A hip young artist from Stevenage is inviting creative people to get involved in staging an exhibition with the aim of celebrating individuality.

The Comet: Adedeji Z Balogun.Adedeji Z Balogun. (Image: Archant)

The exhibition called Art As We Know It will feature a collection of paintings, drawings and installations by a group of art student friends on display for one night only, on August 19.

The show is the brainchild of 22-year-old Adedeji Z Balogun.

Born in Nigeria and himself faced with a huge challenge to his individuality when his family moved to the UK when he was just 11, Adedeji is now studying for a degree in Product Design at the University of Hertfordshire.

He hopes Stevenage based artists will come forward to share their work – some of which may be chosen for the exhibition. But more importantly he hopes the artists will share and pool their work into a collective that will form the basis of an art movement.

Adedeji said: “The idea behind it is to give artists and young people a platform to celebrate themselves, their uniqueness and their individuality.

“I feel that many youngsters are suppressed in that area and this is a mechanism to tell them it’s okay to be who you are and to be different.

“With the whole Brexit issue and with what’s going on in the United States and the issues with ISIS, it’s so important at the moment that people know it’s okay to be an individual.”

Adedeji says he hopes the first exhibition will just be the start of a series of events.

Anyone who wishes to talk to him about getting involved and showing their work in the exhibition should email him at djbalogun2007@yahoo.co.uk.

Art As We Know It is on show at 3&4 The Plaza in Town Square, Stevenage on August 19 from 6pm.