Rowan Newton is a painter from South London. Growing up in metropolitan Brixton, surrounded by graffiti, Rowan was drawn to bold and vibrant imagery from an early age. His childhood appreciation for the street artist’s ability to transform unlikely spaces into pieces of art, echoes in his work today.
Rowan’s style reflects the dichotomies of the inner-city landscape. Using spray paint, acrylics, and pen, he creates pieces that are gritty, provocative, and full of character, with a tenacious use of bright colours. Rowan paints that which he finds beautiful, and so he often captures the confidence of women with equally confident brush strokes, but does not lose the delicateness of their femininity. His work is full of texture with splatter, drips, and layering complimenting the depth of his artistic subjects. Rowan’s process is a re-imagining of beauty and to communicate his struggle with relationships he has formed with women in the past.
Since graduating from university in 2004, Rowan’s work has been in various exhibitions and art fairs in the UK including the The Original Print Fair at The Royal Academy, Stroke Art Fair, The Battersea Affordable Art Fair, and the London Art Fair. As well as having his work auctioned at the House of Commons in 2013. His work has also shown internationally, from New York to Amsterdam to Shanghai. He has been featured on respected blogs/websites such as Empty Kingdom, Maestro Knows, and Zeutch; and his work has graced the cover of Diplomat Magazine and the pages of the Great Big Book of Fashion Illustration.
