Inkie

Influenced by punk rock album graphics, 2000AD comics and early New York wild style pioneers such as Dondi, Seen & T-Kid, Inkie started out 1983 painting alongside 3D of Massive Attack fame and Nick Walker.

In 1989 he came 2nd in the World Street Art championships beating off fierce competition from LA, New York and all major European countries. Later that year he hit national headlines, when he was arrested along with 72 other writers as the 'Kingpin' in the UK's largest ever graffiti bust ‘Operation Anderson’. His arrest, court case and subsequent acquittal was all documented by BBC2 in the programme ‘Drawing The Line’.

In the late 1990s Inkie and fellow Bristolian Banksy collaborated on the largest ever UK graffiti event, ‘Walls On Fire’, where they pulled together UK’s finest street artists to create 1.4 km painting around Bristol’s historic docks.

These early years and Inkie’s rise to notoriety was recently documented in the Banksy’s "Bristol" (Tangent Books), which traces the birth of the UK graffiti scene and its Bristol roots.

Inkie has also featured in and organised the launch exhibition for the Thames &Hudson book "Graffiti World" as well as the LA produced worldwide graffiti film"Bomb It", which premiered at the British Film Institute autumn 2007.

He’s also produced work for Puma, Xbox, Adidas, Levis, Addict, Lovebox and Latitude Festivals and his graffiti featured in SEGA’s seminal video game Jet Set Radio.

More recently Inkie has been an integral part of the Shoreditch based Secret Wars collective, who has taken their infamous live street art battles across the UK and Europe. (www.secretwars.co.uk)And has just completed a world tour with Belvedere and Jade Jagger painting large live canvases at star studded events across the world and currently share a studio with her in west London.

Inkie was also recently exposed as Banksy’s partner by the Mail on Sunday and name by the SundayTimes as one of Street Art’s key talents.

Recent shows include
* ‘Exposed To The Elements’ at Notting Hill Arts Club - London
* Portobello Film Festival at Westbourne Studios - London
* ‘Alternativity’ at Truman Brewery - London
* Guerilla Galleries - Bristol
* Centrefold Gallery - Guernsey
* Corked at Cork Street Gallery - Mayfair - London

A show at the Royal West Of England Academy in Bristol is also penciled in for March 2009. Inkie has also been lined up to do a print design for Top Shop’s spring/summer collection, a limited range of baseball caps for New Era and an exclusive series of rugs for the renowned Rugged Art Collective. (www.ruggedart.com)

Together with fellow street artist Zaki of Chrome Angels fame, Inkie runs the clothing label ‘Flying Eyeball’ selling limited edition t-shirts, street wear, prints and accessories