Kane Tallowin
Kane Tallowin - also known as Defaced - is a multi-disciplinary artist originally from Norwich, UK. Kane began his career in graphic design, securing a position at a tech company straight out of high school. Realising that the office environment was not his calling, he soon transitioned into freelance art commissions, working with Apple and various start-ups.
In 2020, Kane was introduced to Web3 and swiftly gained prominence as a notable artist in the field. His 2021 collection, Defaced N Friends, featuring 100 illustrated characters, has generated approximately $1 million in secondary sales and remains a favourite among collectors, including showcasing his 1/1 piece The Dreams of the Fisherman at Christie’s during Frieze Seoul in South Korea in 2023.
His newest pieces incorporate puppetry, live performances, and practical effects, blending a sharp, slightly cynical sense of humour with a unique perspective on the internal struggles of the artist.
You Could Suffer in Heaven
Launching during London Frieze week at the Asprey Studio gallery, Kane’s latest production features ten new works, highlighted by You Could Suffer in Heaven, a large, hyper-detailed piece that explores the intricate labyrinth of the artist’s creative mind through delicate, interconnected illustrations.
This work challenges the viewer with its endless details and narratives, incorporating a wealth of imagery and motifs, including references to the likes of Bosch and Goya, and allusions to the Minotaur.
It contains a tapestry of imagery symbolising ideas of narcissism, time, pain, imagination and consciousness.
The composition of the image is intended to reflect the way we consume media, and is the third instalment in a series that began with Lost in the Supermarket and The Dreams of the Fisherman.
Nine act structure
These nine pieces are a series of self portraits depicting scenes from the artist's life from 2022-2024. The scenes are articulated in a visual language to mirror a stage play and questions the notion of an artist exposing one's life for an audience. The works illustrate a heightened and unorganised version of reality the artist projects onto the world.
The series acted as a way to create vessels to hold and preserve memories. Tallowin’s series has a childlike playfulness which contrasts with issues of drug use, mental health, chronic pain and relationships.
Each piece has a unique colour palette derived from You Could Suffer in Heaven giving each work a distinct identity within the series.
