Graffiti artist from South East England, OKER, claims he turned to graffiti as a form of self medication in his difficult early teenage years. After moving to New York in his twenties, who returned to the UK, bringing NYC’s bombing style back to London. This gained the respect from other fellow artists such as Barry McGee, KR and Banksy to name a few.

His ‘throw-ups’ characters can be found all over South London, and with trains running across the city, he has made an incredible contribution to the London scene, influencing many of the younger generation of writers throughout the years. He is one of the very few graffiti writers in England who can call themselves ‘all city’, having been up in every area of London.

In 2000 he was sentenced for graffiti and in 2013 again for two years for painting on trains, this lead him to rethink his practice. His solo exhibition at StolenSpace, ‘Going Against The Grain’ shows not only OKER’s artistic development, but also a development in the way he thinks about his art and an important step in his artistic practice.

OKER claims he turned to graffiti as a form of self medication in his difficult early teenage years. When he walked along the tracks with other like minds, no one was interested in his personal life, this world was purely about him as a graffiti artist, as ‘OKER’.