NOBODY

Alexander Chappell is an artist and designer from London. While the two disciplines are very different, Chappell has a simple explanation about how he finds a balance; as a designer he answers questions, and as an artist he gets to ask them.

This wasn’t always the case. Until recent years Chappell created work under the pseudonym ‘Twiy’ a persona he felt he needed to clearly separate art from design in his own mind. But as his career as a designer developed a bridge between the two disciples began to emerge.

Chappell‘s design work is focused on consumers emotional connection to brands and it’s his work in this area that’s led to a growing interest in human behaviour. While he may not always have all the answers, it’s in his art that he seeks them.

“Art is a conversation whereas design always needs a solution. Working on something where the results are open-ended is a cathartic experience for me and by observing others through portraiture I get to study people which feeds back directly to my work as a designer”.

The core question at the heart of his debut exhibition ‘Nobody’ is whether a society that focuses so much on the external material world is losing touch with more basic human needs. The exhibition is a counter to some of society’s increasingly narcissistic tendencies epitomised by selfie culture and the pursuit of social media fame.

The lure of 15 seconds in the spotlight is contrasted by a group of people who like Chappell have all worked under pseudonyms at some point or rarely shown their faces.

“It’s been fascinating working with this group of ‘writers’ there are some real characters but one thing that’s really stood out is how comfortable everyone is in their own skin no matter what anyone might think of them. You can tell that they’ve found the right paths for themselves and those paths haven’t been carved by seeking approval from anyone else. The artists I’ve drawn directly oppose the transient reality of todays short-cut celebrity culture where talent substance or hard work are second to a big ego or big arse.”

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