Peter Lloyd
Biography
Peter Lloyd’s love affair with the wrestling culture of Mexico came about through a trip to Mexico City, funded by a British Airways Travel Scholarship, to research and document the famous “Day of the Dead” celebrations. Having previously made works based on British folkloric events, he was disappointed to discover that the traditional event that he had anticipated had become a pale imitation of its former glory, seriously diluted by American Halloween style influences.
In its place, however, he discovered the Lucha Libre (free fighting) displays, an explosive cocktail of traditional values, folkloric traditions, mass entertainment and political activism. Mexican society identifies with the characters in Lucha Libre to the extent that everyone in the crowd wears a mask specific to the wrestler that they support. Lloyd explains the extent of their influence: “‘Super Barrio’ became a figurehead for the whole resistance movement and was eventually voted into the Mexican parliament – where he resides today, in a suit but still wearing his mask." Inspired by this subculture, Lloyd has created his own iconic heroes for this series of prints, each with a highly symbolic visual code. He was inspired by the colourful and flamboyant costumes to adopt an equally vibrant Latin palette to portray his company of witty alter egos. Just as the wrestlers create their elaborate costumes with appliquéd fabrics, Lloyd has developed innovative print techniques, incorporating such diverse materials as carborundum, diamond dust, glitter and synthetic fur. These powerful portraits continue a tradition of the marriage of popular culture and fine art, evident in the work of Andy Warhol in America and Peter Blake in England, and it is no surprise to discover that his works can be found in the collections of several contemporary “pop icons”, including David Bowie, Missy Elliot, Vic Reeves and Holly Johnson.
Peter Lloyd lives and prints in Winchester. He works at Southampton Solent University where he is Director of the School of Art, Design and Fashion. He studied printmaking at the Royal College of Art, where he was the recipient of the prestigious Augustus Martin Award. He has exhibited extensively in the UK over the last ten years including being selected for ‘Platform for Art’, the London Underground poster campaign. Awards include the British Airways Award, mentioned above, and a Southern Arts Award. As well as private collections in Great Britain, Germany and the USA, his work can be found many public collections, including Hochschule de Kunst, Berlin; and Royal College of Art, London.