This month we begin with the launch of our brand new Richard Hambleton exhibition. Richard Hambleton, referred to as the ‘godfather of street art,’ was a spearhead Canadian street artist. He began painting the buildings on the Lower East Side of New York City during the 1980’s when graffiti and street art began to boom. He is best known for his recurring motif of a blacksilhouetted figure known as the Shadowman.
Before he began dominating the New York street art scene alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat (JON -MEECHEL BASCAT) and Keith Haring; he emerged onto the art scene with his police chalk outline drawings which aimed to deliberately shock and provoke. Richard Hambleton said himself that the Shadowman figures ‘could represent watchmen or danger or the shadows of a human body after a nuclear holocaust or even my own shadow’. In 2017 the documentary ‘Shadowman’ followed Hambleton’s life and career which was released a few months prior to his death. He was one of the first artists to use the street as a canvas and it is undeniable that he inspired a new generation of artists. Many modern-day artists credit him as the pioneer of street art with Banksy talking about how Richard Hambleton was an inspiration for his work. To date Richard can be considered widely overlooked and under-appreciated with his works arguably only in recent years slowly becoming a household name to the less “hardcore” art lovers.
The show can be viewed on our Artsy page as well as by appointment in our very own Me Art Studio in Canary Wharf. With the growing collection of his work within the company we expect to kick of a show in a partnership gallery at the beginning of 2022.
