Why "Sinned"? We all have  fought wars and made miracles happen. Saints and Deviants is about capturing each unique side of who we are, the human race. Azul's work explores the relationship between the human condition by means of sexuality, culture, and street knowledge through photography. With influences as diverse as Lucien Clergue,  Jose Clemente Orozco and Gronk. He thrives to create imagery that tells a story through combinations are created from both traditional and modern layers. Azul has studied with Greg Gorman who is an American portrait photographer of Hollywood celebrities. His work has been seen in national magazine features and covers, including Esquire, GQ, Interview, Life, and Vogue. Azul has also studied with Brooke Shaden whose works to create new worlds within her photographic frame. By using painterly techniques as well as the square format, traditional photographic properties are replaced by otherworldly elements. Brooke's photography questions the definition of what it means to be alive. These influences are seen in Azul's work. 

These are but three words that one can use to describe Azul DelGrasso. Azul’s art speaks to history, politics, and social justice, yet seeks to push boundaries and inspire new ways of looking at life and art.
Azul’s artistic journey began as a teen with graffiti and tagging in the barrios of Denver and New York City. These early days in the streets taught him well, but left him questioning his own roots and their influence on his life and his art. He packed his bags and embarked on a long journey to explore his Mexican and Italian roots. He first found his way to Guadalajara, Mexico where he studied with well-known Mexican painter Alberto Ortiz in Jocotepec, Jalisco. Alberto taught Azul the value of observing the indigenous roots of Mexico but allowing the art to invite the community to take part in the process of creation. It was also the influences of local Denver mentors and icons such as Ramon DelCastillo, Corky Gonzalez, and others who further inspired Azul to embrace this approach. In New York City, Azul got his start in street art from wheat pasting to subway cars.

From 2002 - 2005 Azul experimented with the concept of digital art which he coined “Chicano Digitalism.” Defined as the pure expression of any artistic emotion created and transformed by modern technology utilizing drawing, photography, film, music, three-dimensional imagery, sculpture, web design, poetry and performance art, Chicano Digitalism aimed to speak to Mexican Americans of today. Through this medium, he sought to better capture icons such as Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo, Pancho Villa and Emilio Zapata in a new light, but simultaneously allowing greater freedom to identify new heroes and revolutionaries.

In 2006, he co-founded L.A. Burlesque. Over the course of the next four years, LA Burlesque documented striptease performers in Los Angeles through photography, talent management and show production. Although Azul’s focus was the production side of the business and never picked up a camera, he had no idea how being around so many photographers would influence his artistic expedition.

Working in HIV prevention since 1996, Azul was given an opportunity to take part in a nation-wide tour to conduct free HIV screenings. A week before he left, Azul decided to pick up a camera to document his journey through 48 states. Over the next 236 days he photographed people who not only worked in the fight against HIV/AIDS but also those living with the disease on a daily basis. As cliché it is to say, “the camera found me, I didn’t find the camera”, this is truly the case in the artwork of Azul today. Since then, photography has been his prime medium, capturing the stories of human experience through portraiture. A native of Denver, Colorado, Azul graduated with a Masters in Latin American Studies at the University of California in East Los Angeles, his focus Latin American Art.