User:Tom Bloke/sandbox

Will Coles, BA (Hons), (born 9th April 1972 in Warwickshire) is a British sculptor and street artist.

Coles was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire but was raised in Wickham Skeith & Thornham Magna in Suffolk. Between 1991 – 1995 he studied sculpture at Ravensbourne College of Art & Design, Wimbledon School of Art & Glasgow School of Art. In 1996 he relocated to Sydney, Australia. He relocated again to Europe in March 2015.

Since 2007 he is known for his sculptural street art. He says he’s installed thousands in Sydney, Melbourne & other towns across Australia without permission. By the time he left the country in 2015 he was Australia’s leading 3D street artist as well as an established contemporary artist. He also claimed to be “the most stolen artist in the world” due to the number of his ‘street’ works that were removed by the public as well as authorities.

He has been installing street art since 2008 in London, Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Valencia, Berlin, Hamburg & other cities. He was reportedly being investigated for his role in the vandalism & destruction of a memorial statue of General Franco in Barcelona, October 2016. He was interviewed for the UK Channel Four documentary 'The Battle for Britains Heroes' regarding his 'vandalising' of the statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader, in the centre of Bristol in 2017 & again for the interview. Reports of his questioning by the NSW police over armed robbery offences in Sydney are unconfirmed.

External links:

https://www.willcoles.com

http://inside.artbank.gov.au/post/51858077769/artist-will-coles-visits-his-sculpture-anzac

http://www.mcclellandgallery.com/index.php?page=will-coles

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/soren-solkaer-will-coles-england-melbourne