Stuart Semple

Stuart Buchanan Semple (born 12 September 1980) is a multidisciplinary British artist working across painting, sculpture, happenings, technology and activism.

He is well known for his sociologically engaged works that often discuss youth politics, accessibility and democracy.

Semple's work has strong links with Richard Hamilton's Pop Art, but has a contemporary emphasis on latent fear and threat rather than Hamilton's consumer culture and glamour.

Semple was born in Bournemouth, Dorset.

He studied Advanced Art and Design at Bournemouth and Poole College, and Painting and Printmaking at Bretton Hall College in Yorkshire.

Semple speaks about the inspiration from his grandfather whose memory inspired a jumper Semple designed.

Semple's mother also took him to the National Gallery and he described that moment being the main catalyst in becoming an artist when he saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers aged 7.

In 1999, Semple became one of the first artists to utilise the Internet and the potential of digital and created an early online community on eBay who followed drawings he posted up each night.

Semple's continual appropriation of digital mediums put him in The Guardian's Ten Best Art Auctions alongside Damien Hirst, Ai Weiwei and Edvard Munch.

In 2004, art dealer Anthony d'Offay flew his portfolio to New York and persuaded him to move to London.

in 2005, Semple was the youngest member appointed to the Design and Artists Copyright Society creators' council.

A 2007 solo exhibition saw $1 million sales within the first five minutes and a recent London exhibition had presales to a Foundation of $1 million.

Semple has featured on the BBC in 2009 for Blue Peter and in 2011 and 2014 he presented for the BBC's Art & Design series where he talks about Inspiration Tools & Tips and Idea to Art.

In 2010, Semple disclosed in an interview with The Evening Standard that he had had a sudden near death experience in 2000 following an allergic reaction.

Semple referenced the event in an artwork painted that year; "This is the flatline of my ECG showing where I officially died, my vital signs zeroed completely."

Semple identifies the experience as being the catalyst that motivated him to dedicate his life to making art.

In 2012, Semple was the first visual artist to release a body of work on iTunes called "EXIT" that was commissioned to be a fully digital experience.

His desire to create and distribute this series via iTunes was so that it could be directly accessed affordably in every household worldwide which built on his exploration of the internet and accessibility to contemporary art.

The digital artwork "The Effect" which was exhibited during the Suspend Disbelief exhibition is viewable and possible to own on Sedition.

In January 2012, Semple opened the new North Light Centre for Art and Design at Bournemouth & Poole College and judges a yearly competition of the student's works.

Semple has spoken at The ICA, The Institute of Ideas, CultureLabel, Amnesty, Jerwood Visual Arts for his digital activity, and for DACS on digital and copyright topics.

The Art Newspaper reported Semple signed with Next Management in 2013 alongside working with galleries.

The Art Newspaper continue debating the traditional gallery model and discuss how dealers and galleries place Semple works in important collections but also the agents and management that handle copyright and licensing.

In 2013, Semple created Jump for Australia's Federation Square's public art programme, a 10 x 10m bouncy cloud, and in 2014, Semple represented the British Program for The Night at The Museum festival, releasing thousands of HappyClouds over Moscow.

This public art performance has so far also been held in London, Italy, Ireland and Australia.

In 2013, Semple received a medal at The House Of Lords for the UN's first International Day of Happiness and nominated Marilena Borgna and May Gabriel also as his Happiness Heros and spoke to The Independent about the secret to happiness: "My son makes me truly happy... Happiness from real things and from flash things are worlds apart."

In 2013, Semple talked to Josh Spero about his career and influences as part of The ICA's Culture Now series.

In 2013, the Suspend Disbelief exhibition wanted the public to question their relationship with reality.

In an interview with Doug McClemont he refers to the mimetic industries of mass-production.

The opening of "Anxiety Generation" in London in 2014 was reported by Tatler as "just like being at the Brit Awards in the Nineties".

Topics of youth Apathy were touched upon in 2014's "Anxiety Generation" exhibition where Semple debated that a risk industry keeps our current generation in a passive state of fear and consumption, not having a war or threat of nuclear destruction that our parents faced.

"My Happy Colouring Flip Book" was published in 2015 as an anti-stress, creative therapy colouring book for adults by Semple and to raise funds for the Mind creative therapies fund.

Semple has sent "Happy Clouds" up into the sky over London initially in direct response to the recession and also in a bid to highlight and spread happiness worldwide, being invited to repeat the artwork in Dublin, Moscow, Australia and Milan.

Large scale positive public artworks around this theme of happiness has included "Jump", where Melbourne's Federation Square was transformed into an open air White Cloud-like trampoline that invited adults to join in.

In 2016 "Something Amazing", was held in 6 cities in England and Scotland, who found giant coloured helium balloon sculptures dotted through streets at sunrise, and encouraged people to take and share screenprinted balloons which featured artwork of his yet to be born nephew.

Eric Bryant debated Semple and contemporary Pop Art in a seminal ARTnews feature 50 years after Richard Hamilton had defined the movement.

"While earlier generations of Pop artists exhibited a similar love-hate relationship with consumer culture and glamour, this group takes on fear and violence."

Semple's relationship with current culture, politics and imagery has put him at the forefront of the next generation of debate, where artists now tackle the current climate of fear; "his often disturbing, even sinister works also feature guns, pills, and frequent references to suicide."

In being categorised within Pop Art, Aidan Duane debated in The Irish Times how his work brings it up to date.

In Vogue Italia Stuart Semple discusses his critical relationship with Pop culture in a post Warhol society where it has become a universal language but aims to act removed.