Artwork by Harry Bunce

Harry was born in a small Hampshire village. His family were builders and each summer he worked as a labourer, but as something of a surprise to all, he also showed great promise as an artist. Following a short and confusing spell at art school he moved to the city of Bristol to study fashion and textile design but eventually returned to his first love - that of painting! Having decamped to Somerset he set about creating an extraordinary cast of characters remembered from childhood. By reclaiming and reinventing them, Harry breathed new life into these old friends. Cute? Maybe, but seldom completely cuddly and often with a unique cutting edge. Drawing from folksy, artisan, ‘low’ art rather than urban, intellectual, ‘high’ art, his work connects directly with the public, often circumventing the vagaries of the art world. Having collaborated with Bristol’s screen printing gurus, Screen One, who have also worked with Banksey and Nick Walker, Harry has introduced screens within his own mixed media originals. While Harry’s current Happy Year series has been compared to the work of Beatrix Potter much of his work retains an edge. Beatrix Potter maybe, but with something of the Stanley Kubrick about it ? An reclusive outsider? Harry’s work is hard to pigeonhole; light in some cases but also deep and slightly unnerving in others, he lets his characters do the talking. Harry’s work is shown throughout Britain and recently debuted in New York.