If you’ve ever wandered down Greene or Spring Street in Soho, chances are you’ve probably stumbled upon the works of Andrew Cotton. Settled on the sidewalk, surrounded by an array of colorful canvases, Cotton embraces a grassroots approach when promoting his graffiti style artwork. Cotton enjoys his everyday interactions with pedestrians, understanding that the art community is made stronger with every bit of support one can secure. This sort of receptive mentality has certainly served him well. By simply remaining a public presence, Cotton has attracted the interest of several New York galleries, who’ve in turn offered him his first gallery shows.

Cotton has come a long way since his upbringing in Northwest London. Turned off by the banality of art school, he left to pursue his own forward-thinking techniques, rather than conform to his professors’ wishes. But after all, isn’t it true that artistic talent cannot be taught? Cotton uses spray paint, intricate stencils and paint splatter to create paintings of cityscapes and urban life with an otherworldly feel. Lately, he’s been experimenting with the process of oxidization, and recently held a collaborative show with Gregory Kirschenbaum, called “Exploration In Oxidization.” Besides the street, Cotton’s artwork is available online or at the Warde-Nasse Gallery, located at 178 Prince Street. Plans for an upcoming show in January ‘08 will be announced soon on Cotton’s website.