Postgraduate student Grimesz Lockwood, 25, from Middlesbrough opened his solo exhibition at Pineapple Black last month as a part of The Northern Art Gala 2024 a series of creative showcases presented across the Tees Valley by our MA students and he is gearing up for the next instalment of Picasso Baby this Feb! We caught up with Grimesz to find out more about his projects, his practice and what it’s like to study at postgraduate level! Read on to find out more:

Tell us about The Northern Art Gala 2024!

NAG 2024 is a collection of exhibitions hosted and curated by MA students. My involvement has included; collaborating with my colleagues through discussion over content, formatting and promotion of the events. I have made behind the scenes clips of the artists working on their final pieces to promote on the stories for the @thenorthernartsgala Instagram page.  I have produced my own solo exhibition as part of the gala.

 My solo exhibition at Pineapple Black was very well received on the opening night! I am opening again on Friday 26^th January at 5:30pm alongside @pineappleblack ‘Last Shot’ open call show. My exhibition naturally became a solo show as I intended to paint an entire room, so it would not be possible to curate a show like this at one of the sourced Venues offered to us. It will be open for viewing every week in Feb Thursday-Saturday, 11am-4pm.

A good friend of mine, Bobby Benjamin, gracefully offered me a room at his Venue off the back of success with previous shows. The project brief was ‘Extend’ but the concept itself was all about ‘Customizing Your World’, I’m exploring underground culture and modern-day shamanism. I wanted to paint an entire room full of bespoke murals and that is exactly what I have done, using spray paint and markers to paint everything. With the help of a few friends and my amazing partner, I was able to pull it off over 8 rigorous days all whilst being very ill. It was truly a monumental effort but I have learned more about my practice over those 8 days than I have since September!

Tell us about your practice:

I am a multi-faceted artist, and my practice is based around Murals and Illustration, the synergy between the two and the artist. My mediums of choice are Flame Spray Paints, POSCA markers and found objects/canvas. I am constantly learning new techniques with the cans, I have built a 24ft wall on campus which acts as my life sized sketchbook over the course of the MA. (If you’re a student, come check it out! Just behind the sculpture shed, it’s constantly evolving).

You are studying MA Arts Practice, tell us about it:

Studying MA Arts Practice has so far been an empowering experience. Having the facility and accepting environment to spray paint and develop my practice in my own way I am very grateful for. It’s a LOT of work, each semester is like a full year of BA crammed into 15 weeks. It’s very motivating to say the least, which is what I needed. That push to mold my practice into what it needs to be so I can leave with an outstanding portfolio to back my Commercial Mural career. Studying in this capacity has benefited me massively, but it’s really what you make of it. If you want to draw daft cartoons and get stoned with your mates, then you’re not going to go anywhere with your practice. Entering the Masters with the right mindset, the right goals will set you up to succeed.

Tell us about your other projects! 

Other projects I’m working on currently include Album covers for local underground bands, a comic I’m developing called ‘LeatherMetal’ which is essentially all of my influences and love for things undead and rude all smashed into one world set in a retro futuristic underworld. I’m also producing music! I’m the front man for @thedrowningmachine, we’re nearly finished with our debut album “…the pigeons are not what they seem” so if you like unrelenting heavy music and creative scream therapy, check us out! Another project worth mentioning is @picasso_baby_boro where we transform local venue, @disgracelandbakerst a few times a year, curing live music, poetry, art and anything else interesting and creative. The next instalment is on 9^th Feb, come down and let me draw your caricature directly on the venue walls! You can find me on instagram at @grimygrimesz

If you are interested in taking your studies to the next level, make sure you check out our postgraduate degree programmes here.