Topsafe is a collection of limited-edition artwork created by some of Europe’s leading talents who have mainly honed their talents through graffiti writing. With a shared passion for expression and individuality, artists who have created exclusive work for the Topsafe collection present a development of their ideas originally executed in train yards and on city streets.

For most, this is the first time these artists have made editions of their work, which retains the energy and free thinking that is the hallmark of their outlaw practice.

As an introduction to Topsafe, here we introduce the work of Neequaye Dreph and…

Topsafe is a collection of limited-edition artwork created by some of Europe’s leading talents who have mainly honed their talents through graffiti writing. With a shared passion for expression and individuality, artists who have created exclusive work for the Topsafe collection present a development of their ideas originally executed in train yards and on city streets.

For most, this is the first time these artists have made editions of their work, which retains the energy and free thinking that is the hallmark of their outlaw practice.

As an introduction to Topsafe, here we introduce the work of Neequaye Dreph and Emilski.

Inspired by 80’s British underground comics, German expressionism and early New York subway art, Neequaye Dreph’s work is powerful in its simplicity and characterised by a subdued palette; a culmination of black ink, spray paint, oil pastel and graphite pencil or emulsion - or spray paint for outside work. A skilled draughtsman, Dreph describes his subjects as “real people drawn from imagination, inspired by modern British living”.

Dreph first began painting in the streets in 1985 before completing a degree in Illustration at Portsmouth University in 1997. Although he still finds time to paint in the street, the majority of his work is now in the form of larger than life figurative paintings, printmaking and 3d installations.

Emilski’s statement screenprint ChickenBeef was inspired by the distinctive red and navy blue chicken shop signs that dominate the visual landscape of the UK’s city high streets, which have become an inner city phenomenon in recent years. Emilski particularly references London culture in his work, which he fuses with a simplistic visual language and his passion for the now dying tradition of sign writing.