Petro TFW, 'Too Big to Be Human'

· Tuesday November 2, 2010

Petro TFW is the boss-wizard of graffiti. He's been an active writer since the early '80s and, although his alphabet has a kind of '70s New York subway feel, it's been confirmed that his influences include British breakdance, electric-boogaloo graffiti nostalgia and an obsession with Ralph Lauren (the guy is literally head to toe Lo).

Too Big To Be Human is a combination of traditional graffiti lettering, lopsided pattern repetition, installation, possibly performance - and his epically time-consuming work 'Life of a Pencil'.

This clip for a previous show at Friend and Co in Bristol describes Petro's work pretty well. He might be a 'gallery artist' these days, but he's staying true to the highly characterised letter outlines and straight-up fills that made him famous (see: Banos). Also, he's the guy dressed in the yellow muscle-bunny suit.