Goldie (b.1965) 

Goldie, born Clifford Joseph Price, is one of the UK’s most celebrated visual artists, whose career began in the mid-1980s as a graffiti pioneer before evolving into a body of work that spans muralism, painting, abstraction and large-scale public commissions. From his debut at the seminal Night Writers exhibition in 1986 to international shows and monumental street works, his practice has consistently pushed beyond convention into something vivid, imaginative and defiantly original. 

Early pieces such as the Survivors and Future War Machines murals in Wolverhampton, or his contributions to Rockin’ The City (1987) and Crucial Creators (1988), cemented Goldie as a leading figure in the British graffiti movement. These works were more than decoration — they were acts of resilience, storytelling and radical reinvention. 

His London exhibition Love Over Gold (2007) unveiled an exhilarating collection that fused his distinctive visual language with raw energy and layered emotional depth. In 2013, he presented Lost Tribes, which he describes as his “most important breakthrough” — a series drawing inspiration from the ancient cultures of Africa, Asia and the Americas, re-imagined through his powerful mark-making and textural invention. 

Since relocating to Thailand in 2015, Goldie has expanded his visual practice even further. His works from this period include portraits of local T-girl culture, later developed into limited-edition hand-finished prints, as well as more abstract compositions such as Three Suns in the Glass City (2019) and the jazz-inspired Lullaby of Birdland (2020). These paintings channel the dynamism of modernism while echoing the vibrant palettes of Albert Irvin and Abdul Haqq. 

In 2021, Goldie returned directly to his graffiti roots with two acclaimed series, My Life in Black and White and Stylin’, reconnecting to his early years between the Midlands and New York subway culture. His recent large-scale murals further demonstrate his technical mastery and collaborative spirit: a record-breaking 200ft piece in Bristol for Metalheadz’ 30th anniversary (2024), painted alongside New York’s Tats Cru, and a striking tribute to DJ Randall in 2025. 

Throughout his visual career, Goldie has described himself as “an alchemist… practising the dark arts of messing with the form of something structurally solid.” His canvases and murals embody this philosophy: works of energy, compelling beauty and fearless invention. For Goldie, art is not simply image-making, but transformation itself — a lifelong act of resilience and reinvention.