{{Short description|British graffiti artist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{distinguish|stikman}} {{Infobox artist | name = Stik | image = Entrance to the Migration Museum in Lewisham, London.jpg | caption = Stik's stickman character (right) on a section of the Berlin Wall outside the Migration Museum | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = United Kingdom | field = {{ubl|Graffiti art | Street art}} | training = | awards = | website = {{URL|www.stik.org}} }}
'''Stik''', stylised as '''STIK''',<ref name=wall /> is a British graffiti artist based in London.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |title=BBC News - Street artist to make Big Issue sellers 'art dealers' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21717245 |accessdate=9 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="londonist">{{cite web |title=London Street Art Guide: 1. Stik |work=Londonist.com |url=http://londonist.com/2010/09/london_street_art_guide_1_stik.php |accessdate=June 17, 2012}}</ref> Born in 1979, with no formal art school training, Stik is known for painting large stick figures that are six-lines, and two-dot figures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=unknown |first=unknown |date=4 September 2019 |title='A collaboration with the city': Stik and the art of the street |url=https://www.christies.com/stories/interview-with-street-artist-stik-a36c58541fa04f81af64d75c7ea8f871 |website=Christies}}</ref>
==Overview== Stik paints stick figure-like people as signature characters in street art.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 January 2011 |title=Street Artist: Stik | publisher=Streetartlondon.co.uk |url=https://streetartlondon.co.uk/blog/2011/01/06/street-artist-stik/ |accessdate=June 17, 2012}}</ref> He began in London,<ref name="independent">{{cite web |title=In pictures: Street art collaboration between Stik and Thierry Noir in London's Shoreditch |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/in-pictures-street-art-collaboration-between-stik-and-thierry-noir-in-londons-shoreditch-8515042.html |accessdate=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905035025/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/in-pictures-street-art-collaboration-between-stik-and-thierry-noir-in-londons-shoreditch-8515042.html |archive-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> working in its northeast area of Hackney, especially in Shoreditch,<ref name="londonist" /> "and now paints murals all over the world in Europe, Asia and America."<ref name="independent"/>
His work is almost childlike in its simplicity and draws from the time he spent in Japan studying Japanese calligraphy characters known as kanji.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stik Art for Sale: Prints & Originals |url=https://www.myartbroker.com/artist-stik |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=MyArtBroker |language=en}}</ref> In the neutrality of the figures he draws, they strike a chord with symbolism and emotion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARTIST BIO - STIK |url=https://leonardsart.co.uk/stik/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=Leonards Art |language=en-GB}}</ref>
He liaises at the Central Saint Martins ''Graffiti Dialogues'' and has been funded to run graffiti workshops.<ref name="subway">{{cite web |date=3–26 March 2011 |title=Single Stik |publisher=Subwaygallery.com |url=http://www.subwaygallery.com/STIK.html |accessdate=June 17, 2012}}</ref> He has worked with Amnesty International, British Waterways, the Mutoid Waste Company, Queeruption, and Reclaim the Streets. He paints unauthorised art as well as pieces that are authorised.
In 2011, Stik had a solo show at Imitate Modern, a gallery in London's West End.<ref name="subway"/> In 2012, he worked in Dulwich, southeast London in collaboration with curator Ingrid Beazley, where he recreated Old Master paintings in his own style that were exhibited in Dulwich Picture Gallery.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 June 2012 |title=Walking with Stik |work=Dulwich OnView |url=http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2012/06/12/walking-with-stik/ |accessdate=June 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=9 May 2012 |title=Classical art meets street art as Stik takes to the streets of Dulwich |publisher=Dulwich Picture Gallery |website=press.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk |location=UK |url=http://press.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/2012/05/09/classical-art-meets-street-art-as-stik-takes-to-the-streets-of-dulwich/ |accessdate=June 17, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524062638/http://press.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/2012/05/09/classical-art-meets-street-art-as-stik-takes-to-the-streets-of-dulwich/ |archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bartholomew |first=Emma |date=22 May 2012 |title=Street artist Stik takes on Old Masters like Rubens, Gainsborough and Francheschini |work=London 24 |url=http://www.london24.com/news/street_artist_stik_takes_on_old_masters_like_rubens_gainsborough_and_francheschini_1_1385959 |accessdate=June 17, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625192931/http://www.london24.com/news/street_artist_stik_takes_on_old_masters_like_rubens_gainsborough_and_francheschini_1_1385959|archivedate=25 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=8 May 2013 |title=The Outdoor Street Gallery of Dulwich |work=Inspiring City |url=https://inspiringcity.com/2013/05/18/the-outdoor-street-art-gallery-of-dulwich/ |accessdate=9 January 2015}}</ref> This led to further street artists including Conor Harrington, MadC, Mear One, Thierry Noir, Francisco Rodrigues da Silva (Nunca), Phlegm, James Reka (Reka One), Remi Rough and System, and ROA, becoming involved to form the Dulwich Outdoor Gallery of street art around the Dulwich area in 2013. In February 2013 he collaborated with Noir in Shoreditch.<ref name="independent"/>
thumb|upright|Stik's "Holding Hands" sculpture in Hoxton square In April 2012, the ''London Evening Standard'' reported that "he was living in a St Mungo’s hostel for the homeless last year as he prepared for his first gallery show."<ref>{{cite web |title=Cult graffiti artist Stik swaps a life on the streets for starry client list |work=The Evening Standard |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/cult-graffiti-artist-stik-swaps-a-life-on-the-streets-for-starry-client-list-7647350.html |accessdate=9 January 2015}}</ref>
In March 2013 Stik gave away poster copies of his art via ''The Big Issue.''<ref name="bbc"/> The BBC said at the time that in "the last two years, Stik's fame has grown with celebrity endorsements and rising auction prices.<ref name="bbc"/> One of his works, a sculpture titled ‘Up On The Roof’, fetched £150,000 at auction.<ref>{{cite news |date=2018-10-15 |title=Stik Sculpture Fetches a Staggering £150,000 at Christies Auction for Theatre Charity, 2018 |work=GraffitiStreet |url=https://www.graffitistreet.com/stik-sculpture-fetches-a-staggering-150000-at-christies-auction-for-theatre-charity-2018/ |access-date=2018-10-30}}</ref>
In 2020 Stik's sculpture "Holding Hands" was installed in Hoxton Square in London.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stik's Hoxton Square sculpture 'Holding Hands' unveiled |url=https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/22930711.stiks-hoxton-square-sculpture-holding-hands-unveiled/ |access-date=9 August 2023 |work=Hackney Gazette |date=24 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref> [[File:Wall by Stik and Thierry Noir.png|thumb|right |''Wall'' outside the Migration Museum in Lewisham Shopping Centre]] The sculpture ''Wall'', at the entrance to the Migration Museum in Lewisham Shopping Centre, is made up of two panels from the former Berlin Wall, one painted by Stik and one by Thierry Noir.<ref name="wall">{{cite web |title=Wall |url=https://www.migrationmuseum.org/exhibition/wall/ |website=Migration Museum |access-date=25 November 2023}}</ref>
In June 2022 at Bonhams Post-War and Contemporary Art sale, Stik's work ''Children of the Fire'' achieved a sale of £247,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bonhams : Stik Triumphs at Bonhams Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale in London |url=https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/34731/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=www.bonhams.com}}</ref>
==Publications== *''Stik.'' Century, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1780893334}}.
==See also== * List of street artists
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *{{Official website|stik.org}} *[https://maddoxgallery.com/news/284-from-murals-to-the-millennial-marketplace-the-evolution/ From Mural to the Millennial Marketplace: the Evolution of STIK, by Maddox Gallery on May 25, 2022]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Artists from London Category:English graffiti artists