Axel Bottenberg

Cool products based on original masterpieces by artist Axel Bottenberg who references pop art of the1960s and its re-emergence in the 1990s onwards. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1989 at a time of Thatcherism, Poll-Tax riots, and the birth of the YBA phenomenon. His work engages with the spirit of the times and draws from the youthful aggression and buzz at the time. His degree show coincided with Thatcher’s 10th anniversary and was an ironic take on monetarism, nuclear proliferation and yuppie excesses. Like the old masters of the 60’s, Bottenberg plunders and borrows icon imagery and ideas, reconstructing or manipulating them in the form of paintings, 3D works or drawing. Purposefully selecting imagery to provoke strong responses in the viewer, he often uses ‘low art’ iconography such as religious kitsch, tattoo and street art. His works juxtapose characters such as clowns, guns and bombs against traditional wall paper fabrics, golden backgrounds and art historical