'I LIKE TO PRETEND MY ART HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME' - Roy Lichenstein
"Hi, I'm
Stephen Quick and I'm an artist
(whatever that means). I've been full time since 06ish, since leaving university, and as you may know when you leave university the main question is 'WHAT the eff do I do now?' So I do this…I guess I'm a pop artist who loves pop culture and I hope my work reflects this passion.I got my 'breakthrough' when I started filming my self showing off for youtube and the rest is Splintered Studios history (too dramatic!)
I have painted hundreds of paintings for many people all around the world from England to Australia…every single painting has been a pleasure and the fact that you guys let me paint for you is still pretty amazing! ….Umm I love Joss Whedon, Stanley Kubrick and have a constant battle in my head about whether I would want to be Spider-Man or Wolverine if I became a super hero.
Well thanks for visiting my site and I hope I can paint for you soon …. Steve xxx"
Throughout my art career I have had a fascination with what makes an icon, a celebrity, a hero, and if these people even have to be real. Contemporary cultural figures represent an ideal, a hope and a want, they teach us something, be it Buffy the Vampire Slayer, redefining the status of the feminist in today's society, or Spider-man, "with great power must come great responsibility".
By embracing and recognizing and sometimes admitting that these figures influence us, we therefore become a part of what they stand for.
My paintings in their very essence are post modern, they are not at all about themselves, but about the world outside the "Art world", they change meaning and worth depending on who views them. I overtly borrow techniques and styles from the history of art, openly admitting and showing off these influences instead of covering them up with values of the "Original". I believe in art, as everything else in the world, the only way you know where something is going is if you know where it has been.
Stephen Quick born in Honiton and trained in Bristol. Since leaving university he has set up the art and film studio "Splintered Studios" which has been based in Honiton, Teignmouth and now back in Bristol.
He is an internationally collected artist with collectors all around Europe and America and as far a field as Australia and Japan. High profile projects have included his artwork for the stage production of Mojo Mickeybo on London's West End.
His film "In the Key of Water" was used to highlight water shortage at The National Association of Landscape Architects in Bergan, Norway. Articles on his art and art theory have featured in various local magazines including Devon Life, Plymouth Life, Home and Garden and Exeter Flying post.
His speed painting videos have featured on Sky's Oops TV, and the web sites of the BBC, Adam and Joe, GameSpot UK and 30 Seconds To Mars. These videos have brought him massive exposure and a wide fan base; he is just about to hit 1 million views on YouTube, to whom he is now a partner with.
"We live in a world where everything including our dreams are dictated by the media and the celebrities. With my pop art I embrace the materialistic nature of our heroes and icons, who we idolize and sometimes even define"
1997 – GCSE Fine Art (Top 5% in the country)
1999 – A' Level Art, Honiton Community College
1999 – A' Level Design, Honiton Community College
2000 – Btec National Diploma in Art and Design, Exeter College
2004 – BA Hons Degree Fine Art, University of the West of England, Bristol
