The creative pseudonym of British artists James Golding and Mike Snelle, emerged on the art scene in 2012, initially shrouded in mystery. Their anonymity was maintained through a fabricated biography until 2014 when a revealing feature by Mick Brown in The Telegraph magazine unmasked their true identities. This revelation allowed the duo to pursue more ambitious and impactful projects.
Renowned for their Pulp Fiction series, The Connor Brothers are equally celebrated for their activist endeavors and playful hoaxes. In 2014, they orchestrated The Hanbury Collection, a fictional museum that blurred the lines between truth and fiction, challenging viewers to discern reality from fabrication. This exploration of authenticity resonates deeply in today’s era of fake news and social media saturation.
Their activism is notably marked by their response to the refugee crisis. The Connor Brothers spent years in the Calais Jungle refugee camp, constructing shelters and spearheading the Refuchic international billboard campaign to shed light on the struggles of displaced individuals. Their collaboration with the Russian activist group Pussy Riot culminated in a refugee-themed theatrical performance at Banksy’s Dismaland in 2015. More recently, they joined forces with Professor Green and the mental health charity CALM to combat the UK’s male depression and suicide crisis.
The Connor Brothers have exhibited their work across the globe, with shows in New York, Sydney, Dubai, London, Hong Kong, and Berlin. Their pieces frequently feature in major auction houses, achieving record prices in 2020. Their art is housed in prestigious public and private collections, including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Penguin Collection, and the esteemed Omer Koc and Niarchos Collections, cementing their place as significant contributors to contemporary art and social commentary.
The Connor Brothers’ art intertwines text and imagery to anthropomorphize dinosaurs, bringing to life contemporary fears, hopes, and anxieties through a lens that blends unsettling truths with lightheartedness. This new works on display were commissioned by Granada Gallery and are the result of a year long process that was kickstarted in Tucson, AZ in 2023.
