Rayen Portus -

Critics have called it "terrorist art" (a label Portus wears as a badge of honor), while environmental groups have used the series to successfully lobby for two emissions disclosure laws in the European Union. Unlike many artists who keep their politics at arm's length, Portus lives their message. In early 2024, they were arrested alongside Indigenous water protectors in Minnesota during a peaceful blockade of a mining access road. The mugshot—featuring Portus wearing a hand-painted suit covered in tiny mirrors—became a meme and a manifesto.

Keep your eyes on Portus. When history looks back at the climate and culture wars of the 2020s, this is the artist who will likely be standing in the center of the photograph, covered in paint and dust, refusing to smile for the camera. rayen portus

Portus’s response was characteristically blunt: they live-streamed themselves taking a sledgehammer to one of their own early sculptures on Instagram, titling the video “Mediocre Painting, Perfect Firewood.” Currently residing in a converted fire station in Detroit, Portus is working on their first feature-length film, tentatively titled “We Who Dig Wells.” Details are scarce, but insiders describe it as a silent film set in a flooded Miami, featuring a score composed entirely of field recordings from endangered coral reefs. Critics have called it "terrorist art" (a label

On the surface, the paintings look like romanticized landscapes. Under UV light, however, the hidden chemical compounds—benzene, toluene, hydrogen sulfide—emerge as violent reds and necrotic yellows. The series went viral after a TikTok video showed a gallery-goer breaking down in tears upon seeing the "true" image of the air they breathe. titling the video “Mediocre Painting