Andres Delgado was living in Europe, on track to become a professional soccer player, when another dream took hold. He was starting to make a little coin doing what he loved, one league away from the big time. But paint had bigger plans.
“You can be an adult and do art?” Delgado remembers asking himself after a friend gifted him a six-pack of spray cans while he was still living in his home state of Florida. He now paints murals and large-format canvases for curated gallery shows full of dense ideation and well-thought-out concepts. His oeuvre has been growing since he moved to Denver in 2019. He can now be found on walls throughout the city and is planning a live painting event with BRUTO chef Byron Gomez later this month. A gallery show displaying nine new original works is also set to debut in August.
Delgado works under the name VYPR Art. If it sounds a bit like a brand, that’s because it started that way. In 2012, Delgado and his friends Kyle Eichhof and Jesse Ellis came up with the idea for VYPR, originally devising it as an action sports clothing line akin to RVCA or Billabong. It stands for Vibing, Young People Reacting and has several associated mantras. “It’s about the balance of opposites,” said Delgado. “If we surround ourselves with good people, good things happen. I told myself I was going to live by this message and see what grows.” When Eichhof passed in 2014 it propelled Delgado to take his life, and ultimately VYPR, in a different direction.
Delgado started building his artistic identity in Leeds, England. “I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. What else do I want to do other than soccer?” he thought. He started with simple tags but quickly expanded. He cites Miami’s Wynwood Walls and the work of DOES, a fellow professional soccer player turned artist, as his biggest inspiration.
Food is another fundamental underpinning of Delgado’s work. During his last show, a 2022 display of nine canvases under the name Analogue, Delgado tapped Xatrucho Concepts‘ Edwin Sandoval to create a series of dishes that matched the works. All nine paintings sold out, as roughly 35 guests enjoyed small plates that went along with the work. “I gave Edwin full creative freedom,” said Delgado, adding that the canvases were made to match the colors of the chakras.
It was this urge to connect different mediums, along with a dash of serendipity, that ultimately connected Delgado and Gomez. “I remember being asked, ‘Have you ever heard of Byron Gomez?’” said Delgado. This was during a 2022 visit Delgago took to Costa Rica, when Gomez was enjoying some growing acclaim after his 2020 appearance as a contestant of Top Chef. Delgado was hitchhiking to the beach, and the driver who picked him up, proud to see a Costa Rican chef shine, introduced him to Gomez’s work. After scrolling the chef’s Instagram, Delgado found a plate that inspired him. “I was enamored by the plate. I got back to Colorado and I painted an abstract piece with the same color pallete as the dish,” continued Delgado. Referring the country as a big source of inspiration, Delgado has since returned and purchased a rental property that he uses as an international art gallery to display his works. Guests receive a VYPR t-shirt while booking and get to experience five of Delgado’s pieces littered throughout the jungle locale.
On May 18, Delgado and Gomez will host a special dinner at Hey Kiddo, where Gomez will serve Costa Rican-style rotisserie chicken as Delgado live paints and displays his work. The event is a benefit for No Kid Hungry. Delgado’s next show, Blank Canvas, will be on display for one night only on Friday, August 1, at Skylight on Santa Fe.
Check out more of Delgado’s work here.
Byron Gomez: Pollo Tico for No Kid Hungry takes place on May 18 at Hey Kiddo (4337 Tennyson St #300, Denver) at 5 p.m., tickets are available here.
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