‘The artwork and graphic design that I make directly feeds from vintage hip-hop.’
The nostalgic comic strip style shines through Mark Drew’s distinctive paintings. Punctuating his use of the ‘Peanuts’ comic, are his signature ‘speech bubbles’ which prominently display iconic hip-hop quotes. This combination pays homage to Drew’s own childhood, as he grew up alongside the original Schulz cartoon, and developed a keen interest in Hip-Hop (specifically Run D.M.C).
The hip-hop music that Drew absorbed during the mid 90’s, was built on samples from old soul, rock and R’N’B records. The artist’s work reflects this musical style of layering and remixing, by merging the two otherwise un-related themes together. Often humorous, his choice of sample is often correlated to the actions of the comic strip characters, forming an interesting interplay between the childlike imagery of Peanuts and the often more mature themes of 90s Hip-Hop.