Mysterious Al United Kingdom

Growing up in London, Al moved to Cornwall to attend Falmouth College of Art. The change of scene made him homesick and had a significant influence on his work. He missed the hum of city life and became drawn to artists with a distinctly urban narrative; Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol, as well as more gestural painters like Tracey Emin.

After graduating, Al moved back to London to intern at James Lavelle's prestigious Mo' Wax record label. There, he was exposed to New York graffiti artists who were working in new ways: Futura, Barry McGee, and Phil Frost. Their influence pushed Al's style into something looser and more spontaneous than the work he had made at art school. He began making art on the street through paste-ups, small stickers, and marker drawings on the walls of pub toilets.

Following his time at Mo' Wax, Al worked at London agency Unorthodox Styles (U-DOX), where he received mentorship and a first-class education in hip hop, art, and urban culture. He produced illustration work across the agency's projects and contributed interviews and features on the fast-developing urban art scene. During this period, Al's work was published in LODWN Magazine, The Face, Creativebase, and shown in a pop-up exhibition at Magma Bookshop.

In the early 2000s, Al partnered with like-minded artists D*Face, PMH, and Dave The Chimp on a series of illegal street exhibitions. These "Finders Keepers" shows featured work by many of their artist peers, with all pieces created on found objects: dustbin lids, refrigerator doors, cardboard, or anything discarded. Locations were scouted and the addresses circulated via Hotmail, pre-social media. These exhibitions took place in disused shopfronts, alleyways, and even a running London tube carriage. The events attracted hundreds of visitors.

"Finders Keepers" exhibitions became legendary, and Mysterious Al, D*Face, PMH, and Dave The Chimp began working together as the Finders Keepers Crew. They were catapulted to the forefront of a new movement called 'Street Art', producing shows across Europe and appearing in numerous books and magazines, often collaborating with artists such as The London Police, Miss Van, Flying Fortress, and others.

Al's first major brand collaboration was with Levi's in 2003. He went on to create co-branded projects with Adidas, Eastpak, Vans, Carhartt, 55DSL, and Tommy Hilfiger.

Al later worked within the drum and bass scene, producing artwork for the Watch The Ride mixes featuring Goldie, High Contrast, Zinc, and Andrew Weatherall. He also collaborated with The Scratch Perverts on releases, flyers, posters, and club visuals for Fabric London.

Mysterious Al relocated to Melbourne in 2011. Now a core member of the city's contemporary art scene, he produces large-scale, immersive exhibitions outside the traditional gallery model. These include museum-style walkthrough experiences and an art exhibition staged inside a working funfair ghost train - a world-first.
He has painted large-scale murals across the globe and created 158 individual room artworks for Lyf Hotel in Collingwood, Australia.

Despite commercial success, Al has continued to keep his work grounded in the underground, where it has earned a loyal and supportive following.