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Punk rock icon Sid Vicious died of a drug overdose three months after he possibly stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen to death. For British artist Rich Simmons, this notorious Sex Pistols tale came to mind as England prepared for the biggest royal wedding in modern times. In an instantly famous piece of street art, Simmons portrayed Prince William and Kate Middleton as a modern-day Sid & Nancy, and he quickly gained an international fanbase that includes rock stars, celebrities and even royalty. The London-based artist has a new solo exhibit, Imaginarium, which opens today (May 1, 2019) at the Box Galleries in Chelsea. Simmons chatted with PRØHBTD about the royal family, superhero fetishes, pin-up girls and punk rock. Many of the individuals and characters depicted in your art are familiar to the general public. Are there certain traits or themes that seem to attract you to recreating specific public figures? I like to use characters in my work that people know so there is an instant understanding of the subject matter, but then twisting it and having them in a certain situation allows the viewer to have that shock factor immediately without having to question who they are or what they’re doing there. Everyone knows who Batman and Superman are, but if I painted a couple of random guys kissing, it wouldn’t shock anyone as much as seeing your childhood superheroes kissing. People in the public eye, both real and fictional, have a power to evoke emotion, and the ability to tell a story in my art often relies on engaging with the audience emotionally. I want to cause a reaction, whether it's shock, humor, fear or whatever they want to feel because I believe that good art is the ability to make a person think and feel something emotionally. Sometimes you just have to use someone they already know to pull on the heartstrings a little harder and make the reaction more powerful. You first gained notoriety for portraying the royal couple as Sid and Nancy. Were you looking to depict someone as Sid and Nancy already, or was the idea inspired by seeing William and Kate in action? I knew the royal wedding was coming up and was in the press, and I wanted to do something that was the opposite of what people expected to see them portrayed as in the run up to it. The idea of royalty is a strange concept to me, and if William hadn't been born into it, then no one would really care who he is or what he did. I think that would take a huge amount of restrictions from a person and allow them to explore things they couldn’t do as a member of the royal family. Seeing them as punk rockers a la Sid and Nancy from the Sex Pistols was my way of normalizing them and making people think differently about the wedding and remind them that they are just people like me and you. I thought punk rock, anti-establishment icons like Sid and Nancy would be the perfect juxtaposition from the life of privilege that you could get, and that's where the humor came for me. It was just meant to be a joke for a few people to laugh at, but it went viral, and an art career was born for me. Tell me about the symbolism and reactions to your Batman vs. Superman art. I read that someone actually slashed a mural in protest. The Batman kissing Superman painting Between the Capes had been on my mind for a long time before I ever painted it. It was one of those ideas that I thought might work, but I didn't have the right idea for composition or execution and wasn't ready personally to tackle a piece like that for a while. I needed to develop as an artist and learn more about my execution, technique and how I wanted my work to be presented before I was ready to do the superhero collection. I wanted to make a statement about equality, but at the same time ask questions about heroism and superheroes' private lives, which we don't always see in comic books. Taking the two most iconic alpha male superheroes and presenting them in an embrace not only shocks you into asking questions about gay equality, but also what it takes to be a hero. If you were trapped in a burning building and Batman was coming to save you, would you care what he did in his private life, or would you just want to be saved? Does it make Superman less of a hero if he loves the company of men over women? The answer to those kinds of questions should be simple. An individual's private life shouldn't affect the way they do their job or ability to be a hero. For the most part, the feedback on this idea and series of paintings telling this story was supportive and positive, but as is usually the case, there's always someone who will take offense to it. I would like to see the idea behind the work open more people's eyes and minds to the issues surrounding gay equality and acceptance and make someone see the whole situation from a different perspective. If I can create dialogue and understanding, then I have succeeded as an artist in evoking change in society, even if it's only with one person. Looking at the various iconic characters in the comic book world, which superhero do you imagine would have the kinkiest fetishes, and what would those fetishes be? If you look at superheroes, you see a lot of spandex, leather, rubber and masks so you'd have to imagine anyone with a penchant for going out in a skintight outfit with a mask on could be classed as kinky. I don't know how a lot of these superheroes are able to fight crime in latex-style outfits, if I'm being honest. It must be incredibly sweaty and restrictive and doesn't offer much protection from bad guys. I guess that's why it hasn't caught on with real-life law enforcement, and you never see a policeman in a catsuit. You’ve described your pieces as “street art archeology.” What did you mean by that? I use reclaimed billboards in my work to make each piece unique and create a texture in which to paint on that comes from the street. I'm therefore using pieces of the street to make art which is my roundabout way of transitioning from street art to gallery art. I get ripped-down billboards and take them back to my studio and painstakingly soak them in water and pull the layers apart, revealing hidden colors and textures from advertising that I will paste to a canvas to create my backgrounds for the stencils to go on. This careful repurposing and peeling apart layers to discover hidden beauty is my version of an archeology of the street. What were some of the billboards you actually tore down? The billboard aspect of my work is always an exciting process. The billboards are glued on top of each other so they come 20 layers thick sometimes, and I have to painstakingly peel them apart to find chunks of color that work for my art. The billboards are so huge that I only see tiny parts of them so I never quite know what they come from, but I enjoy that ambiguity and only seeing a couple of letters or a flat piece of weathered color is better for my work as it doesn't distract from the stencils I paint on top. What aesthetic and thematic elements in 1950s pin-up girls appeal to you most? I love the artwork and style from the ’50s. Pin ups were sexy but in a much different way to now. There was more class, more mystery, more of a tease. There was a sensuality to it that I loved and how powerful a flash of stockings could be with a beautiful smile. Materialism seems to be a theme that runs through the artwork. How do you see materialism influencing human behavior? I am more excited in life by experiences, things that inspire me and create memories. I would rather spend my money on going to a nice restaurant or a museum than the latest bag or shoe from a designer brand. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion and think it's an exciting passion to have, but too many people use brand names to show off their wealth or status rather than something that shows some individualism and personality. I want to learn about the person beneath that facade and learn about someone's passions, hopes and ideas and that is often easier when you strip away all the materialistic aspects of a person. It's this idea that has played a part in my work, and using brand names to create a dialogue in the work intrigued me and crept into my art, but I don't judge anyone who has a collection of materialistic things. Everyone's different, and if they get excited by a new pair of heels, then they should be entitled to that enjoyment. Many people define fashion and style by the name of the designer they’re wearing. How would you define it? I think fashion should be a way for people to express their personality, creativity and individualism. If someone has a black leather bag with silver studs on it because they are going for the rocker kind of look, that's awesome, but if they're doing it because it's a particular brand, it loses that sense of personality and becomes a materialistic component to the outfit. I would rather see someone wearing something they love, no matter what the value attached is, because wearing things purely because it's expensive is kind of pointless and a waste. I believe someone could spend £50 on an outfit and be more fashionable than someone who spent £5,000 because they would be doing it for the love of fashion and not for the love of brand names. You previously performed in bands. In what ways did making music and writing songs influence what you would later do as a visual artist? I would describe myself as an artist and a storyteller. The good thing about defining myself is that there are so many mediums and channels to tell stories through and be creative with. Music has a huge impact on my life, and I loved being younger and jumping around on stage with a bass guitar, meeting up with mates and writing songs in their garage. It was a whole range of processes that involved writing, creating, developing and then performing and connecting to an audience. It taught me a lot about being a visual artist because you have a similar set of steps you have to take to create a piece of art. A gallery show is now my stage, and I get to showcase my stories on walls instead of through speakers. I just can't crowd surf at my gallery shows, which is a shame. I see a lot of punk rock themes in the artwork. What about the punk rock ethos and attitude appeals to you as a person and as an artist? I grew up listening to punk rock and loved the attitude and rebellion it represented. There was a desire to think outside the box, to go against the grain and say it's ok to be an outsider, which I connected with. Punk rock was always about doing it to make a statement and have fun, and you didn't have to be the most-talented musician to do it. As long as you had that desire to rebel and go against the grain, you could connect with it, and I loved that. I think the best art, whether visual or performance, is one which connects emotionally with someone and evokes different feelings. You don't have to be the most talented technically, but you have to be able to tell a story and convey a message to be considered as a true artist and role model. I think that mentality comes from a youth of growing up listening to punk rock music and never being the smartest kid or the most talented artist in the class but having a different way of thinking and a passion to convey that differently to others. You have a foundation called Art Is the Cure. In what ways can art be therapeutic to people who might not benefit from traditional talk therapies? A lot of people can't express their thoughts and emotions verbally, and that can lead to frustration and build up to dangerous levels. Everyone needs to release that pressure they feel, and that is when drugs, self-harm and suicide can feel like the only course of action. My idea with Art Is the Cure is that creativity can be an alternative release for that pressure and inspire people to express themselves in other ways. People hear art therapy and think of drawing their feelings in a therapist's office, but it can be done anywhere, any time and in any way they see fit. I have heard from people who have used painting in their bedrooms when they can't sleep and go to a dark place as a way to deal with their demons and finding an escape through the art that they never had before. Art can be anything creative and can help deal with any kind of problem. It is a pressure release valve for someone struggling that can result in poetry, a painting, a song, a new skateboard trick or anything they choose to do instead of scars on their arm or a trip to hospital. Art can be anything, and it can be a cure to anything. I set up the foundation to try and simplify the idea of art therapy and inspire people to give it a go in their own way and in any environment they choose. What do you think the older generation can learn about gay marriage, medical cannabis, street art and other divisive issues from the more-accepting and open-minded younger generation? I am a very logical person, and I use that to make my decisions in life. I use facts and logic to form opinions, and I'm very scientific in that way. Without the idea of religion hindering my thought process, I can see gay marriage as two human beings who want to love each other as a beautiful and positive thing. There is too much hate in the world so why would I object to such a display of love and unity? It makes no sense when people object to their happiness, and the only logical conclusion you can come to is to support gay equality. We live in an age where science has replaced religion as a way to teach people about the world around them and can prove it with experiments and facts. If all of the books in the world disappeared and we lost all science, religions and laws, we would need to learn everything over again and find new ways to teach morality and understand the world. In 1,000 years, all of the science books would be exactly the same as they are now, but religions would be either completely different or obsolete. We can learn about morality in new ways now without stigmas and beliefs set in the past, and humanity would be allowed to think more positively and openly about each other and discuss issues with logic and fact instead of outdated ideals and conflicting opinions. Science and logic are universal, and while different cultures will have different ideas on fashion, art, music and food, logic and science should be the universal language to make global decisions when it comes to laws and morality. David Jenison (david@prohbtd.com) is Editor-in-Chief at PRØHBTD.

I was approached by London Slide in 2018 to bring my art style to their brand new burger restaurant in Bluewaters Island in Dubai. I was excited to take on a project that would push my creativity in new ways and test my abilities to adapt as an artist. We decided on the skullerfly theme as it fit with their partner company The London Project which is connected in the same complex in Dubai who use a butterfly in their branding too. I was tasked with the challenge of designing a range of packaging for everything from bags, burger wrappers, milkshake cups, boxes for fries and more. We picked a bold pop art style colour palette that complimented the style of art with the feel of the restaurant. I got to go to Dubai in March to create a huge 9ft canvas for the interior of the restaurant and was able to take stencils with me and paint it on location. It was my first time in Dubai and I hope it won't be my last. London Slide just won Gold in the food and beverage sector for best visual identity which is very exciting news as the artwork I created for the packaging and canvas I created for the interior played a key role in creating the visual identity for the brand. I want to thank the whole team at London Slide and The London Project for trusting me with this project. I was the first artist to collaborate with them in this way and to launch the restaurant with my artwork adorning the walls and packaging was an amazing experience. I hope my contributions helped secure the award and attract people in to try the amazing food and drinks on offer there. I cant wait to see the brand grow into new territories and give more people a chance to experience the food, energy and art.

Rich Simmons is a British self-taught contemporary urban pop artist who rose to fame in 2011 with a piece of street art showing William and Kate before their royal wedding. The piece entitled ‘Future ***King’ depicted the royal couple as Sid & Nancy of the Sex Pistols and became famous around the world in less than a day. Since then, the artist’s popularity hasn’t faded. His noticeable colourful and humorous style, merging and deconstructing comic books imagery and reclaimed billboards, opened him the door to prestigious galleries worldwide. In 2008, Rich also formed ‘Art is the Cure’ to spread the message of creativity as a mean to battle against depression, autism and social anxiety issues. Living it caught up with the artist whose work is exposed at Box Galleries on London’s Kings Road this summer. Which contemporary artists inspire you the most? “I’m definitely inspired by artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey who really changed the way people view street art, and opened up the public and media to allow artists like myself to get a foot in the door. I’m a big Ron English fan and admire artists who paved the way for pop art to become a movement like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.” Where can we spot the best urban/contemporary art around the world according to you? “I really believe London is at the forefront of the global art scene. We have some of the most exciting galleries putting on bold shows and giving a platform for some exciting talent to showcase their work. London is also iconic for street art and you can see some of the best graffiti and street art in the world here. I love New York and you can feel the impact of that city on the graffiti and pop art culture but I think London is the hottest spot for art right now.” What is the creative process behind each of your piece? “It is always important to have an open mind and be willing to get inspired by anything at any time. I am always coming up with ideas and once I have a sketch and a design done on Photoshop, it is onto the Lightbox to draw it out, and then I cut the stencils out with a scalpel”. “Once I have the stencil layers all cut, it is onto spray painting them in order. I am always trying to create work that is different and exciting for me as I’m easily bored, and need to mix things up to keep it fresh and fun in the studio. Once the final stencil goes on and everything comes together, I’m always happy and relieved that the layers all matched up and the piece looks the way I imagined it from the start.” Which artists living or dead would you invite to your ideal dinner party? “Leonardo da Vinci is my hero. I love his work, his understanding of science and maths, his ingenuity and his inventive nature. He is the archetypal Renaissance man and I take a lot of inspiration from that so I’d love to pick his brain and see how he thinks and sees the world. I would invite Banksy so I could meet the man behind the mystery and Salvador Dali to spice things up a bit.” Where do you dream to exhibit your work? “A lot of my dreams have come true already. I never expected to be in a position to have solo exhibitions but I’ve had multiple London shows and exhibited in New York alongside Warhol and Haring, Los Angeles, Miami and even Azerbaijan. I’m always trying to raise the bar and would love to do something in Japan in the future but I am already living the dream by just having the chance to exhibit my work in places like Box Galleries in London.”

In 2019, I was honoured to have two of my paintings included in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as part of their Men of Steel, Women of Wonder show. The museum is based in Arkansas and I couldn't miss out on seeing my work in my first museum show so I reached out to the curators and asked to come to America to visit the show. It wouldn't be a proper art trip if I didn't do some street art too so I asked about walls and I was set the challenge of doing something on the biggest wall in town! I decided that since the 500th anniversary of the death of my hero, Leonardo da Vinci, was happening just around the corner, I would honour him with a gigantic rendition of the Mona Lisa Reflections painting on the ice house in downtown Rogers, Arkansas. The wall was 3,380 sq ft and it took 7 days and a lot of paint to complete it but it shows what I can do with the trust of someone giving me a big canvas and the time to execute my plan. Below are photos of the process and before and after shots. If you want to get a mural done, big or small for your home, business or building, please email me at richsimmonsart@gmail.com A massive thank you to the Arkansas Arts Academy who gave me an opportunity to meet the students, teach them some skills with a spray paint can and visit the school to give a talk about my Art Is The Cure organisation.

Pop art is not traditional, it's becoming traditional but the movement sure does need a few more years. The pop art movement isn't even that old, we're talking early 80's though majority of the recognition came in the early 90's with big names such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann and Keith Haring. Fine art took a turn, becoming fun, more accessible and less serious. Rich Simmons is an example of just that, he's a Pop Artist himself and a good one at that! His art shows a lot of inspiration from many of the innovators in the movement. The vibrant use of colours and various designs make his artwork very appealing for someones space. You cannot miss his artwork when entering a room. One of my favourite aspects of Rich Simmons art is the accessibility of his artwork. His work is very accessible through his website and he makes that clear. Artwork from established artist's can be hard to access at times depending on who the artist is and how established they're in the art market in regards to their artwork selling at auctions. Simmons has artwork that has fetched in the thousands, yet he continues to make sure some of his artwork is very accessible for those who just love art and want to own artwork from an established artist like himself. OWITY: How did your career start, when did you know you wanted to be an artist? And why is Pop Art your choice of style? RICH SIMMONS: I always knew I wanted to do something creative from a young age, whether that was in the art world or as some kind of storyteller. My heroes have always been Leonardo da Vinci and Stan Lee so emulating one of them in some small way was always a goal. I would experiment with different techniques and always found it fun to learn new skills and new ways to creative narratives. That experimentation led me to discovering stencils and street art. It combined my love of illustration, engineering and spray paint and I’ve been learning and trying to master it to tell stories in different ways for almost 20 years now. My first break as an artist was creating a piece before the royal wedding in 2011 of Will and Kate dressed like the famous Jamie Reid photo of Sid and Nancy from the Sex Pistols at Southbank skatepark. It was the right piece at the right time and it got global media coverage and I was offered gallery deals, print deals and more overnight. It was at this point I had to figure out who I was as an artist and roll with the opportunities presented and transition from someone just doing stencils and street art for fun, and find my own style that would work in galleries. This artistic evolution I had to undergo would end up being inspired by different influences from pop art, street art, comic books and more to create something that felt like my own thing that I would enjoy painting. OWITY: At what point of your career as an artist felt like you "made it"? Cliche to ask but personally at what time during your career did say to yourself "I am an established artist within the art world"? RICH SIMMONS: When I started exhibiting with Opera Gallery, I was hanging in the same space as artists I admired growing up. The likes of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Ron English and more. I had a serious case of imposter syndrome because as much as I had been painting and cutting stencils for years, it was always just for me and practice, never exhibited. To have my first tastes of working with a gallery and being alongside my heroes was definitely a case of being thrown in at the deep end and seeing if I could swim or not. It took me stepping away from this gallery and trying my luck with a smaller gallery who gave me more creative freedom to explore who I wanted to be as an artist and take that initial experience with a major gallery and try and prove myself. I went on to do several solo shows in London but it wasn’t until I got opportunities to exhibit in New York that I began to find my confidence more and feel like I deserved these opportunities. To this day, I still feel more like the nerdy art kid, happy to be alone in a studio making paintings than an established artist but maybe thats the right mentality to have. Remain humble, stay grateful for opportunities and continue to be hungry to prove myself as an artist. OWITY: I see that you've ventured into the NFT space recently. Though you're a traditional artist, do you think all artist's will eventually all have NFT's as well as their traditional tangible work? RICH SIMMONS: My head says probably yeh, thats the way the world is heading with more digital, online technologies shaping the way we see and experience the world. My heart says I hope not because I still feel like the artists hand, creating something physical that could hang in a museum in the future is still what is most important. There is a level of skill and craftsmanship that comes with creating a piece of art, whether thats with paint, clay, ink, or even musically. A song written on guitar or piano will always feel more real than something created in a computer and for me, it’s the same with art. Don’t get me wrong, there's some incredibly talented artists and musicians embracing technology and creating things that just wouldn’t be possible with hand held tools, but I still feel like the physical touch of a creator is more valuable. OWITY: Which artist has been the most influential to your both as a person and their artwork? RICH SIMMONS: Growing up, I was naturally curious and creative, with loves for not only art, but also engineering and science. I wanted to know how things worked, so I would take CD players apart to look inside them. I built lego without instructions and figured out how to make art by experimenting with everything I could get my hands on. There’s only one artist who embodied the arts, sciences and engineering I loved so much growing up and that was Leonardo da Vinci. I never wanted to just be an artist, painting things and being satisfied with that. I wanted to be a storyteller in more than just paint. I taught myself business when I was 19 as a graphic designer and music promoter, playing bass guitar in bands, booking and marketing gigs and learning how to paint on days off from jobs at coffee shops. At 22 I launched an art therapy organisation called Art Is The Cure to promote creative healing and mental health awareness and I’ve gone on to develop new stencil styles and painting techniques as an artist. I also wrote my first novel over lockdown and I once built a social networking platform with a friend in my spare time. The only artist I feel a connection to lived over 500 years ago but the things he achieved, the work he pioneered and the art he created inspire people half a millennia later. If I can be a small fraction of the polymath da Vinci was, I will leave a mark on the world in my own way and thats what every artist should aspire to do. OWITY: Every artist has a piece of artwork that stands out to them more. It may be the one that's fetched the most at auction or it may be one they own privately. Which piece is your favourite and you believe best represents you as an artist? RICH SIMMONS: As a disciple of da Vinci, the Mona Lisa has a huge importance in my life. When I got to combine my reflections girls with that iconic piece by Leonardo, I knew that would become my favourite piece and I have gone on to create a number of different colour variants, various prints and even flew half way round the world to paint a huge 4 storey building in Arkansas USA with that piece to mark the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in 2019. The reflections series started with Superman and Batman kissing in the lenses and that piece opened doors for me and began the series of girls with glasses, reflecting different things. The Mona Lisa reflections was a culmination of 5 years of work, development and growth as an artist and it represents more to me than I can say. OWITY: Because our platform merges Art and Investing. We have to ask, which artwork of yours has fetched the highest amount? RICH SIMMONS: I did a piece for a Christies charity auction in 2018, helping kids with cerebral palsy. There were 10 artists who created works for the auction, inspired by working with one of the kids the charity helps. The girl I did a workshop with told me she wanted to be the pink power ranger when she grew up and I tried to take that idea and show her facing adversities and danger like a superhero. When the artwork started selling for £10,000, £20,000, £30,000 a piece, I thought I had no chance of matching it. They put my piece on last and I figured they would milk the room with the early works, put forward by bigger artists backed by galleries on the night and leave my work for last to scrape up the crumbs. I walked on stage before my lot was on, took the microphone from Simon de Pury who was the auctioneer on the night and I told the crowd what the piece meant, what the charity meant and thanked them for letting me be a part of it. I slowly walked back to my seat, satisfied that I had at least had a say. 5 minutes later, my piece sold for £52,000, the highest lot of the night. With a smile on my face, I grabbed my jacket, walked out and had an internal Del Boy auction episode moment before leaving the event. Privately, my work sells in galleries for between £3,000 to £20,000 which still blows my mind but I’m grateful to everyone who invests in my work. I will continue to push my abilities and create art that has meaning, purpose, technical ability and emotional depth and justify the faith collectors put in me. OWITY: As mentioned earlier, your artwork is very accessible right through your website with various artworks not only in stock but at overall affordable prices for the average art collector. Is this something you feel strongly about, creating art which is accessible? RICH SIMMONS: I was an entrepreneur before I was an artist. I learnt business skills, marketing and graphic design before I had ever created work on canvas so I understand what it takes to grow a business. Art is a business at the end of the day and as much as I try and create work that transcends the canvas or paper it is done on, it’s still a product that I sell to be able to pay to have a studio and buy paint and eat. I know that only a small percentage of people who follow my art could afford a £10,000 canvas, but a large number of people could afford a print. Having different stages of art collecting allows me to welcome first time buyers who want to get their hands on a £99 print. Once they have that first one and they become invested in my career, they might get a second, and then save up and get a larger silk screen print for a few hundred pounds. Over the years, they will follow my journey as an artist and maybe 5 or 10 years later, be in a better financial position to buy their first canvas and I want to the artist they’ve followed long enough to want to be their first painting purchase. I want to create longevity, both as a business and as an artist. Yes, I want to see my work hanging in museums in the future but I also want to be able to pay rent and buy groceries and afford to be a full time artist long enough to create the works that will go in those museums. The best way to do that is to make my work accessible through different product ranges, by showing who I am as an artist on social media and in interviews and let people see who I am as an artist and what they are investing their time, energy and hopefully money into. https://owity.com/blogs/owity-blog/rich-simmons-interview