Provocative Influence

'Provocative Influence' - Limited Edition by Toby Mulligan

About the artist:

Toby Mulligan is a contemporary British artist known for his evocative and spontaneous portraits and figurative paintings. His unique expressionist style is a captivating fusion of charcoal, vanishes, and inks, resulting in vibrant works of art that masterfully depict the human figure. This exquisite works have found their place in prestigious collections, from Mick Jagger’s French chateau, to the esteemed National Portrait Gallery of Edinburgh.

Mulligan captures his figures in dynamic poses which enhance the power and beauty of the nude form. He plays with colour washes, fragmentation and laying to achieve his abstracted and exciting compositions, full of vitality and lust. Mulligan’s spontaneous style has developed over many years. When he begins a piece, he does not prepare with sketches or planning, rather he intuitively begins to draw, channelling this sense of freedom into the spirit of his figures. He uses a wide range of models, but feels that his best work comes from making a connection with the person he paints. Although he often uses photographs as prompts, his preference is always to paint from life and to form this connection with the model.

His mantra both as an artist and as a person is to simply to be present, paying total attention to the world within and without. He believes we can go out and learn whatever we need, thanks to the information revolution, so there's no need to go around with a head full of facts and figures. The challenge as he sees it is to be free, clear and “as unfettered by stuff and thinking as the day we were born. Always open, always amazed”.