Artist Bio
Conor Mccreedy is an internationally known contemporary artist. He was born in 1987 in Johannesburg and grew up in Cape Town and Kwa-Zulu Natal.
His first art piece was painted in 1993 at the age of 6 and was of a blue sailing ship on the ocean. His second painting was of a group of trees and flowers in the African wilderness. These are still his most important and biggest inspirations – the wild African bush and the vast oceans. After finishing boarding school in South Africa, Mccreedy enrolled at university in North Carolina on a golf scholarship. After dropping out of college, he traveled to London and decided between a career as a professional golfer or an artist.
In 2006 he returned to the United States and enrolled at Pratt Institute in Manhattan where he studied under many great illustrators before once again, dropping out.
During this period, he worked as a model but also began to sell his artworks in Union Square. Without much money, he would offer his local art store an A4 sketch in blue pen in exchange for art for materials. At 19, he sold his first major piece for $2,500.
In 2009 Mccreedy became the youngest ever artist to exhibit and produce a sold out show “Outliers” at The National Arts Club in Gramercy Park. The theme was inspired by his love for African wildlife. The works were all abstract figures of animals from his safari adventures in Botswana.
In early 2010, Mccreedy’s “Indigo Blue” series was displayed in Johannesburg. This solo exhibition demonstrated his interest in expressionism and the techniques of 14th and 15th Century painters who used only ultramarine and indigo blue pigments. The following year he developed his Mccreedy blue pigment, a unique color combination of five pigments that he uses in all his current work.
This year he created rock sculptures called “HARNESS” (Holistic Art Resources Nurturing Environmentally Sustainable Sculptures). These unique rock sculptures are created purely from the local indigenous rocks in the region where they are installed and displayed in throughout the world.
Mccreedy’s pioneering style has redefined the way contemporary art is created, collected, and perceived. His creations are evocative, powerful, and alluring.
Mccreedy lives and works between Switzerland and Southern Africa.
Interview
Artist: Conor Mccreedy
What was your childhood like growing up in Johannesburg? How did the environment at home and in your immediate surroundings influence you?
Growing up in South Africa was very special. I learned many things. I grew up with different cultures. I learned about the Africa Zulu culture, the Xhosa culture, and other African cultures. I was known as Mukiwa as a child (the African White boy) In those days there was no such thing as cell phones, not even laptops, so I grew up playing tennis, cricket, rugby, soccer, and water polo. I climbed trees. As children we had many old fashioned soap bars from family that were from different afar places from around the world. Since a child I have developed a passion for soaps, I collects soaps from all over the world. I never can have enough soap. I was always fascinated by colours and I used to paint with coffee in the kitchen. I left home at 12 years old to go to boarding school from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal. I have a rich history of family lineage there. My great, great-grandfather was a British statesman. It is said that he was the man who put the crown on the head of the then new Zulu king – chief Cetshwayo.
I liked and disliked the boarding school environment. The environment and structure if I look back now at it was fantastic. It shaped the man I am today is some way. It was quite tough and regimental but it shaped my life most definitely so that was the beginning. It was very sad for me leaving my family at a young age. The boarding school was very old fashioned but extremely beautiful. The houses had vast land around them and estates filled with wild animals. It was a privilege to be able to grow up in an environment like that. I always remember the beautiful large old fireplaces in the boarding houses. This is what kept us warm in winter. Summers were so hot, swimming in the wild rivers on the estate is what kept us cool.
Were you artistically inclined from an early age?
Always artistically inclined – I loved arts, I loved designs, I loved architecture. My first painting was created when I was 6 years old. It is a sailing ship in a wild blue ocean with the moon over the sea.
Your early years were spent in Johannesburg, South Africa where landscapes were important to you. Then you moved to New York City and now you live in Switzerland. Can you tell us about the many cultural and philosophical influences?
I am certain that I am influenced by cultural and philosophical things. Many Classical philosophers, starting with Socrates in the 5th century BCE, began to criticize the Sophists’ skepticism and their practice of getting paid for teaching. Socrates argued that reason, pursued through intense questioning, can in fact decipher truth. The use of reason in this way would make the soul virtuous. Because Socrates looked to reason and not mythology, he was considered a threat to Greek tradition and was put to death for his ideas! Beginning in the 6th century BCE, there was a flourishing of Pre-Socratic philosophical thought in Greece that would continue through the Classical period and the Hellenistic period. When I visited Delos island in Greece last year I was so inspired seeing how the structures were built, many years ago. Cleopatra had her holiday house there, and it was interesting to see how Cleopatra lived. This always fascinates me. The light on that island inspired me immensely. They say the sunlight rays that hit the island are the most powerful on the earth due to its precise location. There is certainly some truth to this. I felt it personally, so I can understand this. I guess until the middle of the 19th century, psychology was a mainly speculative discipline involving metaphysical debates on the nature of mind. Certain skepticism about the possibility of a science of psychology discouraged empirical investigation. Around the mid-19th century however several currents of thought in philosophy and science contributed to the development of experimental psychology. In the 20th century the major influence came from Logical positivism.
I guess I am perhaps somewhat a philosophical person. I loved my years in Africa. I spent seven years in New York, and currently I spend time between Switzerland and South Africa. I am a very private person and Switzerland is perfect for this, it gives me my absolute peace and privacy. I don’t want to sound like a recluse, but I really do not like large public events or areas. I have slight anxiety issues I guess. Perhaps I have just become more private and reserved over time. I remember being a very wild young man, but those days are over. I need lots of peace and privacy especially for the work I do. Switzerland is a very peaceful and protected country, especially Zurich. It is very private and secluded, which is also why I love it. I’ve had artwork stolen in New York, so I prefer Zurich. I think that the cultural influences are amazing in Switzerland. I love history. I love heritage. I love craftsmanship. Being an artist and being based here with a studio in a former Roman townhouse is very special for me, my creative energy and to keep my creative flow. It’s also where all the luxury brands in the world are basically based or want to be based, so it’s very special and attention to detail is magnificent. I like water. The studio is located on the pristine Limmat River, so it’s a big inspiration.
In 2009, you became the youngest artist ever to produce and exhibit a solo show, “Outliers” that sold out at The National Arts Club in Manhattan. What did that exhibit mean to your career?
Yes, I was the youngest artist in history to have a solo show at the National Arts Club. It was an honor for me. It meant a lot for me. It was an honor to meet the late Paul Newman and Ted Kennedy. They came for a private viewing of the show.
Why did you choose abstract as your creative style of choice?
It allows me to lose myself and at the same time feel balanced. It’s very simple. I like to explode my work and energy onto a canvas much more than sitting for long hours and painting fine pictures. That just bores me, and I’ve done it too many times. I’ve been playing with the abstract and the big scale paintings for years now. I feel perfectly content when I paint abstract. Sometimes painting with higher ceilings can drastically affect the scale and type of paintings. How can you not love the abstract? But colour, colour? The mysterious blue…like vast oceans and endless skies, fuck everything else. I’ve spent a year working intensely in the studio getting covered in paint and making the whole new series, “Mccreedy Palm Trees “. It’s a new way of working for me because in the past I’d make one or two paintings and then I go back and make a few more here and there when I felt like it. In the Palm Paintings I just thought, fuck it I need to go back to my original feelings about my blue colour and forget the grid and to hell with order; I need to celebrate the colour blue and chaos of my strokes in a grand way.
In 2011 you developed the Mccreedyblue pigment, a unique combination of five pigments that brings a very distinctive effect in your work. How did you adopt your style and medium?
I had a scientist help me create my pigment, and I just started painting with it in my abstract trademark style. I have many different paintings in assorted colours before we launched the blue colour. It’s just my favorite colour, so that’s as simple as it is. I love blue. My colour changes with the light. It’s like the ocean. It can change colour depending on the weather. Sometimes collectors send me letters or call me to say that when it was raining, the painting in their house changed colour to when it was sunny or a cloudless day. It is surreal, I find that beautiful and mysterious.
https://vimeo.com/257377260
You are a painter and a luxury brand investor. How do you combine both roles that seem to be in opposition to each other?
Yes, I am an artist, a painter, but I also have a luxury brand which I have personally invested in with other investors. I am the founder and the largest shareholder yes. It’s called MCCREEDYWORLD. Perhaps I am permeating the cultural consciousness of our times without being aware of it. The art world is a much bigger world than most people think. The brand makes limited-edition, high-end, super-exclusive products, limited to a certain amount every year and it’s all inspired by my art. It is a separate company which protects me and my art from not being devalued or commercially driven. It doesn’t interfere with me as an artist. I am Conor Mccreedy, the artist and painter; the brand is MCCREEDYWORLD, which is inspired by my art. We have the candle, the sneaker, the trunks, the umbrella, and a coffee brand. We do exclusive, limited edition collaborations with some of the world’s biggest brands. We are in discussions with Hermes for our new scarves collection. Each pattern has a legal trademark and registered pattern to be on certain products. The luxury products don’t interfere with my original paintings. I believe Art and Luxury are someway connected, as to be able to buy or collect good art is certainly a form of luxury. I do believe art is more powerful than money, but in the real world there’s a fine line between the two. Each one needs the other to survive.
You research animal behavior, especially lions and their habitat. Tell us about your conservation efforts.
Yes, I love lions. The lion is my favorite animal. I’m very close to cats. I love their elusiveness, their mystical movements, and how agile they are. I lost my special cat recently, which broke my heart. I love animals, all animals. Lion conservation is very important. Lions are the apex predator and if not protected, the ecosystem that is built around these beautiful beasts will be destroyed.
In 2013 I set up a foundation, Protecting African Lions (PAL) with a close friend of mine. I have some amazing people who support me in that foundation. Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s son is my Vice President and Steve Travis is my Global President. We raise awareness and money through sales of my trademark bracelet design and fund on the ground activities, like the Global White Lion Protection Trust or the Captured in Africa Foundation. They have projects to reintroduce lions into the wild, build fences around dangerous areas to protect livestock from wild animals, and to make sure that lions are thriving in the wild. They belong in the wild.
(PAL is) unlike other foundations where people are using their names and acting like they’re protecting lions, but they are instead forcing lions into confined, fenced areas to become pets and use that for exposure to National Geographic or Discovery Channel to make money for themselves. This is false and misleading, drawing people in who know no better. It really upsets me to see people who constantly sit with lions and feed them, talk to them, and even lay in the sun with them. This is the most stupid, ridiculous thing I have ever seen or witnessed. Don’t get me wrong, yes, a man can have a bond with a lion and maybe be lucky enough to experience a connection or a walk occasionally, but this is rare and should not be advertised like a circus. Lions are wild animals and need to be free in the wild, not sucking milk and being fed by little men who act as if they are the savior to lions while they all sit around a fenced area and bullshit the world. Some of these individuals and parks sell the lions to be shot!! This is something we would never do. We want to protect lions in the wild, and we do not partner with or believe it’s correct to partner with people who keep lions in tight-fenced areas. We like to protect them in the wild. One of the projects we just finished was with Oceanic Global. Susan Rockefeller is one of the advisors, and we raised money with our lion bracelets for Oceanic to protect the oceans and protect the lions simultaneously.
Our goal is to get everybody in the world wearing a PAL bracelet with my Mccreedyblue colour.
The “Mandela’s Roar” is one of your most emblematic paintings. How did that project come about?
I met Nelson Mandela many years ago. He really was a cool person and I thought he was really inspiring. He inspired me to paint the portrait I did of him and we named it after him for having such a strong voice. His grandchildren are friends of mine, and ambassadors to my Protecting African Lions Foundation. Some of them are doing important things and they are following in their grandfather’s footsteps especially Ndaba and Kweku Mandela.
Is there any project you are working on right now or any ongoing event or exhibition you would like to share with our readers?
The project I just finished was opening the cafe concept in the heart of Zurich, serving some of the finest coffee in the world. 100 % arabica beans from Tanzania and roasted by a 5th generation Swiss roasting family. I’m now working on more projects that involve MCCREEDYWORLD. They are exclusive collaborations with some very special brands. We are doing sneakers, swim trunks and umbrellas. They are all Limited Edition. Sneakers we are doing something very luxurious and low key with Ludwig Reiter, an old family-run shoe business that I really respect and am looking forward to collaborating with. They have some of the most impeccably well-made shoes. It’s pure craftsmanship, which is something I really like and admire, being based in Switzerland it is very important to have the highest level of artistry and continuously evolve at the same time. Swimming trunks we are doing with Timo Trunks. This brand is really cool. The founder is a real gentleman and has become a friend of mine through our collaboration. He knows how to spell the word perfection backwards! His attention to detail has helped us pull off the most mesmerizing swim trunks with our trademark patterns. He told me it was one of the most difficult patterns they have ever had to stitch together. It’s all worth it in the end because these trunks are so comfortable I don’t ever want to take them off; I swim in them, I play tennis in them, I paint in them, I once went to a board meeting in them this summer. Sometimes I even sleep in them. Umbrellas we are doing with Switzerland’s most well-known luxury umbrella manufacturer, Glatz Umbrellas. The company embodies Swiss ingenuity on another level, exactly why I wanted to do the limited edition art umbrellas with them. The global head of marketing is someone who stands for pure class. Our umbrellas are like being under a sailing yacht with UV protected materials and the finest teakwood. I mean the smell of the wood is even awesome. We are also launching our first line of crockery, vases, and beautiful jugs all inspired by my paintings. Myself and my Russian gallery-Askeri Gallery are preparing for Art Shanghai in November which will be displaying five of my paintings and one pair of very rare sneakers. Finally, one of the biggest projects I am working on with two other teams that are helping me is something very rare and exclusive in London. It’s about an 8 to 10 month project but when complete it will become one of the most iconic art emporiums in the world. Think of epic experiences through art. It will encompass a wellness retreat, cafe, restaurant, a mysterious private members club and even a gallery. It will become almost like a hidden oasis. The location is probably the best in the entire city.
