TEMPER//
Late last year, we had the privilege of visiting Temper at his studio for an advanced viewing of his latest collection TIME:LESS and to hear what lies in store for him in the coming year.
Our expedition took us to an industrial estate on the outskirts of Wolverhampton; an unassuming location for an artist of Temper’s calibre and international renown, and yet arguably fitting for a man so juxtaposed by his honesty and complexity. Stepping from a cold, grey wintery day into his studio reminded us of the early scenes from The Wizard of Oz , where Dorothy and Toto find themselves in Oz and the film famously segued from black and white to full glorious colour. Glancing around the room, we felt we were taken on a visual journey through the inner workings of Temper’s mind, with sketches, doodles and paintings as far as the eye could see. Note: this is a man who never sits still. This is a man who draws and paints to rest, sleep is merely something he knows he has to do in between creative outbursts. Picking up on The Wizard of Oz theme once more, it is fair to say that Temper does not travel the yellow brick road of his artistic career alone. As Dorothy leaned on her companions during her own personal odyssey, Temper also takes a few others with him along the way. First and foremost, of course, is the man behind the name. Artist Arron Bird first created his Temper alter ego to grant himself an alternative vein
of expression. Arron is completely different to Temper. He loves architecture, history, mythology. Temper is more nostalgic, he has absorbed every facet of popular culture over the years, and grew up in an environment dominated by black culture. “I can’t stand in front of a canvas and paint with a spray can as Arron Bird… The way I work with spray paint has nothing to do with Arron Bird.” In short, Arron gets out of the car and walks into the studio, at which point he passes the baton
to Temper. The training, discipline and dedication of learning how to use spray paint is solely down to Temper. Strangely, Arron and Temper have only just started communicating with each other. Recent pencil sketches are co- signed Arron Bird and Temper, in a nod to the two parts of his persona working collaboratively for the first time. But we can’t reveal too much about that just yet…you’ll have to watch this space! There has always been collision and conflict between Arron and Temper. The irony is that Temper painted the collection most
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FINE ART COLLECTOR SPRING 2017 47
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