Hallelujah

Cyclops
(British, b. 1975)
Hallelujah
2007
Acrylic and ink on canvas
(2008.3)
Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund

Born in Manchester, Cyclops currently has a studio in Bristol and often collaborates with other street artists in London. He began exploring graffiti when he was thirteen. Not long after, he was suspended from school, when his teachers saw that the drawings in his exercise books corresponded to his "rooftop hit," which the school promptly eliminated by sandblasting.

"I like painting on the street because there's more democracy. You can do your thing; you don't have to pay for gallery space or be curated or any of that. You just do your thing, where you like, how you like, and then it's out there. You haven't been paid and anyone can f... it up or be inspired on the way to work by what you've made. And, once it's up, that's it: It doesn't belong to you any more."

While not painted for the street, Hallelujah is an example of Urban art (often referred to as street art or graffiti). By transposing his images from the street to the canvas, Cyclops and other Urban artists are creating a permanent legacy for that which is usually quite short lived.

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