Nathan Bowen 'Basquiat + Warhol' Original Available

Artist: Nathan Bowen
Title: Basquiat + Warhol
Medium: Ink + Pen on Paper
Size: 42 x 60 cm
Edition: UNIQUE
Price: £300

 

Nathan Bowen is a British street artist whose raw, expressive style brings urgency and dark humour to city walls across London and beyond. Born in 1982 and raised in Deptford, he began drawing on whatever surfaces he could find, developing a compulsive need to mark public space that continues to drive his daily practice. Working primarily with black acrylic and chunky charcoal sticks, he creates frantic figures that seem to claw their way out of brickwork, their wide eyes and gaping mouths suggesting both protest and despair.

His process is immediate and instinctive. Carrying paint and brushes in a backpack, Bowen approaches walls with no preliminary sketches, allowing the texture, cracks and graffiti beneath to guide each stroke. This spontaneity results in images that feel alive, as if the characters might shuffle or scream at any moment. Recurring motifs include skeletal birds, distorted clowns and suited men with melting faces, all rendered with aggressive mark-making that leaves drips and splatters as evidence of speed and emotion.

Beyond murals, Bowen produces smaller works on found wood and cardboard, often incorporating torn adverts, rusted metal and shattered glass to amplify themes of urban decay and resilience. He also stages “live attacks,” painting rapidly while interacting with passers-by, turning the act of creation into a public performance that challenges perceptions of vandalism and art.

Despite brushes with authority, he remains committed to unauthorised work, believing the street offers the most honest dialogue with society. Through every frantic figure and smeared grin, Nathan Bowen invites viewers to confront the chaos of modern life and to find catharsis in the act of rebellion.

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