James-Lee Duffy is an Artist, Creative Director and co-founder of the cult zine Pavement Licker.
His work has been: banned by London Underground; worn by supermodels; been exhibited in New York; London and Tokyo; read on the toilet; been drunk out of; written about; printed in coffee table books; scrawled on the walls throughout the Saatchi Gallery; tattooed on human skin; broadcast on the news; stuck on kid’s lunch boxes; displayed on Europe’s biggest billboard; collaborated with; taken over a clothing store and hung on collectors walls.
Duffy has worked and led creative agencies for over two decades. In 2010 he founded the We Are Shadows Studio and was part of the vanguard of the street art explosion in London at the beginning of this century under the name of ORKO.
With his painting, Duffy creates with an exuberant and explosive style, inspired by cartoon characters and fragmented childhood memories. His seemingly frenzied technique involves deliberate markings, mixing unorthodox skills and materials, bold gestures, rapid paint spattering and animated unconventional forms, which result in humorous, fleetingly familiar and unconventional imagery.
Back in 2003, graphic artist James-Lee Duffy and writer Josh Jones started a ‘zine. It promoted fresh talent alongside more established names in the underground art world and it was fiercely independent. With contributions from some of the world’s most famous underground artists, Pavement Licker been described by GQ as,“London’s most legendary art zine’, i-D Magazine as ‘King of Zines’, Time Out as ‘the all time underground bible of art’ and Juxtapoz Magazine as ‘one of the most important underground art zines in Europe’. Known for their extensive contacts in the art world, Pavement Licker has continued to promote artists to a global audience through the ‘zine, collaborations and curated art shows. They even opened up the work of their favourite artists to a whole new audience on the labels of an eponymous beer created with the brewery Verdant. They’ve also worked with the Saatchi Gallery, collaborated with OBEY, made more zines, created screen prints, and raised lots of money for charity with groundbreaking multi-artist art exhibitions.
Interview -Kent Creative
Paintings- Ashbees 100
Exhibitions
‘Stick’em Up’, Magma, Clerkenwell, London 2002
Perverted Science, Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, Shoreditch, London 2002
Decknology, Lounge Bar, London 2002
Food show, Magma, Clerkenwell, London 2002
Perverted Science, Tranan Bar, Stockholm 2003
Glastonbury, Rizla Lounge 2003
Florence Fine Art, West End, London 2003
Finders Keepers, Shoreditch, London 2003
‘Stick’em Up’, Revolver, Melbourne, Australia 2003
Design a Qee Expo, Playlounge, Newburgh Street, London 2004
Cake, Fitzrovia, London 2004
Firetrap Hotel, London 2004
Hollywood Remix, Soho, New York 2004
Who Let You In? Wall Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo 2004
930 Square feet of Peepshow, 17 Gallery, Shoreditch, London 2005
Pavement Licker, Notting Hill Arts Club, London 2006
23rd Union, Hoxton Bar and Grill, Hoxton, London 2006
A Haunted Man, Notting Hill Arts Club, London 2006
Queen of Hoxton, Shoreditch, London 2009
Stuck Up Piece of Crap, 323 East Gallery, Detroit 2012
Pavement Licker, 71 Gallery, Shoreditch, London 2013
Pavement Licker, Pure Evil Gallery, Shoreditch, London 2017
Print! Tear It Up, Somerset House, London 2018
Pavement Lickers, Mayfair, London 2018
Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today, Saatchi Gallery, Chelsea, London 2019
Pressing Matters, Matches Town House, 2021
Moose Knuckles, Regent Street, London 2021
Chaos & Order, FRMD, East London 2022
Christmas Show, FRMD, East London 2022
Storytellers, The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury 2023
Ashbees 100, Residency, Rye, East Sussex 2023 - Ongoing
We Are Shadows Studio
Studio photos by: Sam Riva