A major new exhibition of paintings by seminal New York street artist Richard Hambleton will open in London on 13 September 2018. The highly anticiapted show will present 60 original works and photographs, including many that are rare or previously unseen, the exhibition Shadowman will take over the Leake Street Arches underneath Waterloo Station. As well as this, a display of limited edition prints will be available from Maddox Gallery, Westbourne Grove, from 18 September.
Richard Hambleton was at the forefront of the New York street art movement in the early 1980s, forming the landscape with other greats such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He soon became recognized for his black ‘shadowman’ silhouettes that popped up by suprise in corners, alleyways and on walls across lower Manhattan overnight. In fact, he was the first artist to use the city as a canvas and the first street artist to attract the attention by the powers that be, consequently finding commercial and critical success in the early 80s.
This exhibition will showcase many of Hambleton’s most influential works, including his early ‘Shadowman’ canvas paintings, a selection of his ‘Marlboro’ rodeo horse silhouettes and his ‘Beautiful Paintings’ series of landscapes and seascapes. The exhibition will also feature the iconic photographs of his murals across the streets of New York, photographed by Hank O’Neal.
Born in Vancouver in 1952, Hambleton studied Fine Art at the Emily Carr School of Art in Vancouver and graduating in the mid-70s. From there, he went on to graduate from the San Francisco Institute of Art and became a fully fledged artist by the end of the decade. Under the pseudonym ‘Mr Ree’, he worked all over Canada and the US at night, painting fake police chalk outlines on pavements with a splash of blood-red paint to mimic a crime scene. At the start of the 1980s, Hambleton moved to New York and this is where he became notorious for his ‘shadowman’ wall murals.
By the mid-80s his reputation had sky rocketed, and he was selling his paintings on canvas for high figures. Having the critics on side, he was often referred to as the definitive American Pop-Expressionist artist. Despite his addiction to drugs and a period of homelessness he continued with his artwork until his death last year.
Hambleton is credited with starting the New York street art movement, paving the way for the commercial success of his contemporaries such as Basquiat and Haring. It’s undeniable that he inspired a new generation of artists, including Blek le Rat, who first saw Hambleton’s work in Paris.
Jointly presented by Andy Valmorbida, art collector and long-time supporter of Richard Hambleton, and Maddox Gallery, Shadowman will be the first major exhibition of Hambleton’s work since the artist’s death in October 2017.
RICHARD HAMBLETON: SHADOWMAN
13 – 15 September 2018
Leake Street Arches, London & Maddox Gallery, London
