Artist Biography
Ollie Sylvester
Oliver Sylvester, an artist from North London, born in 1972.
Initially inspired by Marvel comics and Lego, he soon realized that his passion lay in expressing himself through art. By the mid-eighties, Sylvester was part of the London hip-hop scene. Armed with a number of sketchbooks loaded with anti-heroes and paranoid robot illustrations, he gained a name for himself in the underground world of graffiti by transferring his offkey characters onto walls, acquiring a reputation as a figurative artist.
Sylvester later became a fulltime member of MGM graffiti crew and started using the name Saker to sign his work. MGM was then commissioned to work on De La Soul’s video for '3 That’s The Magic Number' taken from their platinum album ‘3 Feet High and Rising’. For this he designed and painted three caricatures of Trugoy, Pusdnous and Prince Paul. In 1988 he was introduced to the ‘acid house' scene and associated cultures, which came to play an important roll in the inspiration behind his paintings.
An accident in 1993 meant Sylvester lost 50% use of his right hand. He then began working with computers, which turned into a new artistic medium as he learnt to paint with his left hand. This ultimately led to him working for a large multi-media graphics company where he picked up commissions for 'Swatch' and other brands, whilst continuing to paint, building up a solid body of work.
His style and technique now reflect influences of urban life, taking an abstract approach with a tough graphic edge.
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