Art / Artist of the m
Artist of the Month: Mr Mead
This month’s artist is Mr Mead, whose pen and ink prints are exclusively available through our online shop.
“I am a fine artist and independent illustrator. I’ve never drawn a cute cat in my life,” Mr Mead says with a dark humour that lies under the surface of his art too. He uses pen and ink to illustrate characters and imaginary creations that are dark and often very strange.
“I studied in the AIB in Bournemouth, which is a great art school. From there, I jumped into the pond – it’s more of a sea, actually – of freelance, where I have been figuring it out and sometimes drowning ever since.”
is needed now More than ever
The Cornwall-born artist has worked from his studio in Bristol for the past seven years, but now lives around the world, house-sitting in places as far-flung as the mountains of Montenegro.
“I’ve seen a lot of the interesting, dynamic Bristol galleries close down or move away,” he says of his adoptive home. “Variety is the spice of life, and I feel that Bristol needs a big artistic kick up the ass. Projects like See No Evil [which turned Nelson Street into an outdoor street art gallery] were really great, but that needs to happen more. Also, where are the shops, galleries and events catering towards the people with darker tastes?”
Those darker tastes are clear to see in his own works, two of which he is selling through Bristol24/7. He describes Lost in Transit as “a pen and ink drawing of one of my characters lost in an empty void. It’s a vicarious representation of how I personally felt at the time. The character is lost in a vortex of its own creation. I was really ill at the time that I drew it, and felt that my mind was extremely cloudy.”
The artist will soon collaborate with Bristol-based Aardman Animations and The British Council to create a graphic novel. It is projects like this, developing his first vinyl toy, and a recent trip to South Africa to paint murals with kids, that Mr Mead says keep him refreshed. “It definetly helps me with my creative process if I have new things around me all the time.”
All profits from the sale of this piece will go to Alzheimer’s UK. “It’s a disease I hope will be wiped out soon. Nothing worse than forgetting what you have done,” says Mr Mead. Keep up to date with his latest work at www.mrmead.co.uk
Read more: Artist of the Month – Anna Harley
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