Magazines, music videos, pop songs, the Internet and everyday conversations: these are the main inspirations behind the work of British artist Stuart Semple. Born in 1980 in Bournemouth, Semple studied advanced art and design at Poole’s School of Art, and painting and printmaking at Bretton Hall, in Yorkshire. Part of a new generation of pop artists, Semple has been the curator of various group exhibitions and taken part in art events all over the world, from the UK to the States, Greece and Italy.
Growing up in the ‘80s, Semple was influenced by the decade’s bright aesthetics, and tried to combine it with Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons’ art, using the result to comment on the shallowness of contemporary society and tackle issues such as fear, isolation and nostalgia. Semple often pointed out in interviews how the 1997 “Sensation” exhibition at London’s Royal Academy of Art influenced his choices in life. The 42 young British artists that showcased their work during that event pushed Semple to search for new inspirations.
As the years passed, the young artist created darker pop pieces with a deeper symbolism. His latest work is the exhibition “MASH-UP” at London’s Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS)’s Kowalsky Gallery. The event, curated by Semple, features four other British artists – Nicky Carvell, Adham Faramawy, Piers Secunda and Nathan James – and tackles the appropriation and the re-articulation of mass culture.
The exhibition explores a simple but worrying concept: this generation of artists is the last one that will remember life before music videos, home computers, mobile phones and the Internet. “We are a generation of mutants, the flower power world of our parents with a new technology tacked on for a new world. The first wave of lab rats scavenging a landfill of cultural detritus,” Semple states about his generation. “Far from feel-good nostalgia, I believe the artists in this show are creating Mash-ups from these found elements that result in works that tell us where we are in art, community and society.” The works exhibited show that, rather than being victims of this process of transition, the artists use it to create through it their own narratives, redefining their environments and empowering themselves. Issues of disenchantment, trauma and death are also confronted through the remixing process the artists go through.
The exhibition launched last Tuesday with a private view that also featured a live performance and interactive music video shoot by top 20 chart act Subliminal Girls. The summer season also marked the beginning of a new venture for Semple, the release of NOI wear. Enlisting St. Martin’s graduate and member of Scrawl Collective Danny Sangra and leading London designer Myk, member of design duo Goldtooth, Semple founded a streetwear label that is set to take East London’s aesthetic worldwide.
The T-shirts, totes and skateboard decks part of the NOI wear collection feature modern and eye-catching graphics in bold and vivid colours. All the items are printed by Al Dickey and Peter Mackay – who created T-shirts for the Run DMC, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy – using environmentally friendly inks, free from PVC and Phthalate resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile solvents and ozone depleting chemicals.
Among the celebrities already wearing NOI garments there are also Lenny Kravitz, Agyness Deyn, Dizzee Rascal and Jay-Z. The items are issued on a limited edition that will guarantee to the wearer a much-needed exclusivity.
The language of art is virtually limitless: indeed art speaks to people through paintings, sculptures, installations, posters, videos and even fashion. Thanks to his total approach to the world of contemporary art, from now on Stuart Semple will be considered its official spokesperson.
“Mashups: Post pop fragments and détournements”, Kowalsky Gallery at DACS, 33 Great Sutton St, London EC1V 0DX, UK, until 19th September 2008.
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