Devon Rodriguez, 30, is an emerging big shot in the art world. With an accolade from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and a memoir under his belt, he regularly sits down to sketch household names like Jennifer Lopez and Robert De Niro for an audience of over 40 million followers online. Yet, every time he picks up a pencil, he is reminded of the harsh circumstances he grew up in—and an arrest at just 14—that led him down this unique path.
Though he wants fans of his art to know childhood circumstances do not have to determine where people end up, he also does not want people to characterize him as a "perfect," squeaky-clean, rags-to-riches success story. Rodriguez, now skilled in portrait paintings, was born in the South Bronx, to a family struggling financially in a deprived part of the city. He has described his childhood as being marked by an abusive mother and a largely absent father, circumstances that shaped much of his early years.
He turned to art as an escape, finding inspiration in the art form he was surrounded by—graffiti. But after getting confident with canisters, he was quickly arrested for vandalism. Despite "young offenders" being thought of as having a heightened risk for future crime, Rodriguez decided to take what had landed him in that position and move forward.
"After the arrest for vandalism, I began taking art more seriously and shifted toward portraiture," Rodriguez told Newsweek. Today, he is a visual artist and content creator known for painting the people he encounters in everyday life—most famously, strangers he meets while riding the subway. For years, he documented those encounters online, under @devonrodriguezart, after which he rose to fame.
Rodriguez's path to acclaim was neither instant nor straightforward. He grew up navigating difficult family dynamics, a home life he has said fueled his early pull toward the streets. His first brushes with art were also his first brushes with the law, as a teenager tagging the same city blocks he was raised in.
The arrest, however, became an unlikely turning point. "I was initially rejected from the High School of Art and Design, but with encouragement and persistence I eventually earned my way in, graduating in 2014," he said. "I continued studying art and developing my work, including at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and later received recognition from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, becoming an Outwin finalist in 2019." That recognition marked a dramatic shift for a kid who had once been rejected from the very art school that would go on to shape his craft.
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