SHADOWMAN LIMITED EDITION COLLECTION
The story, life and work of Richard Hambleton may well be the art world’s best kept secret. Here begins the - long overdue - global movement to allow Hambleton to emerge from the shadows of our collective consciousness with a posthumous publishing programme and an immersive exhibition; Shadowman .
intimidating to the East Village’s ever-present drug dealers and gang members than they were to innocent passers-by. As such, they could be guardians, watchmen or potential assailants. No one was beyond their reach. Whilst public art was a relatively new concept, Hambleton was already light years ahead of the scene. His installations carried far greater depth than mere visual impact; they came complete with a narrative, characters (a private detective called ‘R. Dick Trace It’ and the murdered ‘Mr Reeee’) and a sense of a murder mystery plot playing out across the country. Far from being abashed by the consternation that his series was causing, Hambleton embraced the controversy and invited artists to draw the likeness of Mr Reeee – a challenge that over 300 artists accepted. For a man who held great cynicism for the ‘art world’ and strived to evade the rule and regulations he felt were little more than constrictive nuisances, this was a welcome opportunity to disrupt the establishment in one of the most conceptually innovative ways ever seen. After only a few years, and with over 400 shadowmen pervading the landscape of Manhattan, Hambleton was soon to take his art to Europe. Following invitations to exhibit at the Venice Biennale and paint on the Berlin Wall, interest in him had never been higher and his innate distrust of gallerists and art dealers catalysed his withdrawal from the art world. He retreated into his studio, away from the spotlight, and began a descent into poor health and substance abuse. The shadowmen’s founding father became little more than a shadow himself. Eventually living in squalor, painting to fund his drug habit and pay for food, it is inconceivable that Hambleton remained able to create such seminal works. Far more inclined to embrace the shadows than bask in the light, never has art imitated life more than Richard Hambleton’s Shadowman series. These iconic limited edition graphics are exclusive to Castle FineArt and mark the first time since his passing that - working with the Hambleton estate - there is a distinct movement to keep alive the undertaking that he started over forty years ago. Castle Fine Art is privileged to bring this cultural revolution from street to canvas. The experience begins.
In 1979 . 3 men met in Club 57
Thus the holy trinity of Richard Hambleton, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring was born. Theirs was a perfect storm of creativity, concept and circumstance, marking a new chapter in art history and changing the face of New York’s now iconic East Village art scene forever. Among the desperate crime and poverty of the district – a world away from the gentrified veneer of style and bonhomie it exudes today – these three pioneers took centre stage in an art revolution. Prior to his arrival in New York, Hambleton had already gained notoriety for his Image Mass Murder series, executed as he worked his way along the West Coast, leaving behind what appeared to be a one-man killing spree in his wake. Belying the chaos was method, planning and perfectionism. Each location was thoroughly researched before Hambleton took to cities under the cover of nightfall to situate his shadowmen in settings chosen to elicit the most startling reactions from those who passed them by. Lurking round corners, down alleyways or seemingly hovering ominously in doorways, they became a newsworthy phenomenon. Indeed, he viewed taunting and manipulating the media as ‘part of the work’. In his own words, ‘I painted the town black’. Such was the realism he painted into his faux crime scenes that he tapped into the zeitgeist and materialised the fear that permeated cities and neighbourhoods; he reduced citizens to victims in waiting. Referring to his work as public art rather than graffiti, or the more modern moniker of street art, he felt keenly that art was entirely dependent on the interactivity with those viewing it. This symbiotic relationship became the ultimate equaliser, with the ‘shadowmen’ proving to be no less
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