City Stylin': Luke Ridsdill Smith

I’m from the University of Lincoln, and I’m in Notts to present to a UniDays client, but also here to check out the shops and just have a bit of a look around. My course is in creative advertising, so I come up with ads, films, everything really.

I’m really into art. My favourite artist is Jean-Michel Basquiat, who is my idol. I just love everything about him, and I even have some tattoos of his. He was a black artist in the eighties, and was a pioneer of graffiti and conceptual art. He broke down racial barriers and got involved in political movements. He was a real figurehead. 

I went to one of Basquiat’s exhibitions at the Barbican in London and after that I was so inspired by him that I started creating my own stuff. He’s been a catalyst of what I’ve wanted to do since then. His work just moved me so much, and helped me find myself. That was definitely a turning point in my life. My room at home is covered in graffiti, and I’ve created some big paid graffiti murals. 

I’m from Essex, so I only really get to see exhibitions in London. I’d like to travel to Europe and America to see more, but I don’t have the money at the moment. But there’s lots of time for that in the future. 

I’m hoping to go into advertising and become a creative director in London. I just want to get into the creative world. It’s what I love doing. Art just makes me so excited.