How did Adam get here? Well, Adam once travelled to Bethlehem, Palestine. It was 2018. At a crossroads in his life. Having lost his parents and increasingly losing his marbles working in ‘big-tech’, in advertising. He hated advertising.

Getting off the plane, he was pulled into a backroom at the airport. Luggage was waiting on a table. Panic. Turns out it was a case of mistaken identity. Believed to be a film maker showcasing his new film at the Jerusalem film festival he was given a gift bag and whisked to a plush hotel. It wasn’t his hotel.

Leaving quickly soon after, he made his way to the Banksy ‘Walled Off’ hotel. Passing through ‘that wall’ later that day to get there. No gift bags. No warm welcome. Just metallic voices and no natural light. He was like a battery hen; not a film maker.

Soon after he met an Italian artist painting a mural. A mural to depict the bravery of a young girl. Adam helped out. One afternoon as that mural was being completed, he noticed the artist being bundled into an armoured vehicle. Shaken up, he returned to the hotel with a bag of spray cans.

Sitting down for a quick beer and pang of panic, he met Ken. Ken from Tokyo. Ken asked questions and smoked a packet of Marlboro Reds. Adam didn’t want to talk about advertising, so said he was an artist. He’d painted a few pieces that year, put them on a website and now wanted to live a more bohemian life story. Sure, he lied. But it felt good.

Where are you from? he asked. ‘Bristol’. Artist, Bristol, spray cans, Banksy hotel. He looks at Adam. ‘No Ken. I know what you’re thinking but I’m not him’ was the reply. Ken gave Adam a knowing look.

Arriving home a few days later – having been cut off for 48 hours due to a variety of dull reasons – it turns out that he has sold four paintings. To Japan. One to Ken.

Now, he’s not Banksy. A fairly simple statement to make. Yet from that day onwards he did choose to be a painter. A painter who paints abstract interpretations of the poetry he writes underneath each layer of paint. Adam would like to thank Banksy in a way but, mostly Ken.

This is an exhibition in the cafe