Mode 2 was born in Mauritius in 1967, spending his childhood under the sun of the Indian Ocean, before moving to the UK in July 1976. Punk had just started its own cultural revolution, while reggae and dub were ever present in the neighbourhood “blues” parties, as well as from the first real booming systems in the cars that would ever so often drive casually through the streets of Lewisham, South-East London.
He did all of his schooling there, and while already drawing since as far back as he can remember, he was spending his youth deep into comics, sci-fi and fantasy literature, as well as role-playing games such as “Dungeons & Dragons”. All these influences, as well as the music coming from the radio, the TV and the street, were reflected in what he drew or painted; from comic strip characters to lead figurines, even to the odd oil portrait or landscape painting.
After his school exams in summer ‘84, he started hanging out at Covent Garden, the hub of the London Hip Hop scene, which he had stumbled upon the year before. His drawing ability led him to pick up the marker and spray-can, and he was soon trying to make a name for himself, as part of a crew called The Chrome Angelz.



From that summer on, everything else came second to Hip Hop, and to that frantic rush to empty as many cans of paint as possible in the most beautiful way that he could, while filling up black-books full of letters and characters.
He would skip school just to travel to Paris, with money earned from his first commissioned jobs, and there, alongside the legendary Bando, he became part of that small group of first generation European graffiti-writers who set down the foundations for others to follow. They honed their talent for sure, but he would often be the first to admit that they were also lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and surrounded by a lot of inspiring cultural stimuli, as well as the even more inspiring actors on the scene.



Then, in 1987, the cover of “Spraycan Art” exported his name and his characters to every corner of the planet where the culture had taken hold. The publishers, Thames & Hudson, thought that the character he had done in Paris in September ’85 would best project the content of the book to a wider audience, despite Mode’s misgivings about being placed ahead of other artists from the New York scene.
Passionate about culture in general, he had started taking photos back in 1985, capturing the freshness, the vibe and the energy of the evolving Covent Garden scene around him, taken by the uniqueness of this phenomenon known as Hip Hop; where music, visual art, spoken word, percussion through the turntables, or corporal expression through dance all fed off of each other. This has gone on ever since; burning rolls and rolls of 35mm film in compact cameras, trying out digital too, but not finding a compact that would do what light does to film emulsion. He has never really made much use of the archives that had cost him so much time and money to build, aside from a few photos in the “Never Too Late…” book printed by the Lazarides Gallery in London, or else for a projection at one of the “Toxic” parties in Paris; back in early 2004.
The Hip Hop scene, as opposed to the rap scene, has always remained a source of inspiration for him; whether being on the edge of a circle with b-boys and b-girls going for theirs, or else having the luck to witness and hear a freestyle cipher in full flow. This is why he’s still doing the posters for the Battle Of The Year, for instance, while also sitting on its committee and remaining active for the promotion of dance as an art form in itself; not just an accessory to some new dance track video or product advertising.
Meeting Swifty at the end of ’96, when his studio was part of the “Progress In Work” show at the Blue Note Club in Hoxton; was also another turning point in his life. It got him back into the London scene again, though from a different perspective than in his previous years in Hip Hop; making flyer illustrations for the Monday nights at Bar Rumba, which led on to other collaborations with the likes of Ross Allen and Jazztronik in Japan.



Dance plays a major aspect in Mode’s work, reflecting the parties, the atmosphere, the mix of people, and the many different sounds that he would allow to touch his senses. He would hang at parties of his choice, as well as ones he stumbled into by accident, and whether they were any good or downright bad, he would stay on and watch how people project themselves in public, or how they interact with friends or strangers, while at the same time reacting to the atmosphere and the music. Though sometimes taking photos for future reference, he would normally just observe with his own eye, and draw from memory at a later date.


Mode 2 has always been a bit of a voyeur, especially with regards to the ladies; whether they are on the street, on the train, in a club or restaurant. Not a big fan of exhibitionists, he prefers to see what somebody wouldn’t wish to show, and also likes to observe from afar; saying that there’s a distance from which people don’t think they’re being watched, at which point they let down their guard, and things become more interesting.
He’s always been obsessed by the female figure, which he seems to really enjoy drawing, whether from his own imagination, as life drawing, from his own photos, or even resorting to the odd sample once in a while. He tries not to have a fixation on any given body-type or shape, trying to draw more natural curves, while also trying to push for an indeterminate racial type which makes it easier for the female spectator to identify with.
He has collaborated over several years with the Coco de Mer store in Covent Garden, having been sitting with some of their customers or members of staff in one of their changing booths, and drawing them in clothing and accessories of their choice.




Having recently experimented with using cardboard as a painting support, Mode grew to enjoy its practical and modular qualities; building up his painting surfaces with a patchwork or mosaic assembly of cardboard coming in different square or rectangular shapes and sizes. Easy to find, inexpensive, and providing an alternative to the linen or fabrics that he normally uses, Mode has decided to construct everything on site, for his new show, cutting and juxtaposing many pieces of cardboard into compositions that reach a certain harmony to his eye. Only then will he move to the actual sketching and painting itself.


Working once again within a restrictive time-frame, maybe a habit left over from painting outdoors and illegally, Mode 2 will be using pastels and acrylics to produce the new work, as they’re the quickest and most practical alternative to spray-paint, minus the toxic fumes on top.

Liking the new cardboard pieces , Looks a great show

Loved his early graffiti work and that cardboard piece above is marv!

Available work now online at www.lazinc.com/artists/mode-2/ including original sketches and drawings from £275.

Many thanks to Ian as always for the brilliant photographs of the show, his Mode 2 Flickr set of the show ( www.flickr.com/photos/no-eyed-dear/sets/72157621973413086/ ) has had an astonishing 41,507 hits!

Great work, the sketches are reasonably priced. Too graphic for my walls though.

Really nice sketches I cant see them hanging around for long.
Surprised they dint sell out at the show.

Beautiful bit of printing on those Touch and Feel's a POW classic!

And these are where the windfall i spoke of on another thread has gone. Just bought Touch and another one can't remember name of now. Was tempted to go for the full on gash but keeping in mind missus and nipper went for a classy bit of tit...

beautiful warm and the most important thing , very well drawn
now I have discovered another new artist (For me of course!! ) thanks to the forum
thank you all!!!

Would of really loved to see that show...

Never heard of this crew before. Strictly Kev just put them up on his Flickr. Some really early Mode 2 stuff in there....
www.flickr.com/photos/strictly-kev/sets/72157623723580386/

Yeah. They look good. Love the Mode2 Freestyle stuff. really different from his new stuff....

This week's shopatlazarides.com print release comes from the legendary Mode 2, although each copy of L'Offrandre (The Offering) is arguably more of an original work than it is a print. Each and every one of the edition has been meticulously hand painted in London by Mode over a period of several months, during which time he often worked late into the night at Rathbone Place, causing him to miss a few flights home to Berlin and a lot of awfully good parties.


Next up is Paul Insect's Star Eyes, from a series of 10 uniquely coloured tray-framed aluminium works. The aluminium base was first sprayed with 12 layers of spray paint, upon which a special paint used for 50's style American Hot Rod cars was thickly applied. This paint contains multi-coloured flakes of mica which endow the work with its sparkly appearance. The image was then screen printed by the same master printer who did most of Warhol's early works. Finally, the work was varnished to protect it without reducing the dazzling effect, which sadly cannot be adequately portrayed by computer imagery, you'll just have to trust us on that.

And last but not least, now that the amazing Faile/Bast Deluxx Fluxx Arcade installation at our Greek Street gallery has finished, you can get your hands on the much-sought-after tokens used during the show to play the arcade games. They come in packs of 5, priced at £10. Limited stocks available, only at shopatlazarides.com.

loving the late night drops! thanks again LAZ INC.!