Opake
London-based artist, Opake, merges street art, pop culture, and personal introspection throughout his artistic style. Describing his aesthetic as "the disintegration of pop culture," he reimagines iconic cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Pink Panther, using color, overlapping imagery, and layered compositions to explore themes of mental health, addiction, and the fragmentation of pop culture.
Who is Opake?
Opake is one of Britain’s most sought-after street artists, known for experimenting with the fragmentation of Pop Art as a lens to raise issues around addiction, disintegration, and the societal impacts on cultural erosion. The artist’s fascination with street art began at the age of thirteen, when the adolescent fell in love with graffiti culture. Taking to the streets, Opake spray-painted large scale murals, tags, and elements inspired by calligraphy and illustration.
Opake's roots as a street artist are visible throughout his current works. The medium, spray-paint and acyrlic, yet now on canvas. Taking beloved cartoon characters, he transforms them into chaotic, thought-provoking compositions. His work explores themes of addiction, disintegration, and the cultural erosion of nostalgia in the modern world. Over time, his technique evolved, blending graffiti with influences from traditional tattoo culture, music, and contemporary art. His distinctive use of thick black lines, vibrant color blocks, and intricate detailing reflects his early experiences as a tattoo apprentice and his admiration for artists like Keith Haring, Banksy, and Jeff Koons.
For the British artist, chaotic disrupts are a vehicle to picture his experiences with addition and psychosis. By using repetition cluttered compositions, Opake symbolizes the cyclical nature of addiction. Simultaneously, Opake's use of graffiti, layering, and urban aesthetics addresses the gradual disintegration and dissolution of classic pop culture, capturing the tension between nostalgia and modern cultural shifts. Characters are reimagined in fragmented, distorted forms— presenting a commentary on how time and societal changes have eroded their original meaning. What once represented joy and simplicity has now been transformed into a chaotic narrative of decay, subversion, and loss.
What is the Disintegration of Pop Art?
Opake’s art deconstructs the familiarity of pop culture, blending graffiti’s raw energy with the clean lines of classic cartoons. By layering expressive tags over recognizable figures, he disrupts their innocence, revealing hidden tensions between childhood nostalgia and the realities of contemporary society. This controlled chaos reflects the breakdown of identity, addiction, and the impact of consumer culture.
How does Opake create his artwork?
With a meticulous approach to spray paint, Opake builds his compositions through layers of precise lettering, creating a contrast between structure and disorder. His process is both technical and instinctive, using graffiti tags as a visual language to obscure and redefine the characters he portrays. Each piece becomes a reflection of personal and collective struggles, inviting viewers to look beyond the surface.
In an era dominated by fast-moving trends and digital consumption, Opake’s art speaks to the fragility of cultural memory. By dismantling icons from the past, he questions their role in the present—challenging viewers to rethink their relationship with nostalgia, addiction, and artistic expression. His work captures a universal tension between the comfort of the familiar and the chaos of reality, making it both relevant and timeless.
All of Opake’s works are original mixed-media pieces, created using spray paint, Posca markers, and finished with epoxy resin. His art is exhibited in galleries across England and has garnered international recognition, making his work highly sought after by collectors.
