Crimes Never Pay 3 By Steve Smythe

The work of Steve Smythe is flavoured by his background as a graphic designer. Smythe's prints - which make deft use of mixed-media techniques, collage styles, and material innovation - are distinguished by their bold use of colour and compositional practices, crossing the line from graphics to art in the style of early Warhol or Paolozzi. 'Crimes Never Pay 1' employs bricolage technique to exceptional success. Smythe has created a magazine cover by juxtaposing fragments from different vintage comics: beneath the title 'Famous Crimes', a fierce warrior woman rides a tiger through a metropolis. Set against a hot-pink background, Smythe has created the print in a monochrome palette, adding lashings of black spray-paint to bring image, colour and typography into perfect compositional union.