Hello. Artcookie is the online gallery from me, artist Bobby Salazar. The gallery is currently small but hopefully perfectly formed. More artwork is added upon completion so please check back regularly for new additions. Why is your website named Artookie I hear you cry? Have you tried spelling s-a-l-a-z-a-r ?
It is customary in artists statements to refer to yourself in the third-person to lend a certain gravitas, so here goes...
Bobby Salazar is one of Britains best-loved artists...at least by his mum, who often mistakenly calls him by his brothers name. He has won many awards and prizes none of which are connected to his art. He studied his trade at the Royal College of Completely Self-Taught where he gained a first class degree of separation from reality. It is very likely that he would have benefited from the guiding hand of a mentor in the mould of Mister Miyagi or Gandalf the Grey.
Imagine we met at a bus stop and you said, "Hey, you're that Banksy fella". And I said, "Well actually no..." and you said, "Love your work man, what are your inspirations"? And I said, "Well since you ask..." I suppose, if what you see looks like a penguin, it must be a penguin. And they're cute in an inebriated munchkin man-in-a-suit, fishy kinda way. What better rationale for turning one into a bit of art? More arty types may lend it greater profundity and describe it as a feathered, winged, bipdal, endothermic, egg-laying Spheniscidae; exploring the boundaries of traditional figuration by reconceptualising the bestial figure in all its spatial, spiritual and psychological multiplicity. But when the sun goes down and comes back up, it will still be a penguin that looks nice.
You may be wondering what I look like: its only natural. We've introduced ourselves, exchanged a few pleasantries. You want a hook to hang your hat on - a face to the name. Some say I look like Banksy. Others would say I bare a passing resemblance to Charlie from Charlie's Angels. While I'm often mistaken for The Stig, I would say it wouldn't be a million miles from accurate to say I was a like-facsimile of Samuel Becketts Godot.
