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On June 7 1958, jazz singer Mattie Della, and her husband pianist and songwriter John Lewis Nelson had a son. They decided to name him after his father’s stage name ‘Prince Rogers Nelson’. Years later, this young Minneapolis music protégé would shorten the spotlight to just Prince. This in time was further abbreviated to
which was dubbed ‘Love Symbol #2’ - a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀).
During a vibrant music career, Prince recored a string of epoque-defining albums, including ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Sign o’ the Times’ and ‘Diamonds and Pearls’. Both musically and visually, he challenged the perception of rock and roll personas, adopting the same shape-shifting abilities of those few rarified artists, many of whom are longer with us.
On April 21, 2016, the man who had sung “I am something that you'll never understand”, and who had converted himself into a sensuously-creative, hybrid being, was found unconscious at his home at Paisley Park. He died moments later.
which was dubbed ‘Love Symbol #2’ - a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀).During a vibrant music career, Prince recored a string of epoque-defining albums, including ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Sign o’ the Times’ and ‘Diamonds and Pearls’. Both musically and visually, he challenged the perception of rock and roll personas, adopting the same shape-shifting abilities of those few rarified artists, many of whom are longer with us.
On April 21, 2016, the man who had sung “I am something that you'll never understand”, and who had converted himself into a sensuously-creative, hybrid being, was found unconscious at his home at Paisley Park. He died moments later.
Living for Love | Artist - Pegasus. Installed February 2015
It was over 80 years ago, when a coquettish, and somewhat salacious cartoon character slinked onto the silver screen, courtesy of Fleischer Studios, 1600 Broadway, New York. Her name was Betty Boop.
Her enduring symbolism - as an independent, autonomous feminine icon - has continued to this day; the power of the caricature suddenly a resurgent token as the 21-st century struggles to find credible role models for society's leaders. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Betty Boop, a symbol of the Depression era, can communicate such simple, yet effective messaging.
The appropriation of the cartoon and comic figure has evolved, through Pop Art in the 1960s, via the work of Lichenstein and Warhol, into the modern era, with street artists such as Keith Haring, and more recently the likes of Banksy, D*Face, Bambi and a legion of media-mocking urban art practitioners.
It is no coincidence that a Chicago-born, London-based street artist named Pegasus cites Warhol as an influence. He feeds from the Pennsylvanian's maxim “In the future, everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes”, manipulating the transient limelight of celebrity through a provocative portfolio of sharp, graphic vignettes, sprayed in cartoon-palette colours across the doors and walls of our city.
In only a few year's, Pegasus has been likened to a Warhol for the post-modern era - objectifying popular culture - with works spanning Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Elisabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Kate Moss, Queen Elizabeth II, Angelina Jolie, and Amy Winehouse. In 2011, it was an artwork commemorating the tragic death of singer Winehouse (Fallen Angel) that acted as a springboard for the American's own rise to fame.
Despite the apparent luster of comic-strip parody, Pegasus' subjects are not pure; there is a underlying undertone, a dark side; his chosen subjects nearly all touched by the ill-fated consequences of fame and fortune. His work holds a mirror up to the mythology of the modern era; even the chosen icon of this esoteric artist cleverly manifests a mythical creature - one with its feet on the ground, yet free to escape the material plane, and aspire to greats heights; a symbol of poetic inspiration.
Valentines day, 2015. TAG meets Pegasus outside the House of Beauty, N15, and an octogenarian icon speaks of Living for Love. The artist works quickly, and precisely. The end piece a showpiece of savvy spraying, despite the artists suggestion that he is still learning the trade. As ever, with any artwork placed within our walls, the locals are more than enthusiastic and grateful. Given the broad range of ages within our community, it is fitting that such a universal message can be delivered by a grand-dame who transcends time, and appeals to all. As Warhol said "Everyone needs a fantasy."
Her enduring symbolism - as an independent, autonomous feminine icon - has continued to this day; the power of the caricature suddenly a resurgent token as the 21-st century struggles to find credible role models for society's leaders. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Betty Boop, a symbol of the Depression era, can communicate such simple, yet effective messaging.
The appropriation of the cartoon and comic figure has evolved, through Pop Art in the 1960s, via the work of Lichenstein and Warhol, into the modern era, with street artists such as Keith Haring, and more recently the likes of Banksy, D*Face, Bambi and a legion of media-mocking urban art practitioners.
It is no coincidence that a Chicago-born, London-based street artist named Pegasus cites Warhol as an influence. He feeds from the Pennsylvanian's maxim “In the future, everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes”, manipulating the transient limelight of celebrity through a provocative portfolio of sharp, graphic vignettes, sprayed in cartoon-palette colours across the doors and walls of our city.
In only a few year's, Pegasus has been likened to a Warhol for the post-modern era - objectifying popular culture - with works spanning Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Elisabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Kate Moss, Queen Elizabeth II, Angelina Jolie, and Amy Winehouse. In 2011, it was an artwork commemorating the tragic death of singer Winehouse (Fallen Angel) that acted as a springboard for the American's own rise to fame.
Despite the apparent luster of comic-strip parody, Pegasus' subjects are not pure; there is a underlying undertone, a dark side; his chosen subjects nearly all touched by the ill-fated consequences of fame and fortune. His work holds a mirror up to the mythology of the modern era; even the chosen icon of this esoteric artist cleverly manifests a mythical creature - one with its feet on the ground, yet free to escape the material plane, and aspire to greats heights; a symbol of poetic inspiration.
Valentines day, 2015. TAG meets Pegasus outside the House of Beauty, N15, and an octogenarian icon speaks of Living for Love. The artist works quickly, and precisely. The end piece a showpiece of savvy spraying, despite the artists suggestion that he is still learning the trade. As ever, with any artwork placed within our walls, the locals are more than enthusiastic and grateful. Given the broad range of ages within our community, it is fitting that such a universal message can be delivered by a grand-dame who transcends time, and appeals to all. As Warhol said "Everyone needs a fantasy."
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TAG would like to thank Trea Clenaghan, and The House of Beauty for the generous donation of a wall, and cup of tea!
All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee | Artist - Pegasus. Installed June 2016
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In memory of
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)
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All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.
I Would Be Your Slave • London 2016 Artist - Pegasus. Installed January 2016
During the summer of 2012, notorious British street artist Banksy placed a large-scale street art piece above a bookshop in Maudlin Street, Bristol. His trademark anarchic commentary on society was depicted through an alternative tribute to Queen Elizabeth II; celebrating her Diamond Jubilee year - by subverting another modern British icon, Ziggy Stardust; one of the more esoteric manifestations of singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, painter and actor David Bowie.
During that same year, Banksy would visit Turnpike Lane, London N15; more specifically Whymark Avenue, and create another Jubilee protest piece - Slave Labour. This small scale artwork would, one year later, spark a UK-wide outcry - having been carved from the wall which housed it, for sale to an American collector for the reported sum of $1.1 million. Among many commentators at the time, the Turnpike Art Group were interviewed by TV news channels for a view on the 'scandal' surrounding Slave Labour. During the intervening years the space slipped to urban decay, and lost its soul.
One might argue both Banksy and Bowie wore a cloaked veil of masked identity; the facade of an artist speaking through carefully crafted marionettes - agents for beliefs - a manteau through which to counter the world we live in. Just as Ziggy was a messenger for extraterrestrial beings, have the legions of rats and monkeys not done the same for Banksy's wish to expose the raw nerves of our society? Such artist's talent for camouflage can sometimes deliver Zeitgeist-defining sounds and visions.
On 10 January 2016, David Robert Jones passed away. His legacy a back catalogue of sublime musicianship, which would define multi-eras, and leave an art world bereft of one of its high priests. As an arbiter of rebellion, and arguably the UK's greatest ever Pop Artist, tributes to his legacy have been manyfold. For TAG, it seemed entirely appropriate to revisit a Bowie track - I would Be Your Slave - and ask a prolific, skilled practitioner of rebellious art - Pop artist Pegasus - to fashion a genie for our walls. We worked together - laying a new artwork over the site where Slave Labour once broadcast its original message - with a tribute to the leper messiah, who all too briefly played guitar.
During that same year, Banksy would visit Turnpike Lane, London N15; more specifically Whymark Avenue, and create another Jubilee protest piece - Slave Labour. This small scale artwork would, one year later, spark a UK-wide outcry - having been carved from the wall which housed it, for sale to an American collector for the reported sum of $1.1 million. Among many commentators at the time, the Turnpike Art Group were interviewed by TV news channels for a view on the 'scandal' surrounding Slave Labour. During the intervening years the space slipped to urban decay, and lost its soul.
One might argue both Banksy and Bowie wore a cloaked veil of masked identity; the facade of an artist speaking through carefully crafted marionettes - agents for beliefs - a manteau through which to counter the world we live in. Just as Ziggy was a messenger for extraterrestrial beings, have the legions of rats and monkeys not done the same for Banksy's wish to expose the raw nerves of our society? Such artist's talent for camouflage can sometimes deliver Zeitgeist-defining sounds and visions.
On 10 January 2016, David Robert Jones passed away. His legacy a back catalogue of sublime musicianship, which would define multi-eras, and leave an art world bereft of one of its high priests. As an arbiter of rebellion, and arguably the UK's greatest ever Pop Artist, tributes to his legacy have been manyfold. For TAG, it seemed entirely appropriate to revisit a Bowie track - I would Be Your Slave - and ask a prolific, skilled practitioner of rebellious art - Pop artist Pegasus - to fashion a genie for our walls. We worked together - laying a new artwork over the site where Slave Labour once broadcast its original message - with a tribute to the leper messiah, who all too briefly played guitar.
RIP David Bowie (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016).
I Would Be Your Slave
I bet you laugh out loud at me
A chance to strike me down
Give me peace of mind at last
Show me all you are
Open up your heart to me
And I would be your slave
Further reading:
BOWIE LANDS ON WALL WHERE A BANKSY WAS
By Susan Hansen - Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Chair of the Forensic Psychology Research Group at Middlesex University
I Would Be Your Slave
I bet you laugh out loud at me
A chance to strike me down
Give me peace of mind at last
Show me all you are
Open up your heart to me
And I would be your slave
Further reading:
BOWIE LANDS ON WALL WHERE A BANKSY WAS
By Susan Hansen - Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Chair of the Forensic Psychology Research Group at Middlesex University
All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.
Thriller • London 2015 Artist - Pegasus. Installed October 2015
It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark,
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart,
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it,
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You're paralyzed...
This thrilling piece courtesy of Pegasus 2015
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart,
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it,
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You're paralyzed...
This thrilling piece courtesy of Pegasus 2015
All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.
Ta-ra Chuck • London 2015 Artist - Pegasus. Installed August 2015
Celebrity, much like life itself, can often be fleeting. Yet some stella performers seem to leave a lasting glow of limelight once they depart for that big Green Room in the sky.
So when Priscilla Maria Veronica White, aka Cilla Black, gave a final 'Ta-ra' on August 1st 2015, her legacy was only just beginning. Cilla's eventful life was neither black, nor white. And now the portal of popular culture has swung open to pay tribute to the career of a British pop icon, and national treasure, there can be few more suitable candidates than UK-based street artist Pegasus.
So when Priscilla Maria Veronica White, aka Cilla Black, gave a final 'Ta-ra' on August 1st 2015, her legacy was only just beginning. Cilla's eventful life was neither black, nor white. And now the portal of popular culture has swung open to pay tribute to the career of a British pop icon, and national treasure, there can be few more suitable candidates than UK-based street artist Pegasus.
All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.
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