This is My World / Urban Aesthetic (Edition 4)

About

Stephen Tribbel is a mixed media artist who specialises in collage. In this double show. Stephen will exhibit the full suite of his This is My World series of collages on paper, alongside a new Urban Aesthetic collection.

About This is My World

This is My World is a collection of 48 collages which were completed in 2019, but due to the pandemic did not get a public showing.

The collection is Stephen’s love letter to the art of collage and collecting. Over his career, spanning almost 20 years, Stephen has collected and categorised thousands of pieces of material for making collages and other mixed media artworks. In 2018 he began a thorough exploration of his bank of material, with the ambition of using as much as possible in a series of collages, the result is the eclectic and colourful This is My World.

The remaining originals from This is My World will be available for sale during the exhibition, alongside a selection of limited-edition reproduction prints and more recent original collages.

About Urban Aesthetic (Edition 4)

Stephen has been working on various iterations of the Urban Aesthetic series since around 2007. Urban Aesthetic is principally about physical history, epistemology, and the interaction of colour which is explored through geometric, three-dimensional artworks that are made up from collage material, and occasionally paint and inks.

Edition 4 of Urban Aesthetic focuses largely on philosophical and aesthetic concepts, embracing colour theory alongside an impassioned exploration of classical and pulp literature, comic books, and philosophy to create a series of bold, three-dimensional paintings. In the exhibition you will find collaged texts juxtaposed within painted compositions, each designed to complement or contrast with the content of the collaged material; colours are used to provide a visual language to accompany the printed text, and, in some cases, other collaged elements are used to further illustrate the content of the text.

The Urban Aesthetic pieces will also be available for purchase, and Stephen will be in attendance for the duration of the exhibition if you would like to discuss a personalised commission.

About the artist

Stephen, a previous resident of Bristol, was born in Weston-super-Mare and now calls Chippenham home. Since graduating from Cardiff School of Art in 2004 with a First in Art and Aesthetics Stephen has continued his practice as an artist alongside a career that has taken him all over the world, and has included being a gallery manager, a pub landlord and a teacher. Stephen is currently the Head of Programme Development for Creative United where he manages the operation of the Own Art and Take it away schemes.

Stephen takes his inspiration from a wide range of subjects, including mass media, literature and music, art history, philosophy, and urban environments. He regards the artists Robert Rauschenberg, Kurt Schwitters and Peter Blake as influences on his practice.  

Stephen’s work can be found in collections in the UK and around the World including Colombia, Denmark, Kenya, Thailand, and USA.

Public shows and Exhibitions

2004: Selected History (solo show), Courtyard Gallery, Cardiff

2005: Aftershed (group show), Watershed, Bristol

2007: What do you do?, (group show), Centrespace Gallery, Bristol

2010: The Lessons of History, site specific exhibition. The Paragon Gallery, Exeter

2010: Urban Aesthetic, Edition 2. Brick Lane Gallery, London

2011: Media Appropriation, (group show), Olyvia Fine Art, London

2012: The Affordable Art Fair (exhibitor), Battersea Park, London

2012: Diversity in Style (group show), Olyvia Fine Art, London

2014: Faces of Antioquia, Casa de Cultura, El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia

2016: Merton Arts Festival (group show), Merton, London

2017: Merton Arts Festival (group show), Merton, London

2017: Urban Aesthetic goes Pop!, The Sultan, London

2018: Merton Arts Festival (group show), Merton, London

2022: Pound Arts open, Pound Arts Centre, Corsham

2023: Art for the environment, Chippenham Town Council offices, Chippenham