A Visual Tao of that Boom Bap sound
AshWan (b. 1971, Liverpool, UK) is a contemporary artist with a distinct voice that fuses the raw energy of urban culture with fine art history and techniques.
Drawing from his background as a hip-hop DJ and producer, his work reflects the layered history, rhythms, and textures of the streets.
He holds a Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied under influential artists and critics, including Pulitzer Prize winner Jerry Saltz.
A defining aspect of AshWan’s practice is his transformation of discarded cardboard into high art, elevating a devalued material into something noble. This metamorphosis serves as a metaphor for the disenfranchised youth of 70's and 80's New York—communities that built hip-hop and street culture from what capitalist society and politics had cast aside. His work pays homage to these people, honouring their creativity, resilience, and lasting impact.
AshWan's cut-out text pieces, often quoting rap lyrics, compress words into rhythmic formations that visually echo the cadences of hip-hop. This process translates acoustic patterns into visual ones, creating pulsating compositions that capture the flow and movement of the music through a clever use of positive and negative space.
In his recent palimpsest-style works, AshWan layers and erodes paint and text, mirroring the way graffiti accumulates on city walls over time. The rotational movements within these pieces reference both the camouflage-like lettering of graffiti artist Kase 2 and the fractured perspectives of early Cubism seen in Picasso and Braque. Often finished with gold, silver, and copper leaf, these works create a dynamic interplay between distressed surfaces and refined, luminous elements—challenging perceptions of value, permanence, and cultural hierarchy.
AshWan’s work has been exhibited internationally, including recent solo shows such as Sample Culture at BienCuadrado in Barcelona and Today Was A Good Day at Galerie Lesmeister in Regensburg. He has shown in many international art fairs like Art Toronto, Art Madrid and Urvanity.
He is currently represented by Galerie Lesmeister in Germany and BienCuadrado in Barcelona.
With a singular voice and a deep connection to the roots of hip-hop culture, AshWan transforms the overlooked into something enduring, capturing the intersection of history, sound, and artistic reinvention.
