Performing Arts - Dance, Comedy, and Theater.
Visual Arts - Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photograghy
Literary Arts - Prose
Derek Pentz is a comedic drag performer, pop culture writer, expressionist painter, and pop artist. As a graduate of Towson University's theater program, Derek studied reality television's theatrical and societal relevance while developing his Kennedy Center Collegiate Theater Festival-winning drag persona Zenobia Darling. Derek has exhibited in art exhibitions and performed in drag shows/comedy clubs in Baltimore, Washington, DC, New York City, Los Angeles, and Cape Town. Derek's studio is in Havre de Grace, MD but is relocating to the Arts District of Las Vegas, NV.
After seeing a Claude Monet exhibit in first grade, Derek taught himself to paint by watching Bob Ross VHS tapes in his grandfather's woodshop. This hobby turned into a tool for healing when Derek turned to Art Therapy and painting to aid with healing from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and managing recovery from an eating disorder. While studying performing art at Towson University, Derek worked with therapeutic art nonprofits, teaching graffiti and theater in both South Africa and Baltimore, in addition to studying art and theater's intersectionality through the 20th century.
Derek's painting style concentrates on mixed media Neo-Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism, all with bright neon colors and glitter exploring themes of mental health, trauma, pop culture, the paranormal, and drag celebrity through the lens of an eccentric and spooky queer creative. Galleries that have exhibited Derek's work include Mid-Atlantic Artists in Havre de Grace, MD; TAG gallery in Los Angeles, CA; and The Butterfly Art Project in Cape Town, South Africa. Derek's self-published three-act solo performance/coffee table art book, #RockStarLife: Diary of Zenobia Darling Punk Rock Drag Superstar, is available on Amazon.
Derek's work can be found at:
Zenobia Darling Creative, 110 Wilson Street, Havre de Grace, MD 21078
Artists' Emporium, 220 N. Washington Street, Havre de Grace, MD 21078
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Baker Artist Portfolio
#RockStarLife
