“I try to make art for the mandem, creating works that reflects my experiences showing the things I loved, hated, felt and thought growing up until now”

J.King

Please introduce yourself and how you initially got into producing art?
“My name’s J. King. I’m an artist from West London, Ladbroke Grove. I initially got into art at a young age and have always loved drawing. I was on and off it while growing up but then decided to do it full time after graduating from Uni. I began sharing my work on social media and started getting a really positive response so decided it was time to take the leap of faith and go for it.”

What does Re-Educated mean for you as an artist? 
“For me, being Re-Educated is learning those areas we weren’t taught in traditional
education, that can be used and applied to real life situations. Aside from the subjects taught in school like Maths, History and Geography it’s what I learned from everyday teachings like loyalty, friendship and love.”

Was there a specific moment when the whole concept came together?
“I guess the main concept came together last year after an event we did called ‘The Art Of RnB.’ I created a tribute piece to ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ and loved it so much I wanted to continue with the concept and developed it into a series. By developing it to feature music, art, symbolism and education as these are areas I like to touch on in my work anyway; I think if it didn’t manifest in these Re-Educated pieces these concepts would have come out it my work in another way.”

Why did you choose each of the individuals featured?
“My features include an array of people and not artists alone. It covers philosophers, entrepreneurs, sportsmen – anyone that has personally influenced or inspired me through their words.”

What’s next for Re-Educated?
“I had a closing show on the 18th August to wrap up the exhibition, following that people can expect to see lots more art in this style dropping across my social media platforms over the next few months. You’ll also be able to find my work hung in some group shows and exhibitions; So expect a whole lot more of J.King.”

Limited edition prints and tees are available to purchase from www.jkingtheartist.co.uk. You can also keep up with J.King’s work @jkingtheartist on socials.