#urbancontemporaryart

I’m releasing this print as part of a campaign to raise funds for the people of Ukraine… full details below.

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Print details:

Title - Vergiss

Details - Giclee print on 314 gsm, 100% Acid Free Cotton Fibre paper. Matte Finish/Textured Surface

Size - 12x 16.5 in

Price - 85 EUR (shipping included)

Timed open edition (72 hours beginning 10am GMT Saturday March 26th)

To purchase go to -

https://alwaysart.com/Ukraine/FinDAC (see link in bio) and enter Voucher Code: 3418KH9D

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During checkout, there is an ‘additional donation’ spot as well as opportunities to add prints from the other artists… every little will help. The biggest additional donation will receive a large signed, 1/1 version of my print with another additional donation receiving a 1/1 print from WRDSMTH.

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Model/muse - @vanesacodes

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Campaign details:

A timed open edition print release by myself and some other artist friends to help fundraise for the people suffering through the war in Ukraine.

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The full list is myself, @wrdsmth, @zoueh_skotnes, @nunoviegas.pt, @dimafatum, @alessia_iannetti, and @paolopedroni.

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All net profits (minus materials, credit card fees, and shipping fees) will go towards the campaign. All labor, fulfillment, and printing has been donated by @straatmuseum, @dorothycircus, @realalwaysart, and @monochronicle_network which will maximise donations.

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NB: Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks to fulfill orders.

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This latest commission was a small part of a mural I painted in 2016 in Venice Beach, CA.

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It was one of the first pieces I did where I added an ‘appendage’ to the wall: an element to extend the artwork beyond the confines of the wall itself.

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In this case it was a ply panel cut out in the shape of the head to extend the figure above the wall height.

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I also painted on to an adjacent window to extend width ways so that piece literally popped off the wall.

My latest commission sketch is based on a mural that very few people have ever seen… and never will.

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It was one of 3 indoor pieces painted a few years ago for my friends at @nagai.ibiza at a new location @nagai.gurgaon in a suburb of Delhi, India.

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Alas the business is no longer operational so I’ve no idea what happened to the installed pieces.

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But you can still see the numerous exterior walls I’ve painted at @nagai.ibiza if you take a trip to the White Isle.

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My latest commission sketch is from a mural I painted in Breda, Holland in 2016 (I think?) with my buddies @nolart and @edorath.

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As my very tall, Dutch lookalikes painted in the background of my central figure, I felt it was only right to tip my cap to them in this sketch by including their art in the kimono.

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Slowly getting back into the swing of things… although I doubt I’ll start any new paintings until the new year.

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For now it’s just some small commissions and odds and ends to see to.

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I enjoyed doing the sketches for my show so much that I was for sure intending on them being a mainstay of my work going forward.

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So the fact that a small handful of friends requested commissions meant I had an excuse to use December as the month to fulfil those requests.

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And so… to the final piece and maybe my last post about Afterglow/Undertow.

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And it’s an apt one because the ‘Killer Instinct’ full size bronze bust really was the show-stopper.

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It took pride of place in the centre of the gallery and, in spite of the artworks on the walls, was the ‘piece de resistance’ for the whole show in my opinion.

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People’s reaction to it will be forever engrained in my memory. Fingers crossed the many planned future bronze works will have the same impact.

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An edition of 10 (each with a different colour mask), this turquoise version is headed to New Jersey to the home of one of my most avid collectors.

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This 18” full length bronze maquette was an idea borne from the numerous false starts and failed attempts of developing a resin figurine.

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But it was definitely all worth it in the end… even just to see the look on @meglall’s face when she came face to face with it.

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Seeing the finalised piece (as well as the full size bust) made us realise that we definitely had to do a full length, full size one as soon as possible.

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An edition of 10 (each in a different colourway), 2 sold at the show and a third is being discussed… as well as one for my own shelves at home

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Even before I started planning Afterglow/Undertow, I knew that, as I did for my solo show in 2017, I wanted to include another mosaic from my friends at @musivaria_mosaics_italy.

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And what an absolute masterpiece they produced.

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Based on a painting that I produced while on a road trip in the US in 2019, ‘Varennes’ was one of the first ‘Marie Antoinette’ style pieces that I painted. And it was the first time I painted Aisha… a friend’s model daughter.

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The piece was bought by one of my biggest collectors and is heading to his home in Deutschland.

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This stained glass lightbox produced by @annahitahessami was intended to hang in the gallery window as the first thing that attendees would see.

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It was based on a mural I’d painted in 2020 on the front of @jgcontemporary gallery in Acton, which, as I think I’ve mentioned, spawned the idea/concept for the ‘Fleur’ series of works in the show.

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This particular design was meant to be painted as part of the series but I only remembered it after I’d painted 6… which was the full intended number.

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One of the newest muses to be added to my work, I had painted Alessandra back in 2019 while I was staying at a friends studio in California.

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So, technically, I shouldn’t have included her in this series. But, as I was the one who made the rules, I felt I could break them too‍♂️☺️.

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I’m not sure that anyone noticed but, my plan for the show was for each of the 24 original pieces to be a different model/muse.

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Only when I’d finished everything did I realise that I’d mistakenly painted one model twice‍♂️‍♂️.

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This piece is headed to Switzerland.

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Linda was another model who I’d never painted on canvas prior to this show.

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I painted her twice on the exact same wall in the space of 3 years for the @slovakiastreetartfestival but, neither of those designs were ever recreated as a studio piece in spite of me having plans to do so.

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The first of those designs was included in the show ‘sketch’ gallery. But it was pleasing to be able to include her for this series as well.

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This piece is heading to a new home in Canada

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A face I painted for the first time way back in 2014 but for some reason didn’t become a regular in my work.

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I had reconnected with Jade to let her know I was including her in the show as one of the ‘sketch pieces’ but decided very quickly to include her in this series too.

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It was a good decision as this is my favourite from the ‘Fleur’ series.

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This piece is headed just down the road to the garden of England… Kent

Because the focus of this series was simply about the face and the eyes, it enabled me to include a lot of women whose heritages/ethnicities I’d previously found hard to depict respectfully within the context of type of work I had been doing.

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Anna was another model I’d connected with a long time ago but had never found the right design in order to paint her.

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This piece found a new home in Pennsylvania, USA

Early on I decided that this series should only include models/faces that I’d never painted before or had painted very rarely.

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It gave me the opportunity to include faces that I’d wanted in my work for a while but just previously couldn’t make fit.

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This piece was of a young Dutch model who had worked with @itspaulaalmeida and whose mum I’d spoken to about potentially painting.

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The original photo was taken by Dutch portrait photographer @annewfotografie

The ‘Fleur’ series of works was derived from a shop front painted in Acton, West London for @jgcontemporary last summer.

- I created a whole load of canvas designs based around these ‘landscape style’ proportions.

- This first one was a new model/face (which became a thing for the series) but someone I’d been speaking to about including in my work for years.