This interest in decay has helped develop his style, motives and composition and he enjoys creating either unity or conflict between materials, backgrounds, motives and human intervention. He looks for inspirations in people, city landscapes, old buildings, graffiti, posters and decaying walls. Martin has a continuous urge to search for beauty in what is commonly dismissed as ugly, out of style or simply left behind. He drew inspiration from the city’s continuously changing landscape as he developed his own energetic aesthetic. Whatson began making art when he participated in Oslo’s graffiti scene in the 1990’s. The juxtapositions create a significant sense of layering and opposing worlds within each work. Martin Whatson makes public murals, paintings on canvas, prints, and sculptures that unite detailed grayscale compositions with colourful scribbles - his muted pictures of dancers, animals, and iconic art-historical figures feature patches of explosive, abstract graffiti. After following graffiti and its development, he started his own stencil production 10 years ago in the winter of 2004. While studying Art and Graphic design at Westerdals School of Communication, Oslo, he discovered stencils and the urban art scene. 1984) is a Norwegian born and based stencil artist. His original artworks grace private collections and institutional holdings, while solo exhibitions have taken center stage in cities spanning from Tokyo to Los Angeles and London to New York.Martin Whatson (b. Martin's work has left an indelible mark on festivals, collaborative projects, and urban walls across the globe. Whether immersing entirely or accentuating a specific detail, these images soon vanish beneath expressive layers of spray-painted strokes, bursting with a medley of colors and textures. True to his signature style, no grayscale space remains untouched in Martin's presence. The monochromatic tones and vacant spaces of his creations pay homage to the artist's alternative canvases-the concrete jungle itself. These minimalist figures are constructed using a few meticulously hand-cut stencils. His compositions often feature delicate and organic subjects, including butterflies, ballerinas, and animals, all set against empty grayscale backgrounds. With an equal presence on both walls and traditional canvases, Martin's art consistently explores the intersection of vulnerability and strength. This evolution brought him closer to an aesthetic that he believed could harmoniously marry the passion and spontaneity of graffiti with the delicate and transient qualities of nature-an equilibrium that came to define his artistic approach. In the early 2000s, Martin's fascination with layers took on a more literal form with the introduction of stencils into his repertoire. This parallel between creative influences and the cityscape's organic evolution is evident in his work, inspired by artists like Jose Parla and Cy Twombly. The physical tapestry of the city served as an enduring wellspring of inspiration, with each generation's elaboration and deconstruction of urban spaces contributing to the city's ever-evolving infrastructure. Hailing from Oslo, Norway, Martin emerged as an active participant in the burgeoning graffiti scene of the early 1990s-a period marked by a stringent zero-tolerance stance on street art. His works serve as a visual metaphor for the ebb and flow of urban life, symbolically recreating the cityscape only to then 'vandalize' it with his vibrant transformations. Over the past decade, Martin has crafted an unmistakable artistic aesthetic that seamlessly blends abstract motion with figurative stenciled compositions. Martin Whatson, born in 1984, is a renowned Norwegian street artist celebrated for his distinctive style characterized by calligraphic scribbles set within grayscale voids. Medium: Original Acrylic and Spray paint on Canvas
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