It’s spooky season!
What better way to get inspired to embrace the macabre and otherworldly than with this truly unique artist...
The 1980s brought so many new creative movements to New York, but one of the most interesting and explosive artists to bring street art out of the shadows besides Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring was the thrilling and formidable public art of Richard Hambleton. Using the dark imagery and shock value of crime scene chalk outlines (Image Mass Murder) to alert passersby of his presence in his early street art (1976-1978), Hambleton stayed true to the complex and dark nature of his earliest works until the very end.
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7 x 5 in.
One of the most fascinating things about Hambleton’s work is that there is a softness often outlining the figures he created. The smokey and splotched edges of Horse and Rider, and Meow, 2003 create a ghostly figurine that feels otherworldly in contrast to some of his other works that are so clearly defined (being literal chalk body outlines or splotched portraits). The lack of edge definition is part of what gives his artwork its eerie sense, while the consistant use of blacks, whites, greys and reds makes his subjects feel rooted in our real world. Other works like Double Jumpers, 1999 can even feel Rorschach test worthy with the mirrored images and black acrylic paint figures claiming the canvas.
23 3/8x15 1/2in
59.4x39.4cm
Having a distinct style is one thing, but placement of street art is an entirely other art form. Hambleton’s shadowy figures weren't always necessarily out in the open for all to see but lurking down dark alleyways awaiting unsuspecting victims, hence his nickname The Shadowman. Often using blacks and reds to stain the likes of the Berlin Wall, Lower Manhattan in the late ‘70s and 80’s and museums such as The Brooklyn Museum, MOMA, and The Andy Warhol Museum, Hambleton's shadowy figures illuminated the simplicity of the dark natures within humanity.
This October is the perfect time to invest in some art that speaks to the more mysterious sides of us all!
