Stuart Semple

Stuart Buchanan Semple  (born 12 September 1980) is a British artist and activist who works with sculpture and painting.

Life and career
Semple was born in Bournemouth, Dorset. He studied art and design at Bournemouth and Poole College, and painting and printmaking at Bretton Hall College in Yorkshire. He first wanted to become an artist after his mother took him to see Van Gogh's Sunflowers at the age of 7. In 2000, after a life-threatening allergic reaction, he decided to pursue a career as an artist. He later referenced the electrocardiography flatline he experienced in a 2010 painting.

In 2002 he had his first major London solo exhibition, "Stolen Language – the art of Nancyboy", at the A&D Gallery. In 2009, he auctioned off Nancyboy-themed artworks to raise funds for the UK charity Mind, after his grandmother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After the 2004 Momart warehouse fire, he was commissioned to create a memorial with the debris, titled Burn Baby Burn. In 2005, Semple produced an exhibition in East London, titled Post Pop Paradise. Also that year he placed a painting he created at the Saatchi Gallery, avoiding security in doing so, as a protest against comments Charles Saatchi made.

In 2006 Semple's exhibition "Epiphany" at Martin Summers Fine Art in London questioned the role of religion in modern life in a series of in-your-face paintings that alluded to popular culture, graphic media, advertising and social issues.

Stuart began posting drawings he created on eBay in 1999. In 2012, he published an extended play on iTunes featuring paintings and a short film. In 2013, he created Jump, a 10 by 10m bouncy cloud trampoline, for Australia's Federation Square's public art programme. In 2014, his exhibition "Anxiety Generation" was featured in Tatler magazine. That same year, he joined talent agency Next Management. He has also been featured on the BBC, and has spoken at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Amnesty International.

In 2004, art dealer Anthony d'Offay flew Semple's portfolio to be shown in New York City. A 2007 solo exhibition saw $1 million sales within the first five minutes. In 2013, a London exhibition had presales to a charitable foundation of $1 million. That same year, he was featured in The Guardian's list of Ten Best Art Auctions. In 2015, he created a colouring book for adults raise funds for Mind.

Business ventures
In 2016, Semple came into conflict with the artist Anish Kapoor when Kapoor purchased exclusive artistic rights to the super-black material Vantablack. He released a paint titled "PINK – the world's pinkest pink paint", banning Kapoor from purchasing the paint.

In 2021, Semple released a pigment called TIFF Blue, aiming to "democratise" Tiffany Blue, a shade of blue trademarked by Tiffany & Co. The same year, he also released a pigment called Incredibly Kleinish Blue with a similar intention of democratising International Klein Blue, which is patented by Yves Klein. In 2023, Semple released a pigment called Pinkie, aiming to democratise Barbie Pink. Freetone (or Sempletone) is an Adobe plugin, created by Semple in 2022 in response to the licensing fallout between Pantone and Adobe Inc. Freetone is a collection of 1,280 colours that mimic the Pantone colour palette with a similar set of number codes. Semple barred any employees and associates of Adobe or Pantone from buying, using or downloading Freetone.

Activism
Semple has supported Amnesty International and has created artworks for the Freedom of Expression Campaign.



In 2011, Semple was made an ambassador for mental health charity Mind. He initiated the Creative Therapies fund within the organisation which he launched with Stephen Fry and Melvyn Bragg and curated the exhibition "Mindful", which included works from Jake & Dinos Chapman, Mat Collishaw, Tracey Emin, Mona Hatoum, Sarah Lucas and Sebastian Horsley. He has since launched a number of fundraising art projects for Mind. The Creative Therapies fund backs mental health projects in the United Kingdom.

He has also advocated for artists' rights in the United Kingdom, humanitarian aid,  and world peace.

Curatorial projects
In 2007, Semple co-curated and featured in the 'Black Market' at the Anna Kustera gallery in New York with Just Another Rich Kid. Semple curated exhibitions "Mash Ups, post pop fragments and détournements" at The Kowalsky Gallery in 2008 for the Design and Artists Copyright Society and 'London Loves The Way Things Fall Apart' (2009) and "This Is England" (2011) for Galleria Aus18, Milan.

Semple curated "This Is England" (2010) initially held at The Aubin Gallery (which he directed in association with Aubin & Wills and Shoreditch House) featuring artists Sarah Maple, Nicky Carvell, David Hancock and Richard Galloway which then toured to Milan.

In 2011 Semple curated the Mindful exhibition in the 25,000 sqft Old Vic Tunnels featuring artists including Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Mona Hatoum, Mat Collishaw, Sebastian Horsley, Sarah Lucas, Barney Bubbles, Liliane Lijn, Tessa Farmer and Semple. It coincided with a gala dinner at The Imperial War Museum hosted by Stephen Fry and Lord Melvyn Bragg to raise funds for the Mind creative therapies fund.