Retrospective Original Works
The intention for 2019 was to have fun with my art and to focus on good old-fashioned nostalgia and have a break from my much darker, intense and emotionally challenging subjects and interpretations.
Lost in Hollywood 2 was a phenomenal success and helped me to achieve exactly what I had hoped and more, so for my final collection this year I have bloody gone for it and had so much fun with each of these pieces. You need to look back to leap forward and it seems that I have built a cracking reputation for amplifying the magic within nostalgia, taking subjects that we all know and love and making them brighter, bolder and better.
I love how so many enjoy seeing what resides within my mind and how I interpret popular subjects from years gone by and this has driven this new collection forward. With how things are outside of the studio I find myself looking back to memories growing up, channelling my mind in the hope that each memory becomes more vivid. What comes from that is appreciation and pride which I take to drive on with the battles that I face, it works.
So, I hope you love these new pieces as much as I have loved creating them, the most beautiful memories will always remain no matter how far down they now reside.
Mad For It - The Original
- This was the first piece that I created for my ‘Retrospective’ collection and I loved every minute of it, and there were a few, it took bloody ages! In the back of my mind was the pressure that there needed to be a sequel for ‘The Memory Remains’ and that was always going to be inside the toy shop. Collectors really loved the street scene and my aim for ‘Mad For It’ was to create a music driven piece that had similar traits to the street that was littered with details but from another era.
I was lucky enough to be a kid in the 80’s but wow what a decade the 90’s were to be a teenager in! I started off being drawn more to the likes of the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy, oh and randomly 70’s disco classics! My biggest musical regret was missing out on the iconic Oasis at Knebworth concert as it was just down the road from me and my mates had the time of their lives there. I remember listening to it unfold on local radio and from then on, I was hooked.
As like the brilliance of the nu-metal bands in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the ‘Madchester’ era was like no other, what a phenomenal number of bands from such a concentrated spot in the U.K. My aim was to capture this along with a large number of iconic references that we remember well from that period.
The very first seed for this piece started years back and it was going to focus on the iconic Hacienda yet that switched to what we see here where we focus on the earlier stages of each band where they played in dark and cramped clubs. As like ‘The Memory Remains’ piece that gave you a glimpse of what lay inside, we get the same intrigue here with a look into the smoke-filled venue where all of the bands played before moving onwards and upwards.
I have always loved music album cover artwork and there are quite a few for you to spot, some subtle whilst the most blatant being the iconic floating Rolls Royce that was inspired by the Oasis ‘Be Here Now’ album cover.
I will leave you to seek out all of the details, some are completely random as you have come to expect from me – anyone who can explain the ‘Flipper’ dolphin reference is worthy of wearing a crown for the day! I absolutely loved creating this piece, the soundtrack in the studio was something else and without doubt contributed to the success of this piece and prompted a good number of last-minute references. Slip inside the eye of your mind as some might say.
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- Released: 2019
- Collection: Retrospective
- Specification: Limited edition fine art print, hand signed by artist.
- Image Size: 48” x 36"
- Framed Size (Approx): 54” x 41"
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- Please allow approximately 14 days for delivery, should you need delivery sooner please let us know.