A Bristol self-taught artist only began painting in his late 40s, but has now sold over a hundred paintings and stencils over the last seven years. The death of Muhammad Ali in 2016 marked a turning point for Suhail (Sui) Abid and inspired him to create his first piece of public artwork on the gates of his home in St Pauls.
Later that year, George Michael died which prompted Sui to create a tribute piece to the singer-songwriter at the Bearpit. Being an Elvis fan and inspired by Bruce Li as a young boy growing up in the 1970s, he also loves to paint the two stars as well as George Michael.
Despite the extent of his artwork, Sui does not consider himself as an artist and was partly motivated to create public artwork due to his opposition to the constant tagging bubble writing in his local area. He doesn’t promote himself online and much of the artwork he has sold has come through requests. Many of his canvases remain at his home and he sometimes leaves paintings outside his house which he says are gone within minutes.
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“Muhammad Ali was so important to so many people, to Muslims, to Black people, to Americans, to Olympians. The day after his death, I did a freehand painting of him on my gates and I left a marker pen and instructions for anyone walking past to leave a tribute on my gates,” explained Sui.
The American boxer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, was also a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War and active in the Civil Rights Movement. When he refused to be drafted into the US military he was stripped of his boxing titles and licence and was initially sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to be draft.
Although Sui himself was never a fighter, he has always been a fan of sport and was equally inspired by Bruce Li. He has written a quote on his gate from the former actor and martial artist for passers-by to read, which is updated every couple of months.
Sui said: “Bruce Li was the king of martial arts, he was tiny but he was perfectly formed. I was always a fan of his movies and it was nice to see someone who was small beating up big guys.”
Although Bruce Li has become a permanent feature on Sui’s gates, it was his tribute to George Michael that got Sui the most attention and even led to him being invited to a birthday celebration at the singer’s former home in Goring which is organised by fans and tribute artist Steve Mitchell each year.
Sui said: “I was a big fan of George Michael as many people are and for a couple of months I thought about doing a George Michael tribute. It was a really shocking death, on Christmas Day and a lot of people were devastated.
“I often walk through the Bear Pit on my way to town and I saw a wall where I could do a tribute. Because of his toilet antics I thought that for a bit of tongue in cheek humour, I could put a picture of him right next to the gents toilets.
“I had never done anything in public before, I had never stencilled before, so I got some wallpaper and I looked up on YouTube how to cut stencils. The day before I remember ringing up Inkie who is a very famous Bristol artist, I asked him how far I had to hold the spray can and he gave me some useful tips.
“I went down to the Bearpit around 6.30 that morning because I didn’t want anyone to see me. It wasn’t the case of it being illegal, I was just so embarrassed, I didn’t want anyone to watch me and I didn’t know if it was going to come out okay either.
“It was there for about six months but it got tagged within a few months, but I found out that someone else who I didn’t know cleaned up the tag. Someone was obviously quite fond of it. I was humbled by the fact that someone else had cleaned it up.”
It wasn’t until months later that people began to find out that Sui was behind the George Michael Bearpit mural. He suddenly received hundreds of messages from fans and began to sell paintings upon request- which he still does sporadically.
“It was never my intention to sell artwork and I did a lot of painting for myself but whenever I would put it online it would go and sometimes people send me photos and I do portraits. Maybe once a year I bring out a new George Michael.
“I always wanted to make my art affordable and I give it away for free sometimes as well. It wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue and I don't class myself as an artist,” added Sui.
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