| SickboyBurning Candy | |
|---|---|
 An example of Sickboy's temple character on a bin in Shoreditch | |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Graffiti, Street art, Bristol underground scene |
Sickboy is the name of a street artist from Bristol, UK, known for his temple logo and his 'Save the Youth' slogan. Sickboy moved to London in 2007 and his street art became prevalent particularly in the Shoreditch area and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is claimed Sickboy was one of the first UK graffiti artists to use a logo instead of a 'tag'.
Sickboy originally trained in fine art and, as well as painting graffiti on the street, he also paints on canvas and exhibits conventionally in art galleries. He has been painting street art since circa 1995. In recent years Sickboy has become known for painting his 'temple' logo on wheelie bins, which can then be worth up to £50,000.
In a 2011 The Guardian article Sickboy named Spanish street artist La Mano as a major influence. He said "At the time, graffiti was mainly seen as letter-based, but [Le Mano] just used a logo and repeated it... I'd never been a big fan of stencil work, which is where a lot of people think graffiti crosses over into more acceptable street art. La Mano stuck more closely to the graffiti aspect, which I try to adhere to now. I like the freehand, grab-a-tin-of-spray-paint approach".
References
- Miguel Cullen Graffiti gets the star treatment in Bristol, The Independent, 26 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- Sickboy Temple Shrines London, View London, undated. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ Chris Osburn Londonist Interviews … London Graffiti Artist Sickboy, Londonist, 11 January 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- Sickboy goes indoors for exhibition of his Bristol street art, Portisheadpeople.co.uk, 8 February 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- Franco Milazzo Interview: Sickboy, Street Artist, Londonist, 30 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- Crompton, Sarah (20 August 2012). "Graffiti's grandmasters make their mark". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 17 September 2012.
But street art is now a profitable career. The fine arts graduate known as Sickboy, for example, covers waste bins with distinctive temple icons: they sell for £50,000. To the unconvinced and the underwhelmed, this is the perfect summation of the madness of the contemporary art world – both actually and metaphorically art as rubbish.
- Emine Saner The artists' artist: street artists, The Guardian, 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
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