Mark Wigan is a UK-based artist and illustrator based in Chester in the North of England. He is internationally known for his interdisciplinary approach to his work, crossing fine art, illustration, and urban art into a visually stunning whole. He creates paintings, drawings, signed limited edition giclee prints, screen prints, and limited edition T-shirts. His immense creative output also includes set design for theatre and television, music videos and animations and a highly successful collaboration with Dr. Martens footwear.
Wigan was born in the North of England and he grew up in that area. He studied at Hull School of Art and Design 1979 to 1982 then moved to London where his vivid designs soon found favour in the music, fashion and art scenes.
Wigan’s artwork is a true reflection of his unique and eclectic experiences. Heavily influenced by underground movements, Wigan took inspiration from distinct but allied cultures such as pop art, punk, graffiti art, skate culture and the evolving hip hop scene.
New York was the centre and often the birthplace of many of these sub cultures and it is not surprising that in 1986 Wigan visited the city and met with Andy Warhol and contemporary artists Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Haring’s work in particular, whilst distinct from Wigan’s, shares the same boldness, vivid colours and stylised figures of the latter’s work.
Wigan is as much known for his flyers and promotional materials for clubs and music events, album artwork and streetwear designs for fashion brands as for his commissioned art and paintings in exhibitions in galleries across the world.
Commenting on which are the most notable examples of his work is quite hard as his artistic output is so extensive. However, a particular favourite of ours were the murals he was commissioned to create on the wall and ceiling of the Scala cinema in King’s Cross, London. As visitors to the cinema during its heydays in the 1980’s, Wigan’s painted figures on the walls and ceiling often looked like members of the cinema’s underground audience whilst film titles scrawled across the walls announced the films they loved (‘Repo Man’ springs to mind). ‘Urbanites go to the movies’ as Wigan commented on one of the walls. The Scala was the perfect place for Wigan’s work, the cinema being truly one-of-a-kind. Wildly ‘alternative’, and deeply eclectic in its programming, it’s impact on London’s art scene and beyond is still felt to this day.
Now back in North West England, Wigan has gained a significant following on social media and has held several pop-up art shows in Chester including at the ōh Design Foundation in their gallery in the heart of the city.
The ōH Design Foundation is a social enterprise based in Chester. The Foundation is all about supporting the creative industries in the city and acting as a hub and ‘pop up’ store for local creative work and as a launching pad for artists, designers, and entrepreneurs to showcase their creations. By providing a forum for local designers, the Foundation should help to stem the movement of local artistic talent away from the city to more established creative hubs such as Liverpool, Manchester and London. The city is certainly a more affordable space than the latter.
The ōH Design Foundation’s initiative to support local talent is mirrored in the city’s new Market Hall which opened in November 2023. Although there has been a central market in Chester for some 800 years, the old market was somewhat jaded and in a serious need of revamping. The new Market Hall is located in the heart of Chester, at Exchange Square off Northgate Street. It is a vital part of the Northgate development, a major regeneration project that is transforming the heart of the city. It is a multi-million pound scheme that includes the new Market Hall (with its emphasis on a cinema, restaurants, and shops).
The ōH Design Foundation’s initiative to support local talent is mirrored in the city’s new Market Hall which opened in November 2023. Although there has been a central market in Chester for some 800 years, the old market was somewhat jaded and in a serious need of revamping. The new Market Hall is located in the heart of Chester, at Exchange Square off Northgate Street. It is a vital part of the Northgate development, a major regeneration project that is transforming the heart of the city. It is a multi-million pound scheme that includes the new Market Hall (with its emphasis on a cinema, restaurants, and shops). The heart of the new Market Hall is it’s food court, a central area of casual seating and food stalls serving an eclectic variety of different foods in an informal, sociable setting. Great food!
Chester, is an ancient city whose origins date back to the Roman era. The city grew in size and stature over the century’s as it flourished as a trading center and a port, and by the time of the Industrial Revolution (which started in nearby Manchester, the world’s first modern city), the city’s economy shifted towards industry and manufacturing, and the city’s population grew rapidly. As with most of the North of England, whilst mass industrialisation and the startling economic growth it brought is at an end, the city has continued to evolve, becoming an ever more popular tourist destination and a vibrant cultural center.
FOOD, FILMS 'N' TINGS 