Nathan Wyburn

Nathan Wyburn

Nathan Wyburn (born 24 October 1989) is a Welsh artist, well known for his celebrity portraits using Marmite on toast.

Contents

Early years

Nathan Wyburn was born on 24 October 1989 in Abergavenny, South Wales and grew up nearby in Ebbw Vale. Nathan attended Glyncoed Comprehensive school where he was appointed Head Boy and was always very punctual and academic which led to him achieving high standard grades in a wide range of subjects, including Art. He continued to study both art and photography throughout his college years where he realised this is where his ultimate passion lies. He is also an egotistical prick.

Marmite and beyond

Nathan went on to study BA HONS Fine Art at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, where he is currently still in attendance. His breakthrough piece was a time lapse video of him painting a portrait of pop mogul Simon Cowell on toast, using the controversial yeast extract, Marmite. This was uploaded to his www.youtube.com/wyzynathan channel, which already exhibited various other celebrity graphite drawings and pulled in over 3.5 Million hits. The inspiration for the Cowell piece came when Nathan read that it's commonly known that he is a "love or hate" character which spurred on the thought about Marmite. The concept was unique enough to have created the rest of Nathan's artistic career to date. The video was picked up by ITV Wales news and Blue Peter in which Nathan made appearances, as well as local press such as The Gwent Gazette and The Wales On Sunday. Followed by national press including The Sun and The Daily Mirror. Marmite themselves then caught onto the hype and commissioned Nathan to be part of their "Love Hate" campaign in which he re-created the famous "Maid In London" piece by graffiti artist, Bansky. From the success of Nathan's Marmite work he became inspired to try unusual mediums. His Youtube channel now chronicles portraits including Katherine Jenkins with Nutella, Fabio Capello with Bolagnese & pasta sheets, Lady Gaga & Alan Sugar with sugar and a portrait of David Beckham created entirely with his feet. Two of Nathan's most creative pieces include a re-creation of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa in 20ft of snow, as well as an Andy Warhol esc portrait of Marilyn Monroe using over 500 tea light candles. The success of Nathan's work began to score as popular celebrity magazine OK!, The Metro and various others featured his work. Nathan has also featured on Sky Sports for his Capello and Andy Murray works, as well as completed commissions for big chain brands such as Costa and Kettle Foods.

Nathan then took a huge leap into the public eye by auditioning for Britain's Got Talent in early 2011. Nathan created a portrait of comedian, and judge Michael Mcintyre using his established Marmite on toast skills. This was enough to impress all three judges, the others being Amanda Holden and David Hasselhoff. Nathan got through to the Semi Finals where his journey on the show came to an end. Using the platform the show gave him he took the experience and exposure in his stride and continued to create work. Since the show Nathan has had numerous TV, Radio and newspaper appearances, and created a portrait of The Queen using 140 slices of toast and several jars of Marmite.

Inspiration

Andy Warhol is a huge inspiration on Nathan's work. Their interest in celebrity and popular culture is very alike. The use of certain celebrities as their subjects, and then adapting that figure's personality and traits into the medium or style in which they work to create the artwork. Nathan once said "If Warhol were alive I think he would use social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook & Youtube just like I do to get my work out there, I like the humour that often underlines my work such as the you either love him or hate him Cowell piece, and creating Beckham with my feet because he's a famous footballer". Other artists have also inspired Nathan's work including fellow food based artist Vik Muniz, American photo realist Chuck Close & Rolf Harris.

References

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Britain's Got Talent (series 5) — Britain s Got Talent Series 5 Broadcast from 16 April 2011–4 June 2011 Judges David Hasselhoff Amanda Holden Michael McIntyre Louis Walsh (London auditions) Simon Cowell (live shows) …   Wikipedia

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