James McQueen’s identity is veiled in mystery - he is an artist who operates under a pseudonym - yet his art is famously popular with our collectors. Using paint and a spray can, McQueen light-heartedly subverts the traditional representation of book covers through his tongue-in-cheek titles and bold, contemporary aesthetic, mixing the traditional and the provocative in his work.

The pieces James McQueen creates are based around his love of vintage books which have been much-read and show signs of wear and tear. He has translated this into his mixed media pieces influenced by classic paperbacks. “Everyone who owns it has put their little stamp on it, like a tea mark, pencil scribbles, or folded page corners,” he says.

James' almost photorealist book covers combine a range of genres, from Pop Art to graffiti. Techniques and styles have been meticulously shelved: his ethereal edges have been likened to those of the American abstract painter Mark Rothko, while he also emulates the honesty and boldness of Tracey Emin, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon.