Winter Contemporary - Gstaad by MaddoxGallery

WINTER CONTEMPORARY P R O M E N A D E 7, 37 8 0 G S TA A D | 1 7 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1

WINTER CONTEM-

Maddox Gallery is delighted to present a group exhibition showcasing a range of international contemporary artists. From the cinematic vignettes celebrated by David Yarrow to the nostalgic prints of Invader and the witty book covers of Harland Miller, the Maddox Gallery Winter Contemporary presents an annual opportunity to showcase an eclectic mix of multi-media artworks in new and unseen ways. Winter Contemporary is now open at Maddox Gallery, Promenade 7, Gstaad. The exhibition includes works by Banksy, STIK, Basquiat, Invader, David Yarrow, Harland Miller, Justin Bower and Cooper.

J E A N - M I C H E L B A S Q U I AT

I N VA D E R

JUSTIN BOWER STIK DAVID YARROW H AR L AND M ILLER CO O PER BA N KSY

P R O M E N A D E 7, 37 8 0 G S TA A D | 1 7 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1

BRITISH. B. 1964

HARLAND MILLER

‘BREVITY IS NO STRENGTH OF MINE.’

Considered something of a polymath, Harland Miller is a British artist and writer that reimagines classic Vintage Penguin Book covers with his own sardonic titles. The artist works in a variety of mediums from hand-finished screen-prints to large-scale canvases and is influenced by the form and colour of Abstract Expressionism as well as the playfulness of pop art. Miller’s artworks are often as witty as they are visually striking and are collected around the globe by critics and celebrities alike with George Michael, Sir Elton John, and Ed Sheeran all acquiring works for their collection. Born in Yorkshire in 1964, Miller graduated from Chelsea School of Art in 1988 with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. Following his time at university, Miller began travelling the world, living in London, New York, Berlin and Paris. In 1987, Miller had his first ever solo exhibition at the Diorama in London. He then went on to New York where he would exhibit as a solo artist at Prisunic Gallery in 1990 and 1991. Widening his French audience, with thanks to his shows at Prisunic Gallery, Miller then moved to Paris where he had three more solo exhibitions over the next five years. During this period, Miller also spent a year living in Berlin, which is where he embarked upon his writing career. Although establishing himself as an artist, Miller first won critical acclaim as a writer, with his debut novel, Slow Down Arthur, Stick to Thirty, being published in 2000. Later that year, he also published At First I was Afraid, I was Petrified - a visually led book that is considered short study of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The work’s sardonic title, borrowed from the Gloria Gaynor song, is echoed in the title of one of

Miller’s later artworks, with puns and wordplay being the basis of many of the artist’s work. In 2001, Miller produced the first of his iconic series of Penguin Book covers and was immediately struck by the visceral nostalgia of it. Consequently, Miller has spent the past two decades developing his satirical take on the books, marrying his love for words and art. Throughout his career so far, Miller has had over fifteen solo exhibitions and has been involved in around thirty group exhibitions in renowned institutions from around the world, including White Cube, London, Royal Academy of Arts, Somerset House and Blain/ Southern in Berlin. Over his career, Miller has amassed a diverse collector base ranging from famous art dealers including Jay Joplin to world renowned musicians like Angus Young, George Michael, Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John.

HARLAND MILLER TONIGHT WE MAKE HISTORY, 2018 Etching with Block Printing 176 x 120 cm

HARLAND MILLER IN SHADOWS I BOOGIE, 2019 Etching with Relief Printing 148 x 89 cm

HARLAND MILLER THOUGHT AFTER FILTHY THOUGHT, 2019 Etching with Relief Printing 147 x 89 cm

HARLAND MILLER ACE, 2019

Woodcut 168 x 119 cm

BRITISH. B. 1974

BANKSY

‘PEOPLE SAY GRAFFITI IS UGLY, IRRESPONSIBLE AND CHILDISH. BUT THAT’S ONLY IF IT’S DONE PROPERLY.’ Banksy is a world-renowned street artist who has single-handedly transformed graffiti culture. The rise of Banksy in the early 2000s signalled an unprecedented acceptance of street art in contemporary art and culture, which has garnered Banksy both global attention and success. Celebrated for his satirical stencilled graffiti, Banksy’s work often provides sociopolitical commentary on current events. The true identity of the British artist is unknown and his anonymity not only permits him to make bold political statements, but also creates an intriguing air of mystery around the artist. His graffiti incorporates freehand painting, spray painting and a unique stencilling method, which has become his signature style. Rendered in a limited range of striking colours, Banksy’s memorable designs have become a favourite amongst critics and collectors alike. Banksy first started creating street art in the early 1990’s under the pseudonym ‘Robin Banx’. Quickly dropping this alias in favour of the shorter and more memorable moniker, ‘Banksy’, the artist began his career close to home in Bristol, England. Immersing himself in graffiti culture, he started spray-painting walls across the Southwest. With graffiti being considered vandalism as opposed to art at the time, Banksy was soon subject to close encounters with the law and at the age of 18, was nearly apprehended by police whilst spraypainting a train in Bristol. To avoid being caught in the future, Banksy knew that he had to devise a quicker method of creating his art. Stencilling presented a practical solution for creating and replicating his work quickly, and soon his bold and iconic stencils defined his practice. On the topic of his method, Banksy reportedly said: “as soon as I cut my first stencil I could feel the power there. I also like the political edge. All graffiti is low-level

dissent, but stencils have an extra history. They’ve been used to start revolutions and to stop wars.” By 1999, Banksy had moved to London and was beginning to garner national attention. The unknown street artist was making waves, and comparisons to the graffiti greats Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring soon began to circulate. In 2001, Banksy had his first ‘exhibition’ in Rivington Street, where he and a few fellow artists created a makeshift gallery space in a convened tunnel. However, it was not until July 2003 that Banksy truly had his breakout show. Titled, ‘Turf-War’ and hosted in a former warehouse in Hackney, the show was the first of many to astonish the London Art Scene. Over time, Banksy’s continued success led to the re-positioning of street art as a widely accepted form of contemporary art. Since then, Banksy has continued to astound and amaze with a plethora of public stunts that have intrigued people globally. From sneaking art inside the Tate Gallery (2003) to shredding an artwork live at auction and aptly re-titling the work ‘Love is in the Bin’ (2018), Banksy is arguably one of the most provocative and renowned street artists in the world. With many iconic works like Girl with Balloon or Flower Thrower being replicated in locations across the globe, the market for Banksy’s work continues to thrive, with his international success being widely reflected in his impressive auction results. Setting a record at the 2019 Sotheby’s Frieze week with the sale of Devolved Parliament for a grand total of £9.9 million including fees, Banksy’s artworks remain an enviable asset and the ultimate art investment.

BANKSY LONDON NEW YORK BRISTOL (MONKEY), 2000 Spraypaint and Acrylic on Canvas 61 x 61 cm

BANKSY GOLD GIRL WITH BALLOON, 2004 Screenprint 66 x 50 cm

BANKSY HAPPY CHOPPERS, 2003 Screenprint 70 x 50 cm

BANKSY GRIN REAPER, 2005 Screenprint 70 x 50 cm

BRITISH. B. 1979

STIK

‘I FELT INVISIBLE AND IT WAS MY WAY OF SHOWING I’M HERE.’

STIK is an anonymous British graffiti artist renowned for his iconic stick figures. Rendered in a pared back palette of black and white and accompanied by block colours, STIK’s designs are as simple as they are striking, made up of four lines, one circle, one square and two dots. Although minimal in design, STIK’s work is incredibly emotive with love and the community being at the core of all of his work. The artist spends a large amount of time scouting out the locations for his murals, choosing each site with precise intent and favouring the permission of locals over that of the authorities. STIK’s artwork is created for the people and his philanthropic efforts echoes this sentiment. As an artist that only authorises the sale of his primary market work in auction on the condition that all proceeds go to charity, STIK has raised thousands of pounds for several charitable organisations. Most notably, STIK works towards aiding and preventing homelessness as he himself spent many years living in shelters or on the street. Born in 1979 in the United Kingdom, little is known about STIK. The artist remains anonymous, revealing little about his upbringing and personal life. Of the little information that is publicly available, the graffiti artist has only acknowledged his lack of artistic training and his experience of homelessness in his early twenties. It was during STIK’s time living in homeless shelters that he began painting on the streets of London. Painting graffiti first in the Hackney area, STIK learned from his contemporaries, developing his distinct style and honing his craft. With the support of his friends and the

wider Hackney community, STIK managed to access independent housing and continue his journey towards becoming a full-time artist. Feeling indebted to those who assisted him, STIK reportedly stated that ‘street art was [his] way of giving back’. Each of his works, therefore, are created with the community in mind, as a gift to the public who rallied to help him. STIK’s iconic murals continued to appear across the United Kingdom. In 2010 following the attempted Islamic Extremist attack on Lars Vilks - a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammed as a dog - STIK created A Couple Hold Hands in the Street; a work which has now become one of his best-known pieces. Depicting a Muslim woman holding hands with one of STIK’s traditional figures, the work was immediately embraced by the Muslim community and in 2017, the mural was voted as the UK’s 17th favourite artwork in a Guardian poll. By 2011, STIK had become an established artist, with his collectors including celebrity musicians Brian May and Bono. That same year, the graffiti artist had his first solo show at Imitate Modern Gallery in London’s West End. In 2012, STIK collaborated with Dulwich Picture Gallery, recreating Old Master paintings in his own style, and establishing himself as a household name. Now successful enough to turn towards charitable efforts, in 2013, STIK ran an initiative with The Big Issue, creating a bespoke poster to be sold with the magazine to raise money for homelessness. This is just one of the many initiatives the artist has joined in aid of supporting the fight against homelessness.

STIK Liberty (TEAL), 2013 Screenprint 112 x 43 cm

STIK LIBERTY (RED), 2013 Screenprint 112 x 43 cm

AMERICAN. B. 1960 | D. 1988

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

‘I DON’T THINK ABOUT ART WHEN I’M WORKING. I TRY TO THINK ABOUT LIFE.’ Famed for his dynamic paintings, JeanMichel Basquiat emerged from New York’s underground art scene of the late 1970s to become one of the most internationally renowned artists of the 20th century. By the age of 20, Basquiat had become an established gallery artist and was collaborating with some of the most prominent members of the New York art scene, such as Andy Warhol. Basquiat is known for his vibrant palette and his bold renderings of the human body, exploring themes of politics, race and philosophy. Since his untimely death at the age of 27, Basquiat’s legacy has continued to flourish. The subjects of many, if not all of Basquiat’s works, remain incredibly relevant and still resonate today with a modern audience. Born in 1960 of Haitian and Puerto-Rican descent, Jean-Michel Basquiat grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He was exposed to art by his mother from a young age and was encouraged by some of his teachers at school to draw. After dropping out of high school and leaving home in 1976, Basquiat would never go on to receive any formal art education. For many years, the artist barely made a living wage, selling t-shirts and postcards during the day and covering Brooklyn in his bold designs by night. Basquiat, working under the moniker SAMO (Same Old Shit) in tandem with his friend Al Diaz, started to attract attention. By the 1980s, New York had entered a period of thriving artistic freedom and consequently, Basquiat started to paint and draw with more focused effort, befriending other artists around him. In 1981, Basquiat met Andy Warhol, and they instantly formed a close friendship. The duo would go on to collaborate

on several artworks during the mid-1980s, remaining friends until Basquiat’s death. Basquiat first publicly exhibited in a group show in a vacant Times Square building in June 1980. His works were featured alongside other artistic geniuses of the period such as Keith Haring, Kiki Smith and Jenny Holzer. The group exhibition marked a turning point for Basquiat and led to his first solo exhibition in 1982. Basquiat immediately rose to fame, with critics extolling the artist. Basking in the limelight, Basquiat continued to create artwork for his ever-expanding throng of enthusiasts, and only halted at his untimely passing in 1988, aged just 27. Although the life of this exceptional artist was cut tragically short, his works can be found in museum collections around the world. From The Broad in Los Angeles to the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, people across the globe continue to admire and revere his work. In 2017, a Basquiat artwork named ‘Untitled’ was sold at Sotheby’s New York for US$110.5 million, setting a new record at the time for the most expensive artwork created by an American artist to be sold at auction.

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT FLEXIBLE, 1984/2016 Silkscreen 153 x 116 cm

AMERICAN. B. 1992

COOPER

‘THE IDEA OF A FLOWER WAS APPEALING — IT CAN GROW OUT OF CONCRETE OR ANYWHERE AND THRIVE.’

Born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, Andrew Cooper – now more widely known as Cooper – is an American visual artist. Passionate about art from a young age, the artist created drawings in sketchbooks and at seven years old, wrote a message that would later prove prophetic in his diary, which read “I want to be an artist when I grow up”. As he grew older, the artist pursued sport, temporarily pausing his creative pursuits. Yes, on enrolling at Ball State University in Indiana, his passion for art continued to flourish, and as a result, he decided to go to art school to study graphic design. Although primarily focussed on graphic design, Cooper took extra classes in painting and woodwork, mastering all mediums. Two weeks after graduating in 2016, the artist moved to Miami to working at a record label as a graphic designer. After staying there for a year, Cooper moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career as a freelance artist, perfecting his painting technique. Taking inspiration from his surroundings and inspired by the colour combinations and patterns around him, the artist started creating wildflower murals and paintings that garnered the instant attention of influential brands like Puma and Mountain Dew. In 2018, the 28-year-old artist was commissioned by the now late American rapper, Nipsey Hussle, to paint his signature wildflower design on the basketball court of the rapper’s former school, 59th Elementary in Los Angeles. Launched as part of a charitable giving campaign in partnership with multinational sportswear corporation Puma, $10,000 was donated to the school, with the refurbished court drawing national attention. Following this collaboration,

Cooper has gone on to partner with several notable brands including WeTransfer and Vans. In 2019, the artist moved back to Evansville, Indiana to allow himself to expand his practice both mentally and physically. In 2021, Cooper had his first ever solo exhibition in New York at Guy Hepner, followed by a group show at Maddox Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2022, Cooper is also set to exhibit his works in the London outposts of Maddox Gallery. an American artist to be sold at auction.

COOPER SMALL SHELF, 2021 Acrylic on Canvas 152 x 122 cm

COOPER ORANGES ON TABLE, 2021 Acrylic on Canvas 152 x 122 cm

FRENCH. B. 1969

INVADER

‘WHAT I DO AND CREATE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHO EXACTLY I AM.’

Beginning his practice in the late 1990s, Invader is an anonymous French street artist best known for his pixelated mosaics. His works are inspired by vintage graphics and video games, with his own moniker taking inspiration from the video game, ‘Space Invaders’. Composed from single tiles, Invader’s murals resemble classic 80s graphics, evoking a deep sense of nostalgia. Like other street artists, Invader uses public space as a canvas and aims to ‘invade’ the world on an international scale. From Manchester to Marrakech, Invader’s work can be found across the globe. In 2015, Invader went interstellar, teaming up with the European Space Agency to get a mural in space, proving that the artist’s reach truly has no limits. Due to the anonymous nature of Invader, little is known about the French street artist’s upbringing or education. The unidentified artist was first brought to the public’s attention in the late 1990’s, when mosaic Space Invaders started to appear on the streets of Paris. Inspired by the 1978 Atari game, Invader’s miniature alien mosaics soon evolved into a whole cast of 8-bit characters that began materialising across the city. Although Invader has always prioritised working in the public space, by the new millennium, the French artist had started exhibiting in both group and solo exhibitions. His first ever solo exhibition, entitled New Player Insert Coins, took place in 1999 at Jean Charles de Castelbajac CS, in Paris, France. This was closely followed by Same Player Shoot Again, which was held the following year at Galerie Almine Rech in Paris. Invader’s reach soon became international as he came to feature in his very first group exhibition

outside of Europe, at The Almine Rech Gallery in New York. Since then, Invader has been involved in fifteen group exhibitions and subject to nineteen solo exhibitions. Alongside Invader’s exhibited work, the artist has launched the Space Invaders Project, which endeavours to liberate art from its usual context of museums and institutions. Instead, the artist creates public artwork all around the globe, with the aim of creating at least 20 to 50 works in one city alone. Like the video games from which the characters originate, each creature is awarded a score based on location, intricacy and how difficult it was to install. Invader currently has 3960 murals across 79 cities and on 6 continents. By creating murals all across the world, the earth itself becomes an exhibition and each unique piece a fragment of a tentacular installation.

INVADER ALADDIN SANE (GOLD), 2014 Silkscreen on Paper 45 x 43 cm

INVADER OH...ALRIGHT, 2011 Screenprint 58 x 59 cm

AMERICAN. B. 1975

JUSTIN BOWER

‘I WANT [MY ART] TO BE FAMILIAR, DISTURBING AND ELECTRIFYING.’

Bmerican artist, Justin Bower, explores the notion of identity in a post-human society through his large-scale oil on canvas paintings. In a culture where technology is displacing religious belief systems, Bower’s futuristic paintings interrogate the human condition. Playing with non-fixed facial features and the hallucinatory effects of Op Art, Bower’s pixelated portraits become an armature for the artist to investigate the effects of the ever-evolving world around us. Often citing Willem de Koonig and Leonardo da Vinci as his key influences, the style of Bower’s work can be seen as a contemporary fusion between the naturalism and proportion of Renaissance art, mixed with the painterly strokes of Abstract Expressionism. Born in San Francisco in 1975, Justin Bower was interested in art from an extremely young age. Spending his childhood copying Old Master paintings, Bower always had an attraction to figurative art, especially depictions of the human body. Wishing to refine his artistic technique and his theoretical knowledge, Bower went on to complete his undergraduate degree in Art and Philosophy, at the University of Arizona. In the early 2000s, Bower moved to Los Angeles to pursue his artistic career, taking the opportunity to undergo further training. By 2011, Bower had received his Masters in Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University and since has both been nominated and won a plethora of grants and awards, including The Feitelson Fellowship Grant (2010) and The Joan Mitchell award (2010). In addition to this, his work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions in galleries across the United States, including a 2010 exhibition at Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills and

a later exhibition at New York’s Unix Gallery in 2013. Bower has also come to host solo shows at Lancaster Museum of Art & History (2015), the Pomona Art Museum (2017), and the Riverside Art Museum (2019). With an ever-increasing following, Bower’s paintings can also be found in a number of public art collections, such as The Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles and the Cosmopolitan Collection in Las Vegas. As popular in public as in private, Bower’s works have also been sought after by many notable collectors and prominent patrons within the art world, with both the president of Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Eugenio Lopez, and Mexican business magnate, Carlos Slim, owning pieces of his works. Bower first exhibited with Maddox Gallery in 2020 in a group exhibition in our Los Angeles gallery. The artist is to have a solo show with Maddox in June 2021, at our Los Angeles location in the fashionable West Hollywood design district. The show promises an in-depth discussion on technology, identity and what it means to be human.

JUSTIN BOWER MEZMERIZED II, 2020 Oil on Canvas 122 x 91 cm

JUSTIN BOWER DARK MAGIC, 2021 Oil on Canvas 213 x 183 cm

JUSTIN BOWER CLONE II, 2020 Oil on Canvas 48 x 36 cm

BRITISH. B. 1966

DAVID YARROW

‘TO DEPICT LIFE ON THE EDGE, BE IT PEOPLE OR WILDLIFE, YOU MUST ENTER THE UNKNOWN.’

cottish photographer David Yarrow is a pioneer of fine art photography, known for visiting isolated locations and communities to capture the sublime beauty of the natural world. His dramatic and highly evocative images, usually black and white, fuse the knowledgeable approach of David Attenborough with Ridley Scott’s visual drama and the exquisite composition of Ansel Adams. His photographs fetch high prices across international auction houses, making Yarrow one of the most coveted photographers alive today. He has equally shown an unchanging commitment to charitable causes and protecting wildlife through fundraising for various NGOs and the British NHS.

Yarrow was born in Glasgow in 1966 and started his photography career working for the London Times at the age of 20, taking pictures of the World Cup Final in Mexico City. He famously photographed Diego Maradona holding the World Cup which propelled the photographer to stardom. After graduating from Edinburgh university, Yarrow pursued a career in finance and continued producing photography at the same time. Yarrow is most famous for his visceral, powerful photography of life on earth, specifically wildlife. He cites the photojournalism of Robert Capa as a major inspiration for his work and has produced printed photographs of the elephants and lions of the African savannahs to the penguin colonies of Antarctica. His signature style is high resolution, black and white photographs with a focus on shadows and heavy saturation, resulting in an evocative and dramatic effect.

His other famous series Storytelling fuses elements of wildlife with urban drama to a highly aesthetic effect, consisting of expertly staged compositions. His Lives of Others series saw him travelling to remote locations to focus on indigenous communities and landscapes, capturing various mesmerizing moments from across cultures worldwide. Yarrow is active in a range of ambassadorial roles from WildArk and The Kevin Richardson Foundation, to Nikon and UBS and has shown continual commitment to charitable causes over the course of his career. Raising over $4.5m for humanitarian and conservation organisations, David Yarrow is the affiliated photographer of the African Conservation Charity Tusk Trust. His photograph The Wolves of Wall Street, signed by Leonardo Dicaprio and Martin Scorsese sold for $200,000 with all proceeds going to a conservation NGO. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Yarrow also released a print called Our Pride in support of the British NHS as a part of the Art For Heroes campaign in conjunction with Maddox Gallery. As one of the best-selling and most famous photographers alive, some of Yarrow’s most impressive auction sales include the 12/12 edition of the photograph Africa selling for $106,250 in 2019, and the work Old Testament fetching $52,500 in the same year.