A Portugese artist is showcasing his work themed on his journey to sobriety, in his debut exhibition at the Station Approach Gallery.
The exhibition, entitled The Evolution of an Artist – From Underground Walls to Sobering Canvas Narratives, showcases Giovanni Castro Hayter’s work of street art to abstract paintings, created through a journey of travelling to sobriety.
“For the first few years of my life I lived with the theatre traveling around the world and grew up in an extremely free, creative and artistic ‘micro society,” says Giovani, who has a background in street art and graffiti. “My teens and early 20s were spent painting graffiti, a lot of it everywhere even on trains and metros mainly in Portugal but also around Europe,” he said.
“Needless to say, it was illegal and I had many encounters with the police. Luckily, I never got in any serious legal issues, the law in Portugal was quite relaxed about it so I made the most of it. My passion was painting trains and metros, spent many nights underground in the subway tunnels.
“I loved the adrenaline. My tag and my crew were quite a big deal in the underground street art movement in Portugal in the early 2000s.”
When Giovanni was 19 years old, he moved to England and studied fine art at the University of Brighton where he started painting on canvas and ‘fell in love’ with abstract paintings, before moving to California in 2008 with his wife and two children.
However, following a separation, he moved back to Europe and experienced a depression which led to alcoholism. Giovanni said it was a ‘dark’ period of his life and spent time in rehab in Portugal.
“I had the realisation that I am an artist and have been painting non-stop since. I started selling canvass again and taking commissions for graffiti murals. My style has matured. And now in graffiti I am considered old school, which I think it’s quite cool.”
Giovanni’s exhibition runs from 1st to 30th May. “I will be showing about 20 large abstract paintings and also some of my graffiti portraits and some street art inspired by recovery words and positivity like: start over, resilience, love, peace, just for today. Hopefully be a good example and be able to help people who are struggling at the moment.”
