Art / Holburne Museum
Mr Doodle transforms Bath’s Holburne Museum for the summer
Sam Cox, better known as the internationally famed and viral artist, Mr Doodle, has landed at Bath’s Holburne Museum for summer 2024.
In his first ever museum exhibition, Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem, the familiar monochromatic doodles for which he has become synonymous will be seen on the walls, floor and ceiling of the gallery spaces, as well as spilling out into the permanent collection through a number of ‘doodle interventions’ temporarily replacing works usually housed there.
In a graphic style created with ink pens and spray paint, the artist’s free-hand doodles weave together “a mesmerising world of quirky creature and anthropomorphic forms” in what he describes as a kind of “graffiti spaghetti”.
The collection is based around a series of personal sketchbooks that have rarely been seen before, some going back to Mr Doodle’s teenage years.
Based in the richly imaginative world of DoodleLand, the work follows a loose comic narrative exploring Mr Doodle’s life, featuring his evil twin Mas (aka Dr Scribble) and persistent challenges to his mission levelled by the Anti-Doodle Squad.
Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem at the Holburne Museum – photo: Betty Bhandari Photography
Mr Doodle has also created playful site-specific doodles around the city, from phone boxes to benches and banners on busy thoroughfares including Milsom and Union Street.
“My intention has always been to create a universal doodle language that can relate to and attract people from all over the world,” he explains.
A Mr Doodle ‘doodle intervention’ in the Holburne Museum’s permanent collection – photo: Jo Hounsome Photography
Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem is at The Holburne Museum, Bath until September 1 (open 10am-5pm daily; 11am-5pm Sundays and Bank Holidays). For more information and tickets, visit www.holburne.org.
Main photo: Morgan Davies © Mr Doodle
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