JAY KAES IS A URBAN ARTIST BASED IN LONDON
JAY KAES IS A URBAN ARTIST BASED IN LONDON
Jay Kaes is a Spanish artist based in London, whose murals and paintings have been showcased in over 20 countries. His work has been featured by major media outlets including BBC News, The Independent, and Sky News, and has been written about in more than 10 languages. Kaes holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts, awarded through a high-performance scholarship.
Considered by some as the creator of the "Glitch Pop" style, Jay blends photorealism, comic art, and technology to create visually striking pieces that challenge perceptions of reality. His art invites viewers to reflect on reality, encouraging them to embrace imperfections and differences as integral parts of the beauty of the world.
Kaes has painted live at London Fashion Week, created artwork for the Fundación Banco Santander, and his pieces are held by international collectors.
Jay’s work envisions reality as a glitch, reminding us that what we perceive may be an illusion.
27 years with a spray can
Jay Kaes received his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in 2012 from the University of the Basque Country, supported by a University Studies Scholarship. He has painted murals for public institutions like “The West Link” in Gothenburg, Sweden, and “Ayuntamiento de Camargo” in Maliaño, Spain, as well as for private companies like American Express and Netflix. He has been selected for numerous festivals such as “Wynwood Mural Festival” in Miami, U.S.A., “Yardworks” in Glasgow, Scotland and “Artwalk” in Patras, Greece. His work includes campaigns like “No Place for Homophobia” and Louis Tomlinson’s “Walls” album launch. His murals also appear in private homes in Hong Kong and Italy.
Kaes has performed live art at events like London Fashion Week and Secret Walls. He transformed a Porsche 911 into an art car and applied his style to neon murals at Havana Club, Malta. He integrates AR into his murals.
Kaes participated in a guest residency at “Mausa on the Bitche” and gave art talks like “Los Artistas Cuentan” in Santander, Spain. His work is included in the public collection of Fundación Banco Santander. Solo exhibitions venues include NUC Gallery in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Galerias Este in Santander, Spain. Group exhibitions include “District 13 Art Fair” in Paris, France, 2024 and “Art Lives Forever” at the Taipei International Sustainable Art Exhibition in Taiwan, 2022. His latest work will be on view this October in Shoreditch, London.
WALLS THAT TALK -
WALLS THAT TALK -
“ My goal is to create paintings that speak for themselves, motivating people to engage in meaningful debates about the world we live in. The artwork alludes to a cultural state in which the production of information through the media has reached such immense scale that it has surpassed the boundaries of reality, giving rise to many distorted versions but not a single reality”.
“The things I create are my interpretation of the world, and they appear to be distorted like a glitch, giving the impression that reality may not be as it seems.” .
“I enjoy exploring the limits of what is possible in art by combining traditional freehand drawing with modern AR technology, video, photography, or any other digital techniques that allow my paintings to speak for themselves.”.
why glitch?
“My paintings embrace errors, glitch-like distortions, and imperfections as aesthetic elements, I challenge traditional notions of perfection and beauty. I advocate for celebrating the uniqueness of every individual, questioning stereotypes, and finding beauty in our differences.”.
get to know the story.
Jay’s artistic background is rooted deeply in his younger years – his journey to now was an upward struggle at times overcoming battles with confidence and getting acknowledgement for his work.
After his parents separated when he was a kid, his mother juggled taking care of him with 3 jobs, which lead Kaes to spend a lot of time on the streets. He soon became part of the local graffiti scene, tagging his name around but was lacking direction and motivation to become an artist, until at 18 his mother
gave him an ultimatum to stop his graffiti lifestyle.
This was the break that Kaes needed to make a change. He moved out and got a scholarship to study a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts. Kaes travelled by bus 200 km every day for 5 years to the University of Basque Country. He ended up being kicked out of painting classes for using spray paints. During his time at University he began creating animations and representations of his life through photography, the basis of some of his work today.
On graduating University, Kaes moved to the UK to continue his education in London. Here he struggled once again to gain recognition and acknowledgment for his art. He worked in a salsa club and as a bartender whilst slowly gaining confidence in his artwork. Jay was finally accepted and encouraged to become a painter by London West Bank Gallery, Paint Freaks and Red Gallery who gave him the space to work on.