EMERY LAMBUS is self-taught painter and shock artist from Phoenix, Arizona. He has been a street artist for three decades and now works on the streets of Old Pasadena to earn enough for food and art supplies. His art styles include oil, acrylic, and colored pencils - most of his works tend to be combinations of these styles. Though Lambus suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, he has learned to live with these mental challenges and often incorporates their symptoms into his art. 

 

As a child, Lambus was precocious and always interested in tools and art, but he grew up in the 1950s, when society was still struggling with racism. Many tried to hinder his potential and growth through unequal treatment or worse. His father, Alfred C. Lambus was a technical sergeant of the US Air Force. His mother was murdered, in front of Emery, by those who were against his father’s presence in the air force. The sight is one of the many traumas that haunts Emery til this day. 

 

Emery refuses to be disparaged. He matures from the “school of hard knocks” and sees art as the beacon of sanity and happiness. Emery also fought against racism by participating in the civil rights movement, and today, he often does portraits of black historical heroes who strived for equality.