Stephen Whatcott is now a regular with The Creative Bubble, a multi-discipline pop up event at Roxy Bar and Screen, London.

The first time we came across his work, we just thought that the talent was obvious so we are very happy to have it once again in our upcoming pop up art gallery (see details at the bottom of this post).

Although, his pastel and acrylic works are mostly using black nuances, we think a touch of colours could be a winner, the quality of the drawing is remarkable and some of his pieces are pretty large and imposing when hung on the wall

We asked the man a few questions about himself and his art –

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Art-Pie – Can you tell our readers about yourself in a few words?

Stephen Whatcott – Well, I kind of see myself as a painter who draws or something like that anyway. I think my work is difficult to categorise: I paint with acrylic but draw with pastel, it’s realistic but with a kind of comic book feel, and I often merge lots of images together like a collage to put an idea across to the viewer.

Art-Pie – Can you tell us about your creative process and where does your inspiration comes from?

Stephen Whatcott – I illustrate people in everyday life situations, or doing everyday things, with the intention of capturing the mood or the feelings that the people are experiencing. I’m primarily concerned with the notion of what it is to be human. I like the idea of capturing the time we live in right now and our moment in human history.

Art-Pie – Give us the names of three artists you admire or like?

Stephen Whatcott – It’s hard to name just three. When I started painting in an attempt to earn a living I was massively influenced by the New York artists from the mid twentieth century like Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning. But Edward Hopper was my first fine art crush back in high school, and Egon Schiele, too. Contemporary artists I admire are guys like Erik Jones, Joel Daniel Phillips, Andrew Salgado, Herbert Baglione, Robert Mars, Francesco Francavilla, Rich Kelly… there are so many. I blog about art I like at www.thatguywhodrawsstuff.blogspot.co.uk/.

Art-Pie – Street art is something we like at Art-Pie, what is your take on that form of art?

Stephen Whatcott – I think Street art is another organic art movement that happened as a natural reaction against the formal art world, like Impressionism was. Why enter the gallery arena when the world, and the public, are outside your door? It’s also a political movement, like Punk was in the 70s, but unfortunately it tends to get ignored by the fine art world for whatever reason, because it can be low brow or something, who knows. I think it’s culturally relevant and very important especially in today’s political landscape.

Art-Pie – Are there any other projects or shows that you will be involved with for the rest of 2015 that you want share with us?

Stephen Whatcott – The past year has been pretty crazy on a personal level due to moving house and studio which has eaten into a huge chunk of my work time. I was in the Pastel Society’s annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries last month though which was great. I’m currently concentrating on producing some new work at the moment which I’ll be showing as and when throughout the year… so I’ll be around.

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WHAT – The Creative Bubble, POP UP Art Gallery, Spoken Word, Poetry, Short Films, Music & Networking
WHERE – Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB
WHEN – Wed 29/4/2015 (POP UP art gallery opening night) / Thursd 30 (Spoken word)