M-ONE, LOOK BACK MOVE FORWARD

I love stencil art that pushes the boundaries and that is exactly what you get with the current collection of work on display at the Play Dead gallery by finger ninja M-One. The title of the show is "Look Back Move Forward" which refers to the fact that you do not (should not) need to reinvent yourself completely in order to develop as an artist. For this show what M-One has done is take several of his past stencils and give them a new lease of life.  So you'll still see the cars and vans daubed in graffiti and the birds with their delicately cut feathers but there is added depth and maturity to this body of work. What appears to be a random stroke of a spray can or ink splatter is actually perfectly controlled to add to the overall composition and his ability to create layers of drips within drips leaves me full of envy. His colour choice is on point with the traditional mix of peacock and kingfisher blues with an orange or yellow accent but for me the exciting part is how the striking red on the albino peacock takes over in what I view as a potential farewell to the trusted blue colour palette. Only time will tell.

​M-One once again shows his human side by not only inviting young art enthusiast Maddox Deavin-Lee to exhibit alongside him but ​he also held a sealed bids auction which resulted in £400 being donated to a local foodback. If you haven't seen it already I suggest you take a look in the Play Dead gallery in Southsea or follow the great work from M-One on either Instagram or Facebook. Hope you enjoy the gallery below.