Nick Walker (artist)

Nick Walker (born 1969)[1] is a graffiti artist originating from Bristol, England. His paintings often feature a bowler-hatted gentleman 'vandal'.[2]

Nick Walker
Born1969 (age 51–52)
NationalityBritish
Known forGraffiti, Street art, Bristol underground scene

He is credited with being part of the stencil graffiti movement that Robert Del Naja started in the 1980s, which was also an influence on Banksy.

Walker recreated the graffiti'd streets of New York City for Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film, Eyes Wide Shut.[2] His work was included in a video by The Black Eyed Peas.[2]

In 2006 a spray painted work of Walker's titled "Moona Lisa" sold for an unexpected £54,000 at Bonhams in London.[3] At a solo exhibition at London's Black Rat Gallery in 2008, £750,000 worth of art was sold, with dozens of people camping outside the gallery overnight.[3]

Walker was a main participant in the 2011 See No Evil event in Bristol, where he painted "perhaps the most striking piece at the event",[4] one of his bowler-hatted gentleman on the side of a tower block in Nelson Street.

Walker was the first artist-in-residence of the Quin Arts program at the Quin Hotel in New York City.[5] Walker created 15 original pieces on-site for the Quin’s permanent collection during his residency in 2013, shortly following the hotel's opening.[6] In February 2016, Walker revisited the Quin to show both historic images, as well as a new vocabulary of abstraction. This solo exhibit, curated by DK Johnston, presented 25 original works and opened the hotel’s Quin Arts program for the 2016 season.[7] In November 2016, Walker joined a cohort of fellow former Quin Arts artists-in-residence in using a D’Angelico Guitar as their “canvas,” for an artist salon. His design featured curvilinear numbers resembling musical notes.[8]

Walker still lives in Bristol.[9]

Notable works
  • Moona Lisa - painting of the Mona Lisa showing her bottom. Sold in 2006.
  • The Morning After New York - painted in 2008 in East Village, New York. The building was threatened with demolition in 2011.[2]
  • Pope - painted on a ticket hut in London for the pontiff's visit in 2010.[10]

Publication
  • A Sequence of Events. Drago, 2009. ISBN 9788888493466[11]

References
  1. "Nick Walker". See No Evil. Seenoevilbristol.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  2. Whitworth, Melissa (17 March 2011). "It wouldn't happen to Banksy: 'The Morning After New York' to be demolished". The Telegraph (London) blog. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  3. "Banksy's Rival Nick Walker Sells 750,000 Pounds of Street Art". Bloomberg.com. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  4. Cullen, Miguel (26 August 2011). "Graffiti gets the star treatment in Bristol". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  5. Dawson, Gloria. "Graffitist in Residence? It's the Latest Hotel Amenity". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  6. "NYC Events | Luxury Central Park Hotel | the Quin". www.thequinhotel.com. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  7. "Street Art in Midtown: Walker as Curated by DK Johnston Marks Launch of 2016 Quin Arts Season, January 21". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  8. Eller, Matthew. "Preview: D'Angelico Guitars as Reimagined by 14 Artists Featuring Nick Walker, Above, AVSP, and many more NYC". Street Art News. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. Wright, Steve (2007). Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home. Bath: Tangent Books. p. 4. ISBN 9781906477004.
  10. Gleadell, Colin (20 September 2010). "Art Market News: Dealers compete for Pope graffiti at British art fair". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  11. "Nick Walker "A Sequence of Events" at Black Rat (London) : Brooklyn Street Art". www.brooklynstreetart.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
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