Nick Walker (artist)
| Nick Walker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969 (age 45–46) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Graffiti, Street art, Bristol underground scene |
Nick Walker (born 1969)[1] is an established graffiti artist originating from Bristol, England. He is credited with introducing stencil graffiti to Bristol in the early 1980s, hence being a big influence on Banksy.[2]
Walker was invited by film director Stanley Kubrick to recreate the graffiti'd streets of New York for his 1999 film, Eyes Wide Shut.[3]
His paintings often feature a bowler-hatted gentleman 'vandal', which featured in a video by The Black Eyed Peas.[3]
Walker's paintings now sell for large sums of money - in 2006 a spray painted work titled "Moona Lisa" sold for an unexpected £54,000 at Bonhams in London.[4] At a solo exhibition at London's Black Rat Gallery in 2008, £750,000 worth of art was sold, with dozens of people camping outside the gallery overnight.[4]
Walker was a main participant in the 2011 See No Evil event in Bristol, where he painted "perhaps the most striking piece at the event",[5] one of his bowler-hatted gentleman on the side of a tower block in Nelson Street.
Walker still lives in Bristol.[2]
Notable works
- Moona Lisa - painting of the Mona Lisa showing her bottom. Sold in 2006.
- The Morning After New York - painted in 2008 in East Village, New York. The building was threatened with demoltion in 2011.[3]
- Pope - painted on a ticket hut in London for the pontiff's visit in 2010.[6]
References
- ↑ "Nick Walker". See No Evil. Seenoevilbristol.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wright, Steve (2007). Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home. Bath: Tangent Books. p. 4. ISBN 9781906477004.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Whitworth, Melissa (17 March 2011). "It wouldn't happen to Banksy: 'The Morning After New York' to be demolished". The Telegraph (London) blog. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Banksy's Rival Nick Walker Sells 750,000 Pounds of Street Art". Bloomberg.com. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ↑ Cullen, Miguel (26 August 2011). "Graffiti gets the star treatment in Bristol". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2012-09-09.
Nick Walker was author of perhaps the most striking piece at the event, a 20-metre mural on the front of a tower block, of a sinister man in a black bowler hat dripping a bucket of red paint over the cement.
- ↑ Gleadell, Colin (20 September 2010). "Art Market News: Dealers compete for Pope graffiti at British art fair". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2012-09-09.