Cake and Neave's practice considers cultural identity, branding and what it means to be a contemporary artist, adopting the concept of the figure of the artist as a logo, a brand name, a lifestyle choice. They created and became 'The Little Artists' brand.
Their work is eclectic, encompassing many different mediums from photography and sculpture through to installations and curatorial projects. Their diverse range of materials (Lego, Scalextric track, Smurfs, Pictionary or even Tesco's toilet rolls) brings into play meanings that have been shaped by advertising agencies or PR departments. And in turn, they try to understand how this is done by employing these strategies: celebrity (famous artist) tie-ins, product partnerships or simply using commercial photographers.
They are interested in how much the exhibition can exist beyond the confines of the gallery space. Their merchandise range, the blue and orange uniforms, the interactive web-site or Christmas card mail-out all stem from the same fundamental ideas as their gallery work.
John Cake and Darren Neave have been working together since 1994 and under the name of The Little Artists since 1996. They found notoriety with their 'Art Crazy Nation' series - a huge body of work involving Lego and the recreation of modern iconic artworks and artists in a relatively large, small-scale art gallery.
Their work has been exhibited across the UK, Europe and in New York. An award-winning commission by the Walker Gallery in Liverpool saw their cartoon character identities and brand as the face and inspiration for the 'Big Art' children's gallery.

Galleries
TAG Fine Arts, London
Comme Ca Art, Manchester
Good Friday, Brussels
Space, Bratislava