in Buffalo, NY. Since then, he has pretty much been running things from the road which has allowed him to not only travel cross country but overseas. His reasoning for going mobile is that he didn’t want to wait for an audience to happen upon him, he was going to find them first, and the motorcycle industry seemed like a logical connection between his art and theaudience he was looking for.
