Whatshisname is a Polish-born contemporary artist based in London. Whatshisname’s art is a humorous take on popular culture. His real name is Sebastian Burdon and his creative alias alone stirs intrigue, and their body of work is intended to challenge the viewer’s preconceived views of the culture they live in.
Whatshisname is a Polish-born contemporary artist based in London. Whatshisname’s art is a humorous take on popular culture. His real name is Sebastian Burdon and his creative alias alone stirs intrigue, and their body of work is intended to challenge the viewer’s preconceived views of the culture they live in.
Whatshisname is always one step ahead of his audience, using his self-proclaimed “outsider advantage” to create a vision of popular culture that is tongue-in-cheek. From his parodic sculptures to public projects, every Whatshisname artwork is a visually powerful pop culture statement and often riffs on the work of American artist Jeff Koons. As a child with dyslexia, visual imagery was the best way for the artist to understand the world and this provided inspiration that informs his artworks today. Whatshisname started creating digital art at the age of 7 using the Atari 130 XE, where he would build each image pixel by pixel. It was only after moving to London in 2006 and working as a studio assistant that he started to craft a personal aesthetic by fusing an understanding of newer technologies with more traditional mediums. His work is now highly acclaimed and has been exhibited internationally in major cities such as Los Angeles, Hong Kong, New York, and London.
The alias Whatshisname was inspired by the artist's difficulty remembering artists' names and by Green Day’s song “Whatshername”.
Television and film had a huge impact on Whatshisname's creative style.
“My work aims to show the unusual way of creative thinking by connecting the dots that already exist but have not yet been connected.”
In 2012, the London Underground banned Whatshisname's POPek series from the Art Below exhibition for being 'offensive'.
Whathisname enjoys working with resin and creating three-dimensional objects.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
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Take a deep dive into some of the lesser known facts about the intriguing contemporary artist Whatshisname. 1. Although his nickname is ingenious, whatshisname does in fact have a name - Sebastian Burdon. 2. Sebastian chose the moniker “Whatshisname” because he found it difficult to remember other artists' names, and was inspired by Green Day’s song “Whatshername.” He has said of this choice: “I just love the work of so many artists but when I refer to them I can never remember their names. So it’s only fair that that’s how I’m remembered.” POPek Blue by Whatshisname 3. Sebastian was born ...
