BRIT PUNK ARTIST MARK SLOPER LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE TOUR ACROSS UK’S BIGGEST ART RETAILER
BRIT punk artist Mark Sloper has launched a nationwide tour exhibiting his controversial work across the UK’s biggest art retailer.
The artist has just finished a successful show, The Art Of Chaos, at the world famous Saatchi Gallery and has now partnered with Castle Fine Art joining some of the biggest names in art – including Ronnie Wood, Marvel and Bob Dylan.
The partnership will allow Mark to exhibit and sell his work across nearly forty regional galleries across England, Scotland and Wales celebrating his punk style at regular in-store exhibitions.
Castle Fine Art which was established in 1995, will exhibit and market Mark’s portfolio of limited edition prints, original artworks as well as showcase his works across their global online reach using their established delivery infrastructure.
Mark, 56, said: “From Glasgow to Exeter The Art Of Chaos is bringing neon glow to the homes of art collectors across the entire UK. After a successful and sold out launch at the prestigious saatchi gallery, the fun, punky collection is now available in a town local to you. From limited edition prints to neon art originals, go unleash the rebel lurking inside you.
“My punk art Queens are beautifully constructed with sparkling jewels, newspaper headlines and the fabulous HRH Elizabeth II looking splendid and regal, but of course retaining a little punky attitude.
“It’s my homage to punk – not only the way we looked, but the way we thought and treated others. A little bit of Shepherd’s Bush punk ghetto is illuminating walls globally. The Art of Chaos is straight out of my studio to 40 galleries nationwide, the pressure is on! There’s naughtiness and punk in all of us, lets celebrate it together, put it on your wall, I’ll certainly brighten up your day.”
He added: “I love the ceremony and the old-fashioned English respect for our lovely Queen. Punk rockers such as the Sex Pistols have been misunderstood as anti-royalist but I celebrate the monarchy and love the Queen. Rule Britannia! The Queen has seen herself reimagined by me, and I still have my head.”
Castle Fine Art Managing Director, Ian Weatherby-Blythe, said: “We have taken on the mad, bonkers but brilliant and beautiful work of original punk rocker Mark Sloper and we hope our collectors will enjoy his Neons and prints.”
The London based artist, known as Illuminati Neon, createdThe Art of Chaosas a homage to the punk rock genre, featuring a selection of large-scale, mixed media artworks.
The artist is famous after HRH The Queen saw her painting and asked that her punk portrait changed, as she didn’t like the tattoo on her neck.
Artist Mark Sloper created the image of Her Majesty with blue hair, a nose ring and the loveheart inking. The monarch, 95, found the artwork ‘hilarious’ but asked for the tattoo of husband Philip’s name to be altered to show her royal crest.
The Art Of Chaos collection are hand-embellished canvasses influenced by the English artist and anarchist Jamie Reid, whose controversial ‘God Save the Queen’ album artwork for the Sex Pistols was based on Cecil Beaton’s Silver Jubilee portrait.
The collection consists of eighty original paintings featuring a controversial image of the royal family, Princess Diana, The Queen, The Joker and other rock and roll iconic designs.
Mark’s work is collected by celebrities including Sir Elton John, Sting, Boy George, Danny Dyer, Anthea Turner, John Terry and Sex pistol drummer Paul Cook.
Actor Danny Dyer said: “Beautiful art from punk nut mark_illuminati. Look him up people, he’s a proper geezer.”
TV presenter Anthea Turner said: “I love art and galleries, especially when its one of my friends exhibiting, I genuinely love his work. When I look at Mark’s punk Queen at home it always makes me smile.”
And Paul Cook, Sex Pistols legend, said: “For someone so rough and horrible, I can’t understand how he makes such lovely art. Steve Jones in LA and I have punk Queens in our homes. He’s nicked all his ideas from us the Sex Pistols and must owe us a big commission by now!”
When British punk rock took over London’s cultural scene in the 1970s, the world turned up the volume and listened. Spearheaded by bands like The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sex Pistols and The Damned, this ear-splitting fusion of anarchy and expression defined a generation. Its working-class angst spoke to a young Mark, and after a chance encounter with the new wave musician Adam Ant at the age of just 11 led to him touring with the band, Mark became drawn to the punk subculture, eventually becoming close friends with some of the movement’s pioneers and troubadours, including the Sex Pistols and the Stranglers.
A career in videography beckoned, and Mark went on to work as a cameraman and a director of photography for bands like the Police and Frankie Goes to Hollywood before joining the BBC. During his successful film career, Mark has directed and produced documentaries on Billy Fury, the Beatles, John Lennon, David Bowie, Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols and more. These legendary figures, along with his friend and fellow neon artist Chris Bracey, inspired Mark to create the Illuminati Neon brand.
Featuring punk-inspired imagery emblazoned with neon, vintage memorabilia and song lyrics, his original artworks have commanded the attention of the art world and is currently represented by Castle Galleries.
Hand-painted in oils and acrylics at his studio in Shepherd’s Bush, London, his fluorescent creations are just as anarchic as their namesake. The handblown glass neon is formed using a centuries-old technique, echoing the exhilarating mixture of modern and classical that shaped the punk rock aesthetic.
Mark, who became an artist late in life at 45, added: “Every piece tells a story about that transformative era: my experience of it, the people who made it and became my friends, and the honorary punks who personified its anarchy, chaos and rock ‘n’ roll long before the movement had a name.”
