Spray cans, 2020

Skeleton Cardboard

Skeleton Cardboard or ‘Skelly’ is a street artist from East London whose real identity remains unknown. His art first spread around the streets of Shoreditch, shortly after the 2012 Olympics with his cardboard cutouts and spray painted pieces of dancing skeletons appealing to young and old. Skeleton-Cardboard has collaborated with URBAN NATION by contributing his works on a Community Wall project in 2018. Being a studied graphic designer, he found himself to be limited by the rules and regulations of the job, which he then quit. After enrolling in an art foundation course and traveling to Mexico he came up with his skeleton artworks, influenced by Mexican Dia de los Muertos festivities. The idea of using cardboard was born from the need of wanting to use super accessible and cheap materials, that could be gathered whenever he felt like applying his no-sketches-no-planning style of working. His mall and generally witty pieces can be considered expressionistic and bizarre, yet rarely scary, which makes them a favorite among kids as well. Adding short messages to his work, he references everyday struggles with technology and mundane aspects of modern living in a large city.