Revival Pressure SHOK (1995)
April 8th, 2009
Part of a massive canvas myself and some friends did at an event.
I used to like doing these pieces made from different bits – I often had too many ideas I wanted to try out to base a whole piece on one.
Reads – “SHOK”. Jelly style “S” (this will become the organic style a few years later), the “H” is a box of cans tipping out, a gangster apple for the “O” and a straight letter “K” with a crumpled paper background.
Scratch SHOK (2000)
April 7th, 2009
Painted at Scratch club in King’s Cross, central London. Characters spell the letters. Ran out of paint towards the end hence the unfinished microphone etc.
Mix N’ Match SHOK (2000)
March 30th, 2009
Canvas, 5 x 10ft.
SHOKIN’! (1991)
March 28th, 2009
This was a bit of a seminal piece for me. This idea of making one big thing up out of lots of symbols and having a sort of disjointed narrative is the main idea that kept coming up for me over the years and eventually became my organic idea.
They say every artist has one main idea that they have to find and refine, I think this is probably mine. Looking at it now, it’s sort of like a really crude childish Rosenquist or Rauschenburg, not that I’d even heard of them at the time.
Anyway, from left to right: an “S” made from glass balls with characters and symbols in, an “H” made from spraycans and a joint, the “O” is a drunk character, his can of cheap alcohol makes the back of the “K”, then war comes and completes it in the shape of a gun (I’d just got back from Brooklyn), the “I” – peace is king in the form of a pack of rolling papers with a crown for the dot, and lastly an abstract “N” made from lots of smaller ones.
Also in this piece, you can see the light fading effects I developed having studied Scribla TCA’s fills back in the 80’s and my jellies – those are really early precursors of what would become the organic style.
Patchwork SHOK (1995)
March 27th, 2009
A proper Frankenstein’s monster of a piece made out of other pieces chopped up and reassembled.
Mutha’s Pride SHOK (1995)
March 26th, 2009
Freshly sliced bread style “SHOC!” complete with the bread knife. A real mutha for ya, yeah.
SuperSHOK (1990)
March 24th, 2009
Getting up, up and away in Nottingham.
Sinister SHOK (2001)
March 23rd, 2009
They’re Here (1999)
March 14th, 2009
In Nottingham – organic “Shoc” on the left and a Daz piece on the right.
He complained my piece was about to eat his so I gave him the pitchforks to defend himself with. The title is from the film “Poltergeist”.
Homage to Fromage (1998)
March 10th, 2009Damage in Dunkerque.
When I first visited Paris it was absolutely battered with beautiful silver and black letter pieces. Bando and Boxer were all-city. I think I had their pieces in the back of my head when I did this one.
I also remember getting lost in Saint Denis where apparently grown men have been raped in broad daylight but that’s another story.
