Fanakapan

Fanakapan (also Jay Fanakapan) is a self-taught, London-based British street artist renowned for his hyper-realistic spray-painted murals of balloons, chrome inflatable letters and characters, using shadow, light and reflective highlights to create three-dimensional optical illusions.

Originally from Weymouth in Dorset, he grew up drawing as a form of escapism. He attended art college, began street art around 2000 in Bournemouth and Bristol, and moved to London at 28. His background in prop-making for television (MTV, Nickelodeon, BBC) and institutions such as the London Aquarium honed his skills in realistic three-dimensional objects, which directly fed into the "Balloon-Graff" style he launched in 2010. By around 2012 the translucent rubber balloons had evolved into monochrome opaque balloons that have since become his signature.

Key London works include pieces in Hoxton, Camden Town, Spitalfields (with Vinie Graffiti), Star Yard and Brick Lane, along with 2020 murals on Hanbury Street. He has exhibited in London and Melbourne, collaborated on URBAN NATION's Community Wall (2018) and continues to travel globally infusing his work with double meanings — tricking viewers into thinking his balloons are real.