Music artist, Malcolm James McCormick “Mac Miller”, died Sept. 7, 2018, due to an alleged drug addiction overdose, and a local Greensboro artist, Brian Lewis (JEKS) painted a mural in downtown Greensboro.

Lewis decided to paint this artwork to signify how important it is that money and fame do not replace peace and happiness.

“Seeing people go so young from depression and alcohol/substance abuse always hits home. Hold on dearly to whatever keeps you afloat. Rest easy Mac…,” stated Lewis on his Instagram post.

Lewis work is well known in the city of Greensboro. His interest in art and drawing became relevant at a very young age.

Lewis is most known and recognized for his spray-painting. He entered the spray-painting scene as a pre-teen through the art of graffiti in the hip-hop world. With his interest in graffiti, he also had a passion for music.

He took years off of his artistic talent and decided to travel the world as a drummer in a metal band. He took years off of his talent with the paint to travel the world as a drummer in a metal band.

His artistry has grown immensely since then and JEKS returned back to the street art scene a little over a year ago.

Lewis has painted many different murals in many different places, but the one thing they all have in common is purpose; he has a very unique style of artistry, he pours his all into his work.

He applies multiple techniques in order to map out his paintings very precisely; however, his goal is to create pieces that appeal to more than just the eye.

One of JEKS purpose filled murals includes one off of Spring Garden in Greensboro, honoring a friend of his named Joey Deweese who was killed by a drunk driver. With many of his murals, he wants to bring awareness.

The purpose behind the Mac Miller mural was to raise awareness about depression and drug usage. The idea can be concluded using his Instagram caption in which he states that cases such as Miller’s really hit home for him. Despite all of the money and fame that Miller had, he still wasn’t at peace with his life.

As JEKS continues to amaze people artistically, he will continue to raise awareness through these very intricate and detailed murals.