Her Majesty I

Alexander Rhys has a unique way of looking at the world which he has embraced and shared through his vibrant, narrative artworks. He is fascinated by the individual contribution and effect of visual elements such as colour, pattern and texture and the ways in which they are woven into design and structure to communicate and tell a story. Exploring wide-ranging ideas and cultures he draws inspiration from natural and man-made objects, urban and rural settings, and the contrast in eastern and western approaches to art and culture.

Working first with acrylics which he uses as a tool to build up the layered texture, Rhys then moves on to spray cans which introduce a sense of freedom and unpredictability, taking his everyday subjects on a journey from ordinary to the extraordinary. The impact of his works is heightened by his use of a vivid palette and the inclusion of metallic golds and silvers gives a richness to the overall composition.

Rhys remembers that as a child there were many books on architecture around the house and some large Matisse prints on the wall. “I really liked how the prints were simple in design and how the architecture within the books was mostly minimal, 1950s builds and designs. I just found them visually interesting and they spoke to me, perhaps because they resonated with my own view of the world.

Rhys studied Fine Art at Birmingham and Bath Spa University and since 2017, his work has been sold and published in London, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, LA, Chicago and Japan. He has built up an impressive list of collectors in this time which includes outdoor advertising giants Clear Channel, private equity firm LDC , model and actress Millie Brady and leading Kenyan hip-hop artist Octopizzio.

He was named as the Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador of the Year and has always tried to use his art as a force for good, even meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss how art can be used to help fight crime and how it can have a positive effect on people’s lives.

Recent career highlights for him have been inclusion in the Saatchi Gallery’s original Cash is King exhibition, a personal invitation from Fearne Cotton to run an Art Therapy session at her Happy Place Festival 2022 and an invitation to have his portrait taken by world-renowned photographer RANKIN at his studio in London.

“For much of my life I felt as if I didn’t fit in, and I think my paintings are the same. Like me, they don’t quite fit into a genre pigeon-hole. But then, I’m not interested in the works making sense. I’m interested in the initial visual quality”