Dunce is a visual artist based out of Calgary, Canada. His practice is grounded in the culture of graffiti and street art. His work combines spray paint, stencils and wheat paste with more traditional fine art techniques. The result is a unique style that blends street art and fine art into one. Dunce’s work takes defining elements of street art and combines them with an array of nostalgic mixed media including vintage magazines, comics and photographs. Taking inspiration from the pop art movement he commonly employs themes of reproduction and repetition throughout his work. While his work appears playful he often hides deeper meanings within his pieces that explore cultural topics, history and social commentary. The ‘Dunce’ moniker was a graffiti tag born in 2010, after he created a Banksy inspired five foot tall stencil for a student art show based on an old image of a student wearing a dunce cap.

Blending the visual language of street art with traditional fine art techniques ‘Fame and Fortune’ takes a critical look at pop culture. This series juxtaposes the glamour of celebrity with the realities of how icons are often viewed, consumed and exploited. DUNCE emphasizes this point by utilizing the grittiness of torn up street posters he has reclaimed from city walls and billboards. ls and billboards.