MrCallaby: Creativity should never be bottled up

Five years ago, Matthew Callaby's career took a new turn. He stepped out of the world of ad agencies and became a full-time artist. Enter, MrCallaby. While there's certainly a hint of commercial nous about the Pop Art universe he's creating, it's a milieu full of fun, dynamism and unbridled creativity.

Cartoons have been a major inspiration for MrCallaby, and that's clear across just about everything the Bristol-based artist creates. The bold, primary colours and expressive characters draw you in – but there's more to his message than mere decoration.

"Despite the work's cute, chubby appearance, there's usually a slightly more sombre atmosphere behind the image," says MrCallaby. "In the past, I'd say my work was more visual eye candy; creating big, bold, hectic images was the goal. Over the last couple of years, I've tried to develop more of a voice in the work, weaving in subtle ideas that I think have really benefited it."

His most recent exhibition – CHEERS, held in London this September – is a case in point. The works, both painted and sculpted, explore the theme of social drinking. Bottle characters feature heavily across the collection, and while some are as exuberant as a Friday night drinker, others express the flip side of the indulgence.

"The work featured scenes of excess, blurry regret, vices balancing on top of one another, vicious circles, and odes to the jubilation and regret that come with drinking. The intention was for these ideas to be subtle, in the background and not too worthy," explains MrCallaby.

While the ground floor was set out a little like a London pub, with the artworks full of smiles, merriment and fully saturated abandon, heading downstairs, visitors discovered painful hangover imagery rendered in grim, monochrome charcoal. Titles such as 'The Morning Realisation' fill in the narrative.

The must-have items from the CHEERS exhibition were MrCallaby's Boozy Bottles. Hand-painted, each vinyl sculpture expresses a particular idea or feeling associated with an evening of inebriation. You could take your pick from Orange Regrets, Powder Puff Rampage, Teal Slammer and many more – but now they're all sold out.

"Bringing some of the characters from the paintings into the real world has given the collection a whole new dimension. Someone said, 'It's like putting your hand into the painting and pulling out the physical form,' which I absolutely loved," he says.

MrCallaby's universe of anthropomorphic characters isn't confined to planet booze. Every year, he takes on a new theme, which he explores in detail through sketches. When the concept and collection begin to take form, he plans and meticulously paints his canvases with eight layers of acrylic for those super-saturated, popping colours.

"The first year was the Sad Flower collection, featuring images of flowers crying, playing with the idea that the brightest, happiest people can be having a tough time," says MrCallaby.

"I've got the next exhibition planned in my head, but for now I'd like to spend a few months painting ideas that haven't made their way out of the sketchbook, creating freely for a while without the pressure of it needing to be part of a bigger series."