ILLUMINATI NEON
ILLUMINATI NEON
When British punk rock took over London’s cultural scene in the 1970s, the world turned up the volume and listened. Spearheaded by bands like The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sex Pistols and The Damned, this ear-splitting fusion of anarchy and expression defined a generation. Its working-class angst spoke to one rebellious teenager in particular: Mark Sloper, the artist behind Illuminati Neon. Now collected by celebrities including Sir Elton John, Sting and Boy George, Mark – a noted documentary maker – moves in the same circles as some of showbiz’s best-known names. His new collection, The Art of Chaos , is a homage to the punk rock genre, featuring a selection of large-scale, mixed media artworks and two limited edition prints with a graphic that reportedly has the approval of the Queen herself. Featuring punk-inspired imagery emblazoned with neon, vintage memorabilia and song lyrics, his original
artworks have commanded the attention of the art world. In 2019, he was showcased at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery for their START Art Fair, which features some of the best emerging global talent. Hand-painted in oils and acrylics at his studio in Shepherd’s Bush, his fluorescent creations are just as anarchic as their namesake. The handblown glass neon is formed using a centuries-old technique, echoing the exhilarating mixture of modern and classical that shaped the punk rock aesthetic. Mark says: “Every piece tells a story about that transformative era: my experience of it, the people who made it and became my friends, and the honorary punks who personified its anarchy, chaos and rock ‘n’ roll long before the movement had a name.” Find out more about the collection online or at your local Castle Fine Art gallery.
WATCH STUDIO VIDEO
In 2020, Mark was featured by the press when his punk portrait of Queen Elizabeth II received the royal approval from none other than the Queen herself! The matriarch is said to have enjoyed the artwork, but requested that her ‘Philip’ heart tattoo be changed to the royal crest - and Mark dutifully obliged. He says: “Allegedly, she burst out laughing but requested that it be changed so that it matched her bathrobes and slippers.”
BLUE HEADLINES QUEEN Hand Varnished Boxed Canvas with Gems | Edition of 195 Image Size 26” x 36” | Framed Size 36’’ X 46’’ £995
PINK RAINBOW QUEEN Hand Varnished Boxed Canvas with Gems | Edition of 195 Image Size 26” x 36” | Framed Size 36’’ X 46’’ £995
PUNK QUEENS SET OF 2 £1,795
ORIGINAL NEON ART
QUEEN IN RESIDENCE I “As a child, a visit to London meant a visit to Buckingham Palace. I loved the Trooping of the Colour for the Queen’s birthday, and the raising of the flags. ‘Queen in residence’ appears on the flag to symbolise her sitting inside the palace, drinking her beloved gin martinis (no lemon). It’s like having a piece of the Crown in your own front room.”
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Queen In Residence In Violet Neon On Palace Flag 90 x 90cm £6,500
BABY JOKER “The Joker is the original punk rocker, with his ripped-up clothes and multicoloured hair. He is a hero to the disenfranchised youth. His character was created by DC Comics in the 1940s, so he sits upon a vintage USA flag from this era. I’ve imagined him happy at the end of the Gotham riots, looking down on the anarchy he has created all around himself.”
An original artwork with pink neon typograpgy on a 1940’s vintage USA flag 78 x 137cm £9,950
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN – SPECIAL EDITION
“The title is taken from the immortalised lyrics of the naughtiest band in recent times, my all-time favourites, the mighty Sex Pistols. This is the music that hooks you in as a child and stays with you forever. To my shattered ears, it still sounds dark, evil and fun. “Another influence is of course the English artist and anarchist Jamie Reid, whose controversial ‘God Save the Queen’ album artwork for the Sex Pistols was based on Cecil Beaton’s Silver Jubilee portrait. Featuring cut-out words and letters from newspapers over the Queen’s eyes and mouth, it was shocking at the time.”
God save the queen We mean it man We love our queen God saves
‘God Save the Queen’, Sex Pistols
Each queen piece is individually hand-painted in acrylics or oils and the head is foam mounted for a 3D effect before being embellished with jewels and gold leaf. The crown can include up to 2,800 jewels!
Neon And Painted Portrait On Collaged Silver Metallic Board 110 x 140cm £12,500
“My first job in London was working on the 1990 film The Krays with the Kemp brothers, of Spandau Ballet fame. I was tasked with delivering a script to Reggie Kray in prison, and he told me I could have been a getaway driver for his gang.”
PLAYBOYS
SEX, DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL IV
“This is named after the ‘The Last of the Famous International Playboys’, which is a song by Morrissey that I really like. It’s about the British gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who were my heroes growing up.”
“This is the title of a famous punk song by Ian Dury, but that’s not what it’s about: it’s about a state of mind and how you want to live your life. When I was younger, I was completely off the rails, but now the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll have caught up with me…so kids, don’t do it!”
Multi-Coloured Neon On gold Board 120 x 60cm £5,950
Pink Neon On Framed Silver Board 60 x 120cm £5,950
“When I was a kid in the West Country, I didn’t have anyone to look after me most of the time, so I’d cycle round to my grandad Leslie’s tiny little cottage. He would buy me sweets and then tell me daredevil war stories about parachuting into Germany in the middle of the night when he was a soldier.”
HOPE AND GLORY I “This piece is in tribute to my grandad, who was in World War Two. I didn’t have any parents, so he was like my father figure growing up. He liked to tell me war stories about fighting German soldiers, and we’d always fly his old flags for football and the Queen’s birthday. Every time I create a flag artwork, I think of my grandad.”
Pink Neon On WW2 Flag 105 x 110cm £5,950
PUNK PRINCESS “Let’s celebrate Princess Diana as a rebel, as a punk, as a bit of fun! The tattoo on her shoulder says ‘Vicious’ – that’s me imagining Sid Vicious as her beau.”
Painted Portrait And Pink Neon 135 x 170cm £14,500
AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK
“I first filmed Amy when she was about 15 years old for a record label – she didn’t have the tattoos and was just a normal- looking Jewish girl. As the years went on, she went down the line of being a bit ‘punk rocker’ and getting into drugs. A close friend of mine – the American artist Henry Hate – actually inked her famous tattoos.”
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Painted Portrait With Red Neon On Vintage Flag 110 x 180cm £14,500
PHOTOGRAPH OF YOU “During COVID-19, I was staying at home and pondering on things in life, including memories. My kids have grown up really fast, and they’ve left home now. It made me think how lovely it would be if you could have a beautiful piece of art that you can pin your own photographs on to make it unique to you.
“It’s about making memories and things to smile at. My photographs include myself and my grandad, and with the late gangster ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, who was the godfather of my children. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll version of a family portrait.”
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Interactive Artwork With Neon Text And Painted Board 140 x 77cm £6,950
“Punk messages underwrite the neon to create statements that make you smile, laugh and think.”
And here they all are,
my latest works and
some golden oldies.
WELCOME TO PARADISE “This is a take on ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns N’ Roses. They are one of my favourite bands. It’s a brilliant artwork to have in your house: it’s meant to go by the doorway, so when you come into your home, it’s like a welcome.”
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN II “Punk rockers such as the Sex Pistols have been misunderstood as anti-royalist, but I celebrate the monarchy and love the Queen. Rule Britannia! My neon queens are big, bold, intricate works – and, without being big-headed, absolutely beautiful. Paul Cook and Steve Jones from the band have queens in their LA and London homes.”
Gold Neon On Distressed Wood 183 x 19 cm £3,500
Queen Portrait On Painted Collaged Background & Violet Neon 110 x 135cm £9,950
INSIDE THE STUDIO
To create the neon, Mark delicately bends the glass under a temperature of 500ºC and compresses gas within the tubes before using electric transformers to ignite it and create an organic glow. The true colour of neon is red, so Mark uses powder-coated neon tubes filled with argon (a chemical element) to produce a spectrum of colours. Jewels and gold leaf are added as finishing elements to create complexity and make each piece unique, while the ornate frames pay homage to the works of the Old Masters. He upscales his genuine vintage flags by mounting them to a modern board and sewing holes before preserving them with fabric conditioners and glazes. Mark says: “The art comes before the neon; I use the neon to express a statement and enhance the artwork beneath. I enjoy coming in, closing the door and creating beautiful artworks that are becoming increasingly complex. I keep supersizing pieces!”
This is my studio:
I’m surrounded by art, mess
and an explosion of neon colour.
DAVID BOWIE – STARMAN
JOHN LENNON IMAGINE
“One of the funniest things that ever happened in punk rock was when my friends – Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols – stole David Bowie’s amplifiers and guitars from the Hammersmith Apollo to set up their band just around the corner at Riverside Studios.”
“I was filming a video in a house in Henley-on-Thames, when I discovered that it was not only Ringo Starr’s home, but it was the very bedroom where John Lennon and Yoko Ono filmed ‘Imagine’. The song was on the radio and television all the time when I was a kid.”
WATCH VIDEO
WATCH VIDEO
Hand Painted Lennon On Painted Board & Pink Neon 133 x 136cm £9,950
Hand Painted Bowie On Painted Board And Pink Neon 133 x 136cm £9,950
“I love vintage flags, and now I’m saving them for the future by restoring them to their former glory. All of my Royal Standard flags are from 1890 to 1930 and are sourced from a vintage flag dealer on Portobello Road in London.”
LONDON CALLING I “‘London Calling’ is a very well-known song by The Clash. This artwork features a World War Two flag, as this phrase was used in the BBC World Service’s radio news broadcasts during the war. When writing the lyrics, Joe Strummer drew upon the chaos of the 1970s to create a radio broadcast from a dystopian future.”
WATCH VIDEO
Pink Neon On Original World War 2 Flag 105 x 70cm £5,950
EVERYTHING WILL FLOW II
TAKE ME OUT
“I’m a good friend of Brett Anderson, who is the lead singer of the English rock band Suede. One night over dinner, I asked him what his favourite song was and why. He told me that the most perfect Suede song is ‘Everything Will Flow’; it’s got an orchestra in it, and the lyrics are really clever. I created this piece in tribute to Brett, and presented him with one. He has it above his piano, where he writes all of the songs.”
“This piece reminds me of my time at art school in Sheffield. Just before The Smiths released their song ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ – which includes the lyrics ‘Take me out tonight’ and ‘If a double-decker bus crashes into us’ – I was drunk and fell under a double-decker bus. Luckily, it didn’t hurt at all and it just rolled over me!”
Handpainted Lyrics & Multi-Coloured Neon 114 x 98cm £5,950
Blue Neon On Silver Board 95 x 70cm £5,950
ILLUMINATI NEON
After a chance encounter with the new wave musician Adam Ant at the age of just 11 led to him touring with the band, Mark became drawn to the punk subculture. His studies at art college in the 1980s were interspersed with frequent trips to London, where he became close friends with some of the movement’s pioneers and troubadours, including the Sex Pistols and the Stranglers. A career in videography beckoned, and Mark went on to work as a cameraman and a director of photography for bands like the Police and Frankie Goes to Hollywood before joining the BBC. During his successful film career, Mark has directed and produced documentaries on Billy Fury, the Beatles, John Lennon, David Bowie, Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols and more. These legendary figures, along with his friend and fellow neon artist Chris Bracey, inspired Mark to create the Illuminati Neon brand. He adds: “It’s my homage to punk – not only the way we looked, but the way we thought and treated others. A little bit of Shepherd’s Bush punk ghetto is illuminating walls globally.” Born: St Ives, Cornwall Lives and works: Shepherd’s Bush, London Education: Psalter Lane Art College Exhibitions: Saatchi Gallery (2020), The Other Art Fair (2019)
Artwork gifted by Chris Bracey
The images contained within this literature are an artistic representation of the collection. To best experience our art, we recommend you contact your local gallery to arrange a viewing. © Washington Green 2021. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission.
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