'Zenergy' By: POPS (2012)

Title: 'Zenergy: Space & Love Vibration!' By: POPS (2012) 
Medium: Acrylic Ink & Paint on Professionally Made Hardboard. 
Size: 51" X 27.5" X 0.5"
Details: (1 of 1) Original, Signed & Dated
Valuation: £1,250 GBP
Chosen Charity: NHS Charities Together

Zenergy: Space & Love Vibration!
Between Nothingness and Allness where all potentialities converge in a safe and dangerous dance of destiny... Allowing that perfection of infinite paradox to play out its bitter sweet symphonic metamorphosis unobstructed by the limitations of yester year whilst savouring the highlights!  Oneness Lovingness!

'POPS' as he is known to most these days made a name for himself during the late eighties and early nineties in the controversial 'Graffiti' art scene as 'POPZ 100' after his notorious and celebratory 100th piece, a top to bottom on a British Rail train engine, featured in the local Nottingham newspaper and national UK Rail magazine in 1987. He was arrested and eventually prosecuted for that and other 'POPZ' train paintings leading him to adopt the title as his 'legal' name and started a local 'hall of fame' on the outside of his local youth club as part of his 'Community Service'. On one occasion in 1989 after hearing it had become illegal to continue to paint at that site he painted a POPZ piece there bigger than any lettering he'd ever seen until seeing a photo of the enormous SABER in LA many years later.

While he was still very active his work was being seen live and was also in prominent circulation during the pre-internet 'photo trading' years as well as featuring often in magazines such as the transatlantic HIP HOP CONNECTION and other DIY 'grafzines'.

One of his personal highlights of those early years was in 1989 when he came second (losing to Jon One from New York and Paris) in the individuals section of the 2nd International 'Street Art' competition based in Bridlington UK after being personally chosen and invited to participate by the notable Martin Jones when he and New York's Vulcan (Ex Vandals) visited POPS in Nottingham. Although relatively unaware of what other spray can artists were producing around the world at the time POPS unknowingly further established himself as one of the pioneers of spray can art photo-realism by painting 4 Women's faces at Bridlington that year after having painted a few lesser seen one's in previous years. 

In 1992 about 7 years after he started and no less than 8 arrests later POPS quit the Graff scene. Not because of the arrests he insists but because of the relatively new news about the hole in the ozone layer. His growing spirituality and respect for Mother Nature meant that his fear of contributing to her destruction was also growing even though most new spray paint was now CFC free and therefore apparently ozone friendly. 

As the years passed although he couldn't bear to risk re-entering that old landscape of the value systems he'd painfully left behind with spray paint he remembered those pre-historic implements known to the ancients as brushes and little by little began 'experimenting' with them in public.

'POPS' now resides in Aotearoa/New Zealand where he has since become 'A real Pops' to 3 boys. He is a practising self employed artist mainly painting murals around the city of Christchurch but has also for years taught graff style writing on canvass to young people in prison and other care facilities. He is a self professed full time/part time 'Social ARTivist' and 'Social Medium' on a mission to overthrow what he calls 'Crapitalism' (which includes his own lower ego). 'He often writes the word LOVE'.

@Pops