Cartrain

Cartrain (born 1991

Early life

Although little is known of his personal life, Cartrain's career supposedly began at the age of 12, beginning with a few small pen tags. In a later interview with a local journalist at the age of 15, In a 2012 interview George said to The Guardian "We are very proud of that".

Photography Cartrain started photographing abandoned buildings in 2007. He has explored over 150 abandoned buildings since 2009, including Millennium Mills, Lots Road Power Station, St Mary's tube station and Walthamstow Stadium.

Interaction with Damien Hirst In December 2008, Damien Hirst contacted the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) demanding action be taken over works containing images of his skull sculpture For the Love of God made by then 16-year-old Cartrain, and sold on the internet gallery 100artworks.com. On the advice of his gallery, Cartrain handed over the artworks to DACS and forfeited the £200 he had made; he said, "I met Christian Zimmermann [from DACS] who told me Hirst personally ordered action on the matter."

Jimmy Cauty has supported Cartrain, claiming he has a right to use existing images to make a new artwork.

Copyright lawyer Paul Tackaberry compared the two images and said, "This is fairly non-contentious legally. Ask yourself, what portion of the original--and not just the quantity but also the quality--appears in the new work? If a 'substantial portion' of the 'original' appears in the new work, then that's all you need for copyright infringement... Quantitatively about 80% of the skull is in the second image."

In July 2009, Cartrain walked into Tate Britain and removed a packet of Faber Castell 1990 Mongol 482 series pencils from Damien Hirst's installation, Pharmacy. Cartrain then made a fake police "Wanted" poster, which was distributed around London, stating that the pencils had been stolen and that if anyone had any information they should call the police on the phone number advertised.

Cartrain was subsequently arrested for £500,000 worth of theft and faced charges for what might have been one of the biggest art thefts in British history.

In December 2009 the Metropolitan Police dropped all charges against Cartrain. The Independent wrote: "Cartrain told me that, happily, all police charges have since been dropped and that he's even had a meeting with the Tate to discuss the issue. What's more, he came face to face with Hirst himself at the latter's current show at London's White Cube gallery."

Jonathan Jones, art critic of The Guardian, has spoken out on Cartrain's behalf.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions 2010, Magic Trees, Maverik Showroom, London 2013, This Way Up, Graffik Gallery, London 2015, Not For Sale, Imitate Modern, London

Group exhibitions 2008, Urban Painting, Atrion Centro Socio Culturale, Carugate, Italy 2010, Remasters, The Rag Factory, London 2013, Christmas Wish List, Imitate Modern, London 2015, The Spring Collection, Imitate Modern, London 2015, The Summer Edition, Imitate Modern, London 2016, Rhythm, Imitate Modern, Imitate Modern, London 2016, Moniker Art Fair, Imitate Modern, London 2016, Kings and Queens, Imitate Modern, London 2017, New Beginnings, Imitate Modern, London 2017, The May Fair, Imitate Modern, London 2017, Pop Portraits, Imitate Modern, London 2017, Re:Creations, Imitate Modern, London 2017, Moniker Art Fair, Imitate Modern, London 2017, Christmas Show: The Return of the Pop, Imitate Modern, London 2018, Escape From Brexitland, Light Eye Mind, London 2019, The Old Bank Vault, London

Other activities

Cartrain has posted a video on YouTube, showing himself putting up a piece of cardboard box as a conceptual artwork in Tate Modern; he states, "I managed to put my cardboard box up in the Tate Modern for two hours without being spotted as a fake". Another video shows him installing a collage incorporating Hirst's skull image, and titled "Damien Hirst", in the National Portrait Gallery.