Acrylic on canvas

20.3 × 20.3 cm. 7 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.

Signed in English and dated on the reverse label
PROVENANCE
Important Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued and signed by the artist

In the name of Doodle, Paintings Weird and Wonderful
A Feast of Graffiti from Mr Doodle

The intense eye-catching graffiti paintings of 28-year-old UK graffiti artist Sam Cox have placed him at forefront of a new art trend and made him a modern star in the world of art. Since 2018, Cox has produced work under the name Mr Doodle, actively sharing his daily creations on Instagram while attracting 2.7 million fans and selling pieces at major art fairs to be collected by art lovers around the world.

As a child, Cox loved to draw graffiti on electrical appliances and the ceiling of his family home, viewing the surfaces of objects as vehicles for creation. In 2017, he took part in a marathon “50-hour creation” event in London and Hong Kong, which introduced people in the East and West to his doodle art. The following year, Cox held a large scale solo exhibition involving more than 700 works titled Doodle World at ARA Art Center in Seoul, South Korea. In 2019, the artist held Doodle Tokyo at the Anzai Gallery in Tokyo, which made him an overnight sensation. In recent years, Mr Doodle has worked with UK MTV, Samsung Electronics and Fendi, and last year produced his first NFT work, gradually building a “Doodle World” with global appeal, while holding exhibitions that boldly showcase his belief that art deserves to exist and the path of rebellion.

Multicoloured Rainbow - Dreamland

“For me, when I am painting I cannot think too much, I have to let my hands move how they want so the characters and visual images jump naturally onto the paper ... My hope is that creating is a happy process and the works exude a sense of joy.”

――Mr Doodle

Visitors to the Doodle World solo exhibition at ARA Art Center in Seoul in 2018 were greeted by a huge rainbow wall made up of doodle graffiti works in seven different colours. Using the colours of the rainbow as a backdrop Mr Doodle painted 405 small pieces to create a large “Rainbow” installation that was 4.5m high and 8.1m in length. Within this composite piece, each painting was like a rainbow crystal, with the seven colours representing different life states, fully expressing the power of imagination.

During that exhibition, Rainbow#122 (Lot 114) and Rainbow#123 (Lot 113) were positioned one directly above the other. The former has an emerald green background and contains several lively looking small characters, including a flying carrot with wings, a snail with eyes on its antenna and to the right the beak of a little chick. Above that we can see the tentacles of an octopus and all around the work different living organisms pop in and look around curiously as they stare back at the audience. Rainbow#123 was contiguous to this work but is framed in a more simple and elegant shade of green, continuing the joyous expression of the first piece.

Mr Doodle has said in interviews that he was deeply influenced by the godfather of graffiti Keith Haring. Indeed, as a child the characters he saw in comic books and computer game images were all stored in his head as source material and many make an appearance whenever he paints. For example, in the centre of this work is a little lion that looks as if it stepped straight of a cartoon and seems to be observing the world, while in the lower right part of the piece is an image from the oeuvre of Haring, shaking its limbs wildly and ingeniously connected to the head of the figure below. It is almost an abstract expression of an EEG, and from here upwards we encounter boundless imagination. The two paintings magnify and present one corner of a much bigger world, encouraging people to have the courage to explore and express themselves. Within the freedom offered by his imagination Cox creates an artistic rainbow-shaped bridge that transports viewers to a land of joy.

Breaking the Rules of Art, Re-imagining Imagination

In contrast to the brightly coloured rainbow world, the works Burn the House (Lot 116) and Rotten Devils (Lot 115) are comprised of white lines against a black background, creating a bold and fantastic black world on which the artist signs the name of an alternative persona “Dr Scribble,” thereby undermining one of the habits of traditional painting. All the overlapping emotions of life – sorrow and joy, grief and happiness, love and hate, can be found in the black graffiti world of Dr Scribble, as if another plane of existence viewed by the artist. These showcase the powerful, unrestrained and rule-breaking nature of imagination from a visual perspective imbued with character.

Raging Flames, Freeze-Framing the Symphony of Life

Burn the House is one of Dr Scribble's most narrative-oriented classic paintings. At the centre of the work is a small tiled building engulfed by raging flames. Through repeated overlay the artist used the dynamic and layered flames to highlight the main scene, while the raindrops in the sky and the unquenchable fire establish a clear contrast that strengthens the sense of urgency. Moreover, the people inside the building appear as phantoms or demons and are screaming to be saved, while the fireman to the right of the work raises a ladder as he comes to their rescue. At the same time, flowers and trees, turtles and small snakes are imbued with a human-like spirit and display expressions of worry and concern. The painting is akin to a musical symphony conducted with a paint brush and comprising the thunderous roar of the flames, the fizzling spray of the water hoses, the cries of the residents and the whispering of flora and fauna. With no interweaving of internal and external scenes, the single most thrilling moment is captured and its focus on real society, tragedy, human nature and the true feelings of life flow from each brush stroke, completing the real emotional meaning of graffiti art.

Abyss Wonderland, Taking the Stage

In the work Rotten Devils the artist used lines imbued with a sense of distortion to boldly showcase the graffiti style and evil identity of Dr Scribble. He ingeniously selected a vertical canvas and painted flowing whirling lines to highlight the extreme dynamism of his graffiti work. In the painting there are four main figures, one upright, one lying on its side and a third upside down waving their long extended arms, as if four emissaries from the depths of Hell, leading cohorts of little demons, each one flaunting its nature. The large eyes and raised eyebrows, alert civet cat, snarling exposed teeth, and what seems like a wild dog madly barking, are all incarnations from boundless graffiti fantasy. It is within this maze-like abyss of a world that the demons take the stage, exuding great physical strength, courage and vibrant energy as they display their extraordinary ability and compete to be king of the world.

Transmitting the Dynamic Signal of Love by Emotional Colour

In Mad Happy(Lot 110) and Cycle of Sadness(Lot 111), Mr Doodle vividly conveys the distinct state of different emotions with his unique “one-stroke” technique and exciting composition. For example, just as the title described, Mad Happy shows several grinning little monsters. Different line combinations constitute a continuous profusion of smiles surrounding the protagonists in the middle. Two happy main characters respectively dyed red and yellow colours, which interpret the mood of ecstasy. In Cycle of Sadness, the artist used the unique “spiral composition” and developed the emotion into a progressive presentation. One end of the line starts from the bottom, and it connects the confused eyes, the sad mouths and the broken hearts in the spiral. Finally, it becomes a squatting and crying puppy. Blue dots, a symbol of melancholy, interweave to create a loop of visual pursuit.

However, whether joyful or sad, love and true feelings are eternal in Mr Doodle's paintings. Heart Pink#1(Lot 112) chooses a combination of bright pink and vibrant yellow colours to celebrate the sweet and colourful “love”. A heart-shaped little character is holding up hands in the centre, just like calling for love in the centre of the world. Influenced by him, little characters who express their love come to form a big pink heart and send the heartbeat signal of love in their own way: In the lower-left corner, a couple of radios are looking at each other sweetly, generating electricity for love; the little snail is crawling while spreading love words; the robot in operation hangs a love symbol; the sunflower is opening a big smiling face. In Mr Doodle's graffiti, the tremendous power of love inflected all life, and it shone with “the ultimate love declaration”.

Price estimate:
HKD: 40,000 - 80,000
USD: 5,100 - 10,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 68,400