Stikman: An Enigma Marching On

August 13, 2014 Artists

His rigid wooden stick constitution keeps him from faltering even when bending and his ubiquity on the streets and in small secret hiding places keeps you from forgetting him, the ever-present Stikman. Expressed in wood, fabric, vinyl, paper, steel, plastic; embedded into pavement and stuck upon every surface, Stikman is timely and timeless.

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

When you see one of these unemotional little fellas you cannot be sure if it is new or more than 20 years old, since he began appearing that long ago. Not showy nor preening, he certainly is versatile and colorful, appearing on record covers, playing cards, riding airplanes… and in a number of prints and pieces in a handful of small street art/graffiti centric galleries the last few years. He can appear as a sole figure on the street and can be remixed into vintage photos or illustrations, shape-shifting and implicating himself into other time periods and other worlds.

His maker says he is inspired by the public arena and by decay and the energy of the streets – and by his ongoing fascination with flea markets, which explains the variety of materials and situations his character appears in. In some way Stikman is an avatar in the real world having adventure and conversation and interaction with thousands, maybe millions of people by now. Today we share a selection of the many images that Stikman stars in by photographer Jaime Rojo.

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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