We’re excited to announce the arrival of a new collective of young energetic artists at artrepublic. Victym Studio was in launched in May 2012, from their base in Twickenham, London, with a determination to bring superb design to a wide audience.
The dynamic collective aims to champion and nurture original design talent from around London. They showcased their first collection ‘Manifest’, produced by five designers from the studio, at Tupelo Honey Cade in the heart of Camden, London. Their initial focus is on high quality screen-printing of exclusive limited edition prints, but they intend to build the brand, evolving to represent an exciting and diverse community of artists and designers, working within a wide range of artistic processes.
Artists Fraser Gillespie and James Hanrahan front the collective, both having a background in art and design. Fraser Gillespie is a graphic designer and illustrator who’s passionate about print design. Since leaving university in 2011, he’s worked for various graphic design companies. His own work is influenced by geometrical shapes, intricate symbols, abstract images from the once thriving vinyl sleeve industry, tattoo art and the metal subculture scene of his youth. He’s also inspired by Art Deco artists such as Alphonse Mucha.
Currently, artrepublic are representing 4 artists from the collective, Fraser Gillespie, Dean Sloman, Daniel Pearce, and Alex Mahood. We have a stunning collection of works by Gillespie which are beautifully detailed and intricate, full of intriguing symbolism. He has a number of powerful prints featuring the faces of fierce animals, such as a tiger, eagle, and wolf. These works are hugely captivating and reveal Gillespie’s compositional strength. Whilst his romantic and seductive representations of females, such as ‘Venice’, ‘Sola’ and ‘Gather, Girl, The Roses’ are reminiscent of the alluring aesthetics of street artists Prefab77 and Copyright.
‘Third Stone from the Sun’ and ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ are our two silkscreen limited edition prints from Dean Sloman. ‘Third Stone from the Sun’ is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1967, often cited as one of the earliest examples of fusion because of its mix of rock and jazz styles. Sloman fuses photographic sources in both prints to create charming vintage style collages. ‘Great Gig in the Sky’, especially, has all of the playful, retro, appeal of a Joe Webb.
‘CMYKetchup!’ by Daniel Pearce and ‘Oh Mary, What Happened to You?’ by Alex Mahood reveal the original diversity of the Victym collective. Both are bold and eye-catching designs with a strong graphic style. Each piece from these innovative artists is a limited edition silkscreen print, sequentially numbered and signed by the artist, from an edition of only 20. With prices as low as £45 these works offer an incredibly affordable investment in up and coming British art talent.
In an interview with UK Street Art Victym Collective said, “For the past 8 months we have been working vigorously, using this time to produce pieces to feature in the debt collection, but also to establish the brand. The identity of this being a natural reflection of our working styles. By introducing expertise from up and coming, to the more established artists means for a more diverse display of talent, catering for a vast audience."
