NIELS SHOE MEULMAN (NL)
NIELS “SHOE” MEULMAN (NL)
Niels Shoe Meulman (also known as Shoe) is an internationally known artist and designer. He is born, raised and based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Meulman began tagging ‘Shoe’ in 1979 and became a graffiti legend by the time he was 18. In the eighties he met New York artists like Dondi, Rammellzee, Haze, Quik and Keith Haring. He then formed the Crime Time Kings with Bando from Paris and Mode2 from London. Together they gave graffiti in Europe its own distinctive style.
In the Nineties he furthered his technique by apprenticing under the Dutch graphic design master Anthon Beeke. In the years after, he ran his own design company, Caulfield & Tensing and was partner in advertising agency Unruly, which he later turned into brand for silk scarves and a gallery.
Niels Shoe Meulman revolutionized the art of writing with Calligraffiti, an art form that fuses calligraphy and graffiti. He launched this movement in 2007 with a successful solo exhibition in Amsterdam. Since then, his Calligraffiti pieces (signed NSM) have been shown in various international exhibitions and are part of several museum collections. His more recent painting style can be described as Abstract Expressionism with a calligraphic origin.
