Cold War Steve is the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Christopher Spencer, a British

collage artist Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

and satirist. He is the creator of the Twitter fee
@coldwarsteve
His work typically depicts a grim, dystopian location in England populated by British media figures, celebrities, and politicians, usually with ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' actor

Steve McFadden Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...

(in character as Phil Mitchell) looking on in disgust. His work has been described as having "captured the mood of Brexit Britain" and has been likened to that of earlier British political satirists Hogarth and

Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British caricatur ...

. As of September 2021, his Twitter account has over 345,000 followers.

Early life

Spencer was born in Birmingham in 1975. He went to art college at

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...

in Warwickshire, where his fellow students included

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Gareth Edwards. He then failed to get into three different universities and subsequently spent the next twenty years working a series of mundane jobs in factories and the public sector. Recovering after an attempted suicide, Spencer concentrated on his art, creating montages on his phone, often while travelling to work by bus.

Work

''McFadden's Cold War'' (the original title of the page) first appeared on Twitter in March 2016. As the title suggested, the work initially concentrated on the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

era, inserting Steve McFadden into photographs from the period often featuring

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. The EU referendum in June 2016 was a watershed in his career and led to his work taking on a more

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

tone. Speaking in December 2018 he said "rather than dealing with it as I've done in the past – which would have been drink or drugs or whatever – I channelled it more into my art. I incorporated other characters, so it's slowly become more satirical and political." The work expanded to include politicians such as Theresa May, Donald Trump, and

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

in incongruous settings such as a run-down British working men's club or a derelict flytipping site, alongside British celebrities such as Noel Edmonds, Cliff Richard, Danny Dyer or

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

. McFadden is the one constant in his montages. He held his first exhibition ''A Brief History of the World (1953–2018)'' at The Social in London between October and December 2018. The show was attended by comedian Al Murray and ''Guardian'' cartoonist Martin Rowson. In November 2018 his first public work, ''The Fourth Estate,'' commissioned by RRU News, was unveiled in Williamson Square in Liverpool. The work measuring is inspired by the third panel of Hieronymus Bosch's '' The Garden of Earthly Delights''. Other large scale outdoor artwork followed at

Glastonbury 2019 The 2019 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 26 and 30 June. The three headlining acts were Stormzy, the Killers and The Cure, with Kylie Minogue performing in the "legends" slot. This was the last regular edi ...

(a collaboration with

Led By Donkeys Led By Donkeys is a British political campaign group, established in December 2018 as an anti-Brexit group, but which has also criticised other actions of the Conservative government. Since the group's creation its four founders have been callin ...

) and a piece for the

National Galleries of Scotland National Galleries of Scotland ( gd, Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the National Collections o ...

'''Harold, The Ghost of Lost Futures''' as part of their '''Cut and Paste exhibition which also featured work by

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

, Peter Blake,

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

, Hannah Höch and John Heartfield. In 2019, Cold War Steve published two books with

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

: ''The Festival of Brexit'' in March, followed by ''A Prat's Progress'' in October. A pamphlet of the early work titled ''McFadden's Cold War'' also appeared via Rough Trade Books. A third book ''Journal of the Plague Year'' was published by Thames & Hudson in October 2021. Cold War Steve released several limited artworks and jigsaws from 2019 onwards. In October 2020, his ''Hellscape Jigsaw'' was nominated for the

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

's Beazley Designs of the Year prize. ''Harold'', ''Trumpscape'', ''2020'', ''Bluebells'' and ''Benny's Babbies'' all followed in the jigsaw series. Other works have appeared in '' The Guardian'' and '' The Big Issue''. He designed the front cover for the 17 June 2019 issue of '' Time'' and on the summer 2022 edition of the '' New Statesman''. In 2020, Cold War Steve featured in a documentary about his work titled ''Cold War Steve Meets The Outside World,'' directed by

Kieran Evans Kieran John Evans (born 8 February 1969) is a Welsh film director and screenwriter whose work includes music videos, film and documentaries. His 2012 film '' Kelly + Victor'', produced by Janine Marmot, saw Evans awarded the BAFTA Award for Ou ...

and commissioned and broadcast by Sky Arts. The film followed Chris as he put up four large scale outdoor artworks in

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

, Liverpool, Coventry and Bournemouth. The film was shortlisted for the 2021 Grierson Documentary Awards and the exhibition was nominated for the 2021 South Bank Awards.

Publications

* ''The Festival of Brexit'' (London:

, 2019) * ''McFadden’s Cold War'' (Rough Trade Books, 2019) RTB32 * ''A Prat’s Progress'' (London:Thames & Hudson, 2019) *''Journal of the Plague Year'' (London:Thames & Hudson, 2021)

Exhibitions

*''A Brief History of the World (1953–2018),'' The Social, London, 15 October 2018 – 31 December 2018 *''A Brief History of the World (1953–2018),'' Trades Club, Hebden Bridge, 17 January – 17 February 2019 *''Cruel Britannia'' – Cold War Steve and Jason Williamson ( Sleaford Mods), Disgraceland, Middlesbrough, 8 March 2019 – 16 March 2019 *''You, Me & Cold War Steve – The International Exhibition of the People,'' various locations worldwide, 1 May 2020 – 1 April 2020 *''You, Me & Cold War Steve – The International Exhibition of the People 2021, various locations worldwide, 30 Aug 2021 – 31 Oct 2021''

References

External links

Cold War Steve Twitter
* {{Authority control Living people British satirists Collage artists 1975 births Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands