Mr Controversial has been mentioned as the “one to watch” when it comes to rising artistic talent in the UK. He is hot off the back of multiple sell-out exhibitions and collections and has amassed a solid collector base that includes established collectors and a few well-known celebrities. Early on in his artistic career he raised eyebrows and quickly became known for his twist of vintage pulp imagery with funny, relatable captions. Most recently, the artist has been working on his new typographical oil paintings which are equally as bold, witty and riddled with truisms that we can all relate to. Due to the sharable nature of his work, it often goes viral and he aims to hit the sweet spot between social media viral content and contemporary fine art. From his new collection, you can expect oil paintings with deep textures, vibrant colours satirical messages which the artist will be releasing through a handful of entrusted selected galleries globally.
Drawing from his professional experience in the advertising industry working on campaigns for a variety of brands, his work is born out of a passion for crafting engaging visuals, communication through design, behavioural science and marketing psychology; understanding the science behind the things we buy, buy into and /or share. On a lighter note, he pokes fun at problems that arise from the digital age and personal frustrations of the social media obsessed world we live in. Relatability, shareability and storytelling are now the foundations of his own artwork and no longer advertising campaigns for brands.
When describing his work Mr Controversial says; “Each piece should be instantly relatable to the viewer, as if you have stumbled upon something that hits the nail on the head of your own everyday life, making the ordinary extraordinary & hilariously absurd. I want to create art that speaks to people on a personal level (the inner you) as if I know something about them that nobody else does. Behind the beautiful imagery is a dark story about yourself, just waiting to be discovered”.
When asked about his artistic process; “When I’m not creating in my London studio, I spend many hours in my favourite coffee shops sketching out ideas and wrestling with concepts that have been rattling around in my head. Many people come in and out throughout the day and I like to earwig in on conversations, deconstruct them, and almost psychoanalyse them. I then put them back together with a funny twist and use that as a basis for a piece of art, I then set about creating the imagery around the caption. A lot of my work is based on conversations I’ve personally listened in on or things I’ve seen on social media posts or comments. I always try to find a funny angle, especially with stuff that’s often quite dark. I have a fearless approach to my work, whether that’s taking the piss out of oat milk drinkers, social media influencers, online dating or our own insecurities that rattle around in our minds fuelled by advertising, consumerism and capitalism.
In a world where nothing is truly original, I can only create art that is authentic to me. I guess that’s what makes your art truly valuable. My work, my ideas, my worldview, my commentary on the world we live in. I believe great artists are commentators and a voice of the times in which they create, their work serves as a snapshot and a window into that specific time in history for future generations to make sense of when they look back.
… In the year 2123 when someone comes across a piece from my 2023 collection entitled; ‘Oat Milk Drinking Twat’ (in either a museum or a skip depending on how successful my art career was), they’ll hold it up as a turning point in milk consumption, shifting consumer attitudes towards mass industrial farming and realise that this beautifully branded crushed oat juice was the trojan horse in the rise of veganism, putting it in nearly every fridge in the UK… well, hopefully.