Boy Blue

RHED is a young emerging figurative artist, whose cultural background is diverse and unconventional. His work draws on a childhood spent between New York and London being exposed to eclectic and diverse artistic works and experiences.  

Rocco Ritchie, has been selling his paintings under the mysterious pseudonym Rhed. Landed on the art scene in 2018, his paintings has recently began to command five figures, championed by the ‘wealthy art elite’ as well as the likes of Madonna – who it now transpires is his mother. 

Now based in London and attending Central St Martins, he has embraced a new genre of bricolage art with expressionist verve and street energy. It is no surprise that he first dabbled as a graffiti artist and his work certainly has hints of Basquiat and Banksy. His pieces are unique and brilliantly chaotic with a playful and performative aspect. He has embraced a new genre of bricolage art with expressionist style and street energy. It is no surprise that he first dabbled as a graffiti artist. His works are unique and brilliantly chaotic with a playful and performative aspect.

Society conflicts such as the obsession with social media, fixation of celebrities & labels and generational problems such as drug abuse and depression are subjects that he approaches in a coded fashion; it is almost as if the artist uses the paintings to act as a spokesman for the millennial generation who have overdosed on a toxic society. He has disguised the foreboding subjects with his use of colour which is bold & dominating, the texture in his paintings is deliberately forceful and layered, so that they evolve organically. There are certainly obvious influences from Picasso to Basquiat and what we are witnessing is a genuine desire to create an expressive language of emotion and storytelling which is laid bare on the canvas, whilst still using drawing as the key component in his paintings, the strong figurative influence is refreshing from an emerging artist whose generation has largely forgotten the art of drawing.