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Space, the final frontier these are the voyages of the artist Gary Cartlidge and his journey from graffiti Banksy style creator. To that of an artist Creating timeless classics without a clear and direct reference.
The concept of liminal spaces is something that now features prominently in Cartlidge’s work. In a time and place of the isolation of 2020 the artwork that Gary has produced is a perfect personification of the moment we live in. The concept of Liminality is simple it is the quality of ambiguity that occurs in the middle of a rite of passage.
The world finds itself in that of a liminal space in every sense of the word, where we go next is uncertain at best. One thing is for sure we are all highly disoriented and lost, work such as that produced by Gary can help illustrate this in a visual medium.
This theme could not be more appropriate for the time space that Gary is currently in. After a start as one of the very first crypto artists selling for just 5usd. Gary has now moved into a period where he now regularly breaks the 1000 usd value. While his story can be traced back to known origin, he now finds himself in flux. Featuring on almost every platform Gary is both creating artwork that represents both the state of the human condition in the last year and his own situation.
Growing up on estates of London Gary found the general rat race of life to that of a nihilistic slog. That is until he discovered art and the creative outlook it gave him. expressing themes that at first in his artistic development are simplistic iconoclastic in nature. Criticism of the human situation are common in his early work. Further to this, the duality of the artists journey is a theme in Gary’s work that cannot be ignored; on one hand artistic integrity comments on the capitalistic and soulless nature of the successful artist. On the other the inevitable fall into this success and at the same time the perpetuation of the very systems criticized.
Liminality is the true aspect of what Gary’s work is both in the visual and conceptual. The question then presents itself; if he is in a transitional phase where is he heading? In this curator’s humble opinion up and into the very space that his initial creations deplored. this dear reader is not a criticism it is in fact it is the opposite; the truth is all great artists start by fighting a system decrying it and trying to change it. However, before too long they become a part of the very machine they wished to break.
This is both necessary and justifiable, the question is not will a great artist become part of the thing they fight. The real question is what message they will choose to send when they find themselves at the top.
In short Gary’s work is nothing less than genius uniquely tailored and developed over years in the field. If you have the chance you should pick up a work from this creator before he is priced far beyond what a normal collector can afford. If you picked up one from him on Known origin or BAE congratulations your smarter than 95% of the market. If you are buying now you are still making a great choice. The next steps for Gray are clear an unstoppable rise so get in while you can…
