Founded in 2019 as a father and son collaborative, Grow Up base their work on graphic art, typography, stencils, mixed media, screen print, fluorescent ink, humour, fun, and potty-mouthed high jinx. Launching with Helm Gallery on Jan 25th, Grow Up will be unveiling a new edition of their FOMO print, in a new fluorescent colour way exclusive to the gallery. The title of the works (an acronym of the phrase ‘Fear of missing out’) refers to modern day consumer culture as well as the common hysteria associated with the idea of ‘missing out’, be it on a purchase, trend or event.
This unique release consists of 100, 3 colour screen prints with hand tipped price stickers, and introduces a 100-tier pricing system. The first print starts at just £1, with each subsequent print increasing by £1, ending at £100. Only one print per price tier is available, making each piece as exclusive as it is affordable!
Telling us more about the origins of the work, Blam from Grow Up states; “It’s funny but it was a cartoon light bulb moment which is how most of my better ideas come to me nowadays. I had been at an 4 day art fair so was dealing with being exhausted and out of adrenaline and completely burnt out. I was trying to fall asleep and my 2am brain went ‘ping’ or whatever noise it makes and I wrote it down on my notes on my phone and the following day it seemed like a fun thing to create next so we made it.” At the time, Grow Up had also been experimenting with themes and influences from POP Art and 60’s advertising after visiting a Basquiat/Warhol show in Paris. “We had already developed our own voice or style onto it on a few earlier pieces so it was a really quick process – without the shackles of overthinking it, we just made it and it felt right,” describes Blam.
The majority of Grow Up’s art is anti-establishment, and is inspired by questioning and approaching things from the “wrong” direction. Thus, they avoid working with galleries who use phrases like ’this piece is a great investment work of art for your collection’, and, instead, are constantly seeking unusual ways of working in a disruptive way.
The ironic nature of the release, particularly timely around this period of the year, is in keeping with Grow Up’s tongue-in-cheek approach to their practice. Launching in a brand new fluorescent pink colour way, this release is a rare opportunity to acquire some of the duo’s iconic screen-prints at a unique price-point. Commenting on why they decided on this unique pricing strategy, Blam says; “Pricing your own work [and for every artist] is one the hardest things to get right… I like to have fun with what we make and also part of what we do is poking ‘the man’ with a stick. I’ve always been amused by tiered editions as being a little ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ so the idea of making 100 prints and 100 tiers I found instantly funny and ridiculous.” He continues; “The idea that the customer decides how little or as much as they want to pay appealed to us as an idea of fun, play and humour which is intrinsic to our work… It seems like a self fulfilling and very democratic un-greedy anti-capitalist way of working.”
FOMO also falls into Grow Up’s print series entitled You get what you pay for; an ongoing theme they’ve been playing with for a few years. “It’s a thing we do somewhat as a piss take too, I suppose people wanting to pay a fair price versus artists having to live off what they sell as an income,” says Blam.
Grow Up decided to work with Helm on this project due to their ongoing support of their work and their amazing roster of artists. Taking over an entire gallery wall in their space, Grow Up will exhibit 50 pieces of their FOMO edition at once, which visitors will be able to take down and pay for. Blam explains; “It felt like the live interactive event we wanted to do meant it was presented perfectly and in an entertaining way… I keep comparing it to the multiple bags of peanuts you get behind a bar in a pub, it’s kind of what I wanted it to feel like…”
The edition will be available online and in person from January 25th at 10:00am.
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