Carl Stimpson: Pop Art, Rebooted

If you’ve ever wandered through East London and caught sight of a burst of colour that seems to wink at you, something part comic strip, part album cover, part childhood memory, you might have stumbled across the work of Carl Stimpson. His art doesn’t whisper for attention; it shouts cheerfully across the street, full of bold lines, familiar faces, and a knowing nod to the world of pop culture that shaped us all.

Carl started out, as all great things do, by nicking ideas from magazines. Not literally nicking them (probably), but freehand-copying pop culture cut-outs, a sort of DIY art school for the visually obsessed. Fast forward a bit, and he’s now a screen-printing, mural-painting, street-art-making machine, with a style that feels both familiar and entirely his own.

In this chat, we talk about everything from Tintin’s ligne claire influence to the humble brilliance of commercial packaging; from anti-war undertones hidden in bright, upbeat prints to the most important question of all: What’s your favourite dinosaur?

You began developing your distinctive style by freehand copying cut-outs from magazines and newspapers, focusing on pop-culture imagery. How has your practice evolved over time?

I'm still painting and I'm still heavily influenced by pop-culture - in particular commercial packaging, music and comics. But it's only relatively recently, in 2018, that I started screenprinting. I did a couple of courses at Print Club in Dalston (East London), and fucking loved it. I started doing it the only way I knew how by hand painting most of the work and then screenprinting the black on top afterwards. It really loosened me up: style-wise and also made me experiment a lot more. And a by-product of messing about with screenprinting is lots of test prints. At the time I'd already knew a few other artists that did some street art so it all led to going out and pasting up my own stuff. It's a great way to get your art out there and for people to see it. It's also meant that I can produce so much more art so much quicker and I've also started to collage prints with found objects and original paintings, so I've definitely broadened my practice.

Your work draws inspiration from the 'ligne claire' technique pioneered by Hergé, the creator of Tintin. What aspects of this style resonate with you, and how have you incorporated it into your work?

I like the simplicity of the style, I like taking the information of the world that we see and reducing it to line and colour. And I still pilfer aspects from ligne claire print and fuck about with them.

Your art often references late-twentieth-century British popular music and well-known industrial brands. What motivates you to blend these elements, and what messages or emotions do you aim to convey through this fusion?

I've always got music on - when I'm making art, when I'm making some food, when I'm travelling (never when I'm on my bike though, stay safe kids), it's a massive part of who I am. It informs the way I dress, my mood and the way I dance, etc. And the brands, I've always loved strong but simple design and I'm always inspired by them, anything that excites me visually. And just through experimentation it's all come together, what if I put that one next to that thing, what does that look like? Does it make sense, does it matter, what does it say?

It can vary really, I'm not always specifically looking to convey a strong message or emotion, but I've often come back to past works and realised I've subconsciously done so. Often theres themes of an anti-war message, empowering women or a general positive feel, sometimes all of these are intentionally there, sometimes it's a lot more subtle, and sometimes it is completely subconsciously.

You've had notable solo exhibitions, including "Instant Mash" at Atom Gallery in 2019, "Stripe" in 2023 and most recently "Cut and Shut" at The Union last year. How have these exhibitions contributed to your growth as an artist?

It's so nice to actually get my stuff up on some walls and give people chance to see it! As I said, I also do a lot of pasting-up and have done some murals which I really enjoy. It's just all different ways of showing people your work and making art accessible to more people. Also, it's really good for your head to see a load of your work on a wall or filling a space, you can reflect on all of it and it's not something you get to do very often. I've definitely met a lot of people and become part of a community through exhibitions too - not just at my own but also by going to group and solo shows from other artists. It's also great to be able to interact with people you have often only spoken with through social media. It's also lead to further opportunities like other exhibitions, collaborations, and working with charities.

You participated in The Art Car Boot fair recently and have a few exhibitions in the works. Can you share more about these events and what attendees can expect from your latest works?

Yeah, the Art Car Boot fair was mental, it was a great day. It's always fun but this was my first time as a solo exhibitor. I created a whole load of new work for it - including a new series of prints - The Stripe Gang. I'm also part of a couple of group shows later this year.

And I've also finally acquired my own screenprinting bed, which I've just set up in my studio, so I'm really looking forward to doing lots more experimenting with print.

One final question from my six-year-old: What's your favourite dinosaur?

Great question! Probably a velociraptor, mostly because of Jurassic Park (the original though, obviously), even though we now know it's a partially fictitious depiction.

You can follow Carl on Instagram @carl.stimpson

Interview by Johnny Larran. With thanks to Carl and Ceri.