Critical Review
Holding Hands (yellow) is a signed lithograph print made by the much-loved British graffiti artist Stik. Produced in 2020 the print shows two androgynous stick figures of equal height holding hands. The stick figures are rendered in black and white and set against a bright, yellow backdrop. The bold and cheerful backdrop colour contrasts with the sense of apprehension and anxiety that marks the image. Although the figures are captured holding hands, they are looking in opposite directions, as if anticipating a separation.
Holding Hands (yellow) is part of Stik's Holding Hands collection which was based on a sculpture the artist installed in Hoxton Square in September 2020. Made in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Stik collaborated with Hackney Council to produce a sculpture that would act as a symbol of hope for locals and passersby who yearned after an end of social distancing and being physically reunited with loved ones.
The stick figures in this print reappear frequently in Stik’s artworks and have become synonymous with the artist’s name. Stik began drawing stick figures as a child and his artistic style has not deviated from this strikingly simplistic style. Stik began spray painting the figures on the streets of Hackney Wick in London in the early 2000s and now the artist paints murals featuring his stick figures all over the world.
