If you’re familiar with the UK’s graffiti movement, he probably already is. Synonymous with its development, Rough’s powerful abstract compositions and large-scale murals have an energy and tension reflective of his original graf roots, painting walls and trains across the world for more than 20 years.

He’s since added site-specific projects at the “Ghost Village” in Scotland and the Megaro Hotel (which is the largest mural in Central London), and galleries and cities across the world in New York, Paris and Hong Kong to his impressive legacy. A 120m installation in Quarry Bay MTR station in Hong Kong for Art Basel 2018 was a recent highlight for him.

“I met Remi Rough a couple of years ago at Masterpiece Art Fair,” Humphrey Ocean told us. “We were on a panel talking about artists collecting art. I took to him and then luckily found his art was as measured and quick as he is. Although galleries now show his geometries of colour, I’d wager his formative history of painting on buildings demanded an element of physical alertness.”

Rough added: “I grew up in the world of 1980s graffiti, which is of great importance to me and even more important to the wider cultural lexicon as it’s the only art movement in history ever to be created by and taken forward by children. That’s a huge part of my influence… The abstraction of letter forms and the colour dynamics and energy are all an integral part of my practice. I am also influenced by architecture and the way cities morph around the individuals who live in them. I grew up painting these surfaces like steel and concrete and now I use surface as an important aspect within my work. All of these things led me to discover a broader appreciation of artists like Malevich, Van Doesburg, Bridget Riley and Carmen Herrera.”

Rough’s next project will see him team up with his good friend and London-based painter Charley Peters on a collaborative mural in East London. Rough, who is also an accomplished music producer and one half of the critically acclaimed TheDeadCanRap, will also be working with his musical partner, Mike Ladd, on a follow-up to their 2020 album, and releasing an NFT with animator Jacob Escott. His legacy is far from complete.