Datzel, whose real name is David, is a Mexican artist based in Guadalajara known for a dark, mysterious visual style built around black as a signature color. Self-taught in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop after starting as a graphic designer in 2017, he later added After Effects, Blender and Cinema 4D to his practice.
His piece PLACEBO, minted in 2021, shows a young man in dark formal attire seated in a meditative pose in a forest at night, with a mysterious entity emerging from a nearby tree. Datzel has said he drew on the German painter Caspar David Friedrich for the work's background, combining that aesthetic with his own style. He described his process as often starting without a clear plan, aiming for results that feel bizarre and break with reality and the monotonous.
