Norman Gekko is a pseudonym, the name personifies an idea. Norman could so easily be ‘no man’ and ‘Gekko’ can be seen as a reference to the small lizard that hides within its surroundings. To describe Norman Gekko as one artist is too simplistic. Norman Gekko should be considered as a concept…the combination of two characters that synthesise today's art world: "Norman" is the first name of the painter Norman Rockwell and "Gekko" is taken from the name of the character from the movie Wall Street. On the one hand, the meeting between art, advertising, and a form of hyperrealism for Rockwell. On the other, the essential meeting between contemporary art and money. Gekko is the combination of both. This relationship between money and art is essential. 

The importance of remaining anonymous is linked to two elements: I wanted complete peace of mind and complete creative freedom. In today’s social media dominated society everything seems  to be in the public domain; very little remains private. A shameless display of ego. In the art world this is also true. Increasingly the artist is placed (or places themselves) as central to or more important than the work that they produce. There is a hunger for information about the artist, fuelled by the media which in turn feeds the artist’s ego. This vicious cycle, where the public are given greater access to the artist and the artistic process; making the artist the very work of his/her work, creates an environment which is actually hostile to true creativity. As a result the artist’s background, personality and image are often better known than their art.

The greatest artists in history were relatively unknown within their own lifetime. The opposite is true within contemporary art. So in preserving the anonymity of Norman Gekko, the works of art are given back their rightful place. They can be viewed and interpreted without prejudice rather than through a lens narrowed by preconception based on personality and ego. Also this anonymity gives freedom to creative expression. There are no artificial restrictions when it comes to subject matter or style. Norman Gekko is free to explore. For an artist that is hugely liberating!

I also wanted to cut myself off from all elements related to travel, exhibitions, and everything more or less related to questions of communication, relations with collectors, and artistic institutions.: everything that distracts from the purity of the creative process. I created the character of Norman Gekko to have this complete freedom and this complete detachment from the art world.