Monday, December 09, 2013

When Street Art Goes Mainstream – The STIK Story

STIK is a young British street artist known for graffiti portraits of beguiling stick people.

He learned about art as a life model at St. Martins and The Royal Academy.

 “I took in art by osmosis; I would be naked as dozens of artists talked about body, balance and composition.”

Two years ago STIK was a homeless street artist only just beginning to leave his strange, distinctive stick figures across London’s skyline. He is now one of the British art world’s hottest properties. His paintings grace the walls of Elton John, Bono, Brian May and Tinie Tempah. STIK’s art was recently sold at Christie’s and exhibited at Imitate Modern in the West End.

STIK is quite protective of his art – he recently got a cease and desist order when one of his iconic figures was picked up and turned into a viral infomercial for a huge company.

STIK is the creator of a 60ft Avenue A mural that will grace an East Village corner for a year. STIK stated “Making street art is my way of showing the world I exist. I am very defensive about the world I have created. The projects I’ve turned down are on a global scale. My form and discipline comes through necessity – to paint a picture in the time before the police are dispatched.”

STIK is also embracing acrylic on canvas, and will promote his art in Tokyo. STIK explained “I’ve been offered a lot of walls. When I do a piece on the street, I am very specific. I don’t feel like I can get permission from a Council or landlord – if I don’t feel it should be there, I don’t do it. If I’m not confident about it it’s not going to happen.”

The Dorian Grey gallery is presenting STIK’s solo show during December 2013. The gallery is exclusively hosting STIK’s long awaited print release ‘Liberty’ and is also launching a political journal ‘The Bottled Wasp Pocket Diary 2014’ which features STIK’s cover art.

The Londoner is quite enamored with NYC. “I love New York, I find it very friendly.”

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