A punk turns dandy in Prefab77's new show at Art Of Protest

Peter Manning, alias Prefab77, has created an exclusive collection for his first major show in the north after exhibiting extensively in New York, London and Las Vegas in recent years.

"I’m excited to be showing in the north again," he says. "I used to have my own gallery in Newcastle but had been too busy creating art for galleries around the world to keep it going. The Art of Protest Gallery opening last year was a clear illustration that contemporary taste for art has extended beyond the M25.

"I'm excited to be showing again in the north," says Prefab 77 

"The A Punk Turned Dandy exhibition develops ideas from the show I did last year at Johnathon Levine’s gallery in New York. Showing in 'Old York' is a real treat for me, with friends and collectors from all over the country being able to visit easily. Artistically, the contrast of medieval Britishness and contemporary Britishness is at the heart of the artwork and the city of York."

Prefab77 has been working out of Newcastle for more than 20 years on large street-art projects, as well as original fine art and collectable signed limited-edition prints.

"Essentially he's renowned for the finest quality graphic street arts across differing media," says Art of Protest co-founder Craig Humble. "Peter has now taken his creative vision and exacting principles to a new level in this collection. He's regularly represented in London, Los Angeles and New York, but A Punk Turned Dandy establishes a more local UK exhibition base for this renaissance man of the north."

"Prefab77's art stitches together the pop cultures of Britishness, music, money and religion as patches and motifs," says Art of Protest co-founder Craig Humble

Manning gained his earliest design and print-making experience within Her Majesty’s British Army, but his creativity and eye for the zeitgeist were soon coveted by the fashion and marketing industries of the world. Opportunities took him to New York, where he lived and worked in the lower east side of Manhattan on Nolita’s Elizabeth Street.

"This was the early to mid-1990s, when the rough-and-ready street culture rubbed up against the guarded jewellery stores emerging as the gentrification took hold," says Craig. "The contrast of urban street culture and brand sensibilities, layers of high-value fashion tags jarring with torn posters and neglected corners of the city, inform Prefab77’s unique style and aesthetic then and now."

Prefab77 has worked with Nike, Converse, Gap and Keds Snowboards, in addition to creating the cover art for the New York Dolls' final studio album, Dancing Backwards In High Heels, in 2011. At the same time, he was creating fine art shows at the Electrik Sheep Gallery, in Newcastle, for Banksy, Eine, Swoon, Pure Evil and Eelus.

"Let us entertain you with Prefab77's contemporary fairy tales of gangs, goddesses and groupies," says Art of Protest's Craig Humble

Craig says: "We're very honoured to host this prestigious exhibition. We've shown and sold Prefab77’s back catalogue since we opened last year and he has proved a firm favourite with our collectors. His art stitches together the pop cultures of Britishness, music, money and religion as patches and motifs, often complementing fashion or political portraiture, all to form a beautiful eclectic work of art.

"His work celebrates the global reach of Britishness and it blends and morphs within our globalised society. From a chaos of details, Prefab77’s work shows a potted history of himself, a globalised Britain and beautiful art for today's collectors. Let us entertain you with his contemporary fairy tales of gangs, goddesses and groupies all through the prism of fine art in the A Punk Turned Dandy Exhibition 2018.”

A Punk Turned Dandy runs at the Art of Protest Gallery, Little Stonegate, York, from Friday until April 22, preceded by a private view on Thursday evening from 6pm to 8.30pm.