For more than 25 years, London-based artist, Arthur, has been brightening up city streets with his joyful graffiti style. Now, his contemporary take on abstract expressionism has caught the eye of the art world, and is making serious waves.
Fresh from his successful solo show earlier in 2023, we’re delighted to welcome Arthur to the gallery.
In today’s blog, we’re introducing you to this exciting new artist and discovering how he continues to pay homage to the graffiti scene in the new series of original works that are available exclusively at Enter Gallery now.
Who the Fuck is Arthur?
Back in June, Arthur hosted his debut solo show, Who the Fuck is Arthur? The Camden show marked a key transition for the artist, from street to gallery, and according to Arthur, was all about honouring the culture which first helped his artistry to flourish:
“Who the fuck is Arthur was all about paying homage to the graffiti culture that made me who I am. The style you see now is directly-influenced by the hand-style of my graffiti. That’s the term used to describe someone’s tags. Their little flairs and nuances like the underline, the crown, the exclamation mark – all of the little nuances that make a piece unique to the artist.
I always knew that the illustrative side of graffiti was my archetype. I wanted to nurture that part of me, because I liked the fact that it allowed me to express myself. The work I do now is directly related to that upbringing.”
Street Smarts
Running parallel to his graffiti, Arthur deepened his expertise by studying typography and illustration, and training as a graphic designer in a studio job where he also accrued the digital tricks of the trade.
It was these years spent working in branding and graphic design that make Arthur the master at getting people’s attention that he has become. Speaking of those years, he reveals:
“I learnt such a broad spectrum of digital skills. I was still painting but graffiti hadn’t quite reached its peak in those days – people were still going to jail for it. Learning how to do things like create really detailed vector art, which was cool because it was so precise, has really fed back into my art.”
Energetic, alive and undeniably-reminiscent of the work of graffiti icon, Keith Haring, Arthur explains:
“My work is in your face, really vibrant, eye-catching, energetic – but also stripped down and simple. Like Keith, I don’t over-complicate things. Within the graffiti community people can instantly recognise my style even if I haven’t signed it, by my hand-style and my choice of colours. You won’t see me using muted colourways. Bright colours have always been my thing.”
Carnival Kid
Over the years, Arthur has lent his designs to everything from campaigns for household names like Adidas and Ecko Unltd, to festival signage and the walls of the Big Brother House. It was while working at a musical festival in Croatia in 2014 that Arthur first freestyled the style of designs that we see in his new collection:
“I’d been employed to go there and paint four seven-foot tall four-sided pyramids, and I spent about 5 or 6 days doing it. I had no plan, it was all freestyle. I only had a small amount of paint, so I started experimenting, and I liked what I saw. My friend asked me whether this is the stuff I see in my head and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a direct download from my brain. Something felt right, so it is the work that I have ended up pursuing. It came from a happy accident, and I just decided to run with it.”
New Perspective
Alongside his unique use of colour and shape, there is another element of Arthur’s artistic practice that makes it all the more special – his use of Perspex. Each of the shapes that make up his designs are cut from the material, before being spray painted, and slotted back together like a puzzle.
“I started using Perspex about seven or eight years ago, when a space I used to go to had a laser cutter that caught my eye. At the time, I was using illustrator to create vector graphics and I discovered this machine could make sharp Perspex cuts.”
“Spray paint takes well to Perspex. You can layer it up, create a bit of three dimension and depth. There’s loads to experiment with, like different gradients and finishes. After all my work in branding, graphic design, festival production and in particular sign-making and installations, I feel like Perspex is the right material to use to combine all of those elements and years of experience into one medium. Perspex allows me to create a super high-end, easily-executed artwork, which works perfectly with my style. It’s not so good when you lose small clear bits of Perspex on the studio floor, but that’s part of it!”
Flow State
With a solo show and five group shows in 2023 alone, it’s clear the ideas are flowing, and Arthur speaks with excitement about experimenting with making more of the unframed freeform 3D sculptures that we see in Borderline and Loosen Up.
“I’m proud of my work, it’s taken me blood, sweat and tears. Over the last 20 years, I’ve studied the industry, and I’ve got plenty of things wrong. I’ve done so many different jobs. I was an estate agent. I’ve been a sandwich maker. Anything you can think of! I’ve done all these jobs to facilitate art, and that’s fine, because that’s how things work. For me, it’s taken years to substantiate my career but the journey has been worth it. It’s been very cool to see so many people connect with it, and to show and sell my work.”
We’ve seen where Arthur comes from. Now, we can’t wait to see where he’ll take it next, and how he’ll put his unique stamp on the art world.
A series of originals works from Arthur are now available at Enter Gallery. Shop the collection.
