The possibilities are endless for artist Temper
Nov 12 2010 By Jon Perks
Birmingham artist Temper speaks to Jon Perks about working for Ozzy Osbourne, public art, and a new period in his life.
Arron Bird turned 39 last week and began a new period in his life. Better known by the name Temper, his spray can canvases sell for thousands and have won him a string of famous clients and countless plaudits from the art world.
It’s all a world away from his teenage years in the Black Country, when the only outlet for his creativity were the walls and subways which he ‘tagged’ with aerosol spray paint.
His professional work has adorned everything from Sprite drink cans to the cover of The Twang’s last album, Jewellery Quarter.
The last three years, however, have seen the acclaimed artist suffer from health problems, stress and spells of creative drought, brought on by his unhappiness with how management and galleries were representing him.
Happily, those dark days seem to be behind him, with a string of commissions and projects set to reaffirm him as one of the country’s most exciting contemporary artists – and a cultural icon of whom Birmingham should be proud.
At his city centre studio, Temper spoke exclusively to the Birmingham Post about the past, present and future – including his new public art for The Cube, commissions for Ozzy Osbourne and Retail Birmingham – and his new outlook on life itself.
“It’s definitely a new period,” he says. “I used to take media coverage, money, people’s friendships not for granted as such, but I was always busy in my own bubble; now I don’t want to be famous, I want my work to be respected; I don’t particularly want to be rich but I also don’t want to be worrying about money instead of working; my outlook on everything has changed.
“All the representation I’ve had for the last three years through management and galleries made me unhappy to the point that it put a massive strain on my business, me and my creative life.”
Temper now finds himself a man in more demand than ever; his ‘‘new period’’ kick-started by a commission from Retail Birmingham for a series of paintings Cut From A Different Cloth, portraits of famous fashion designers such as Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen, which were displayed in Birmingham city centre.
