Sweet Toof is the

pseudonymous A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

name of a well-known United Kingdom

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

and

street artist A street artist is a person who makes art in public places. Street artists include portrait artists, caricaturists, graffiti artists, muralists and people making crafts. Street artists can also refer to street performers such as musicians, acroba ...

. Sweet Toof works as both a solo artist and in collaboration with others, including in the "Burning Candy" crew (including crew-mates "Tek 33", "Cyclops" and "Rowdy").Beck, Olly "Bonfire of Vanitas" in "Sweet Toof", 2009, Before Chrome Productions, United Kingdom, unpaginated .

Career

According to an interview, he began tagging at age 13, saving up 50p lunch money and buying cheap

spray cans Spray or spraying commonly refer to: * Spray (liquid drop) ** Aerosol spray ** Blood spray ** Hair spray ** Nasal spray ** Pepper spray ** PAVA spray ** Road spray or tire spray, road debris kicked up from a vehicle tire ** Sea spray, refers to ...

to go out at night, before evolving to the more distinctive work for which he has become well known, and eventually going on to study and graduate with a master's degree from the Royal Academy of Arts.
Holland, Jess ''A Trail of Tooth Marks'' in The London Paper, 13 January 2009.
Darwent, Charles "Move Over Banksy: Meet the Next Generation of Artists Coming From the Street" in "The Independent" (Newspaper), Sunday 3 February 2008.

2010–2011 commercial success and international recognition

Sweet Toof was selected as one of the "cutting edge artists" representing

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

's "Safewalls" Art Project in 2011.
"Sweet Toof" for "Safewalls Art Project" by Cirque du Soleil, 2011 (Accessed 29 January 2012). His work is represented by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

collection and featured in their "Street Art Contemporary Prints" exhibition in 2010, alongside other well-known street artists including

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

.Kuittinen, Riikka "Street Art: Contemporary Prints" 2010, Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A Publishing, UK, , . International recognition also came around 2010–2011, when Sweet Toof was invited and showcased in a number of significant International exhibitions and street art projects, including "Dead Letter Playground" at Leo Kesting Gallery in New York (2010), "Project Amsterdam Street Art" (ASA All Stars) at Go Gallery in Amsterdam (2011),
Amsterdam Street Art, ASA All Stars, 2011 (Accessed 29 January 2012). and "Dark House" at Factory Flesh in New York (2011). Sweet Toof is represented by High Roller Society.

Meaning of mouth, teeth and gum imagery

According to an account by Olly Beck, Sweet Toof looked at himself in a looking glass "in crisis after a messy break-up", with the enlarged and distorted imagery of the "crescents of teeth", the "visible part of our skeletal frame" as a reminder of mortality. Beck relates Sweet Toof's concerns and imagery with the 16th-century Northern European "

Vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''van ...

" tradition of reminding of the transience and vanity of life, and to the Mexican celebration of skull imagery to accepting, honouring and celebrating death as part of the life trip. Sweet Toof's own comments seem to uphold this interpretation, and he has discussed, "To get one's teeth into things, before it's too late." Elsewhere he notes, "Teeth can be really sexy, or aggressive, but they're also constant reminders of death. They're how we get recognised by police when there's nothing else left."

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
British graffiti artists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people