Guy Hepner Gallery

Elmo Hood It Was The Fuck Aroundest of Times For Sale

Elmo Hood
Elmo Hood - It Was The Fuck Aroundest of Times, 2026, Mixed Media Playing Card on Wooden Backed Canvas | Signed

It Was The Fuck Aroundest of Times, 2026

Mixed Media Playing Card on Wooden Backed Canvas | Signed

12 x 16 In

About this work

Elmo Hood has established a distinctive presence within the contemporary art market through works that merge irreverent wit with sharp cultural commentary. Operating at the intersection of street art sensibilities and fine art execution, the artist has cultivated a following among collectors who appreciate conceptual depth delivered through accessible, visually arresting imagery. It Was The Fuck Aroundest of Times exemplifies Hood's characteristic approach to linguistic and visual subversion. The work appropriates the familiar format of the playing card, transforming this quotidian object into a vehicle for pointed social observation. The title itself functions as a corrupted literary reference, inverting the opening lines of Dickens to speak to contemporary absurdity and consequence. Rendered in mixed media on wooden backed canvas, the piece demonstrates Hood's commitment to material experimentation, elevating ephemeral source material into substantive artistic statement. The modest dimensions of twelve by sixteen inches concentrate the work's impact, demanding intimate engagement from the viewer while maintaining the portable scale associated with collectible editions. The choice of the playing card as central motif resonates with themes of chance, risk, and the gambles inherent in modern existence. Hood positions the viewer as participant in an uncertain game where the rules remain perpetually in flux. The wooden backing adds permanence and weight to what might otherwise read as disposable commentary, suggesting that flippant observations may carry lasting significance. This signed work represents an opportunity to acquire a piece by an artist whose trajectory continues to ascend. For acquisition enquiries or to arrange a private viewing, please contact Guy Hepner directly.

$5,160

Edition & Provenance

Year
2026
Medium
Mixed Media Playing Card on Wooden Backed Canvas | Signed

More from this series

About the Playing Cards Series

Elmo Hood's Playing Cards series is where his signature process began, and it remains the most collected body of work in his practice. Each piece starts with a found playing card, its printed color and imagery repurposed rather than covered, then built out with layered mixed media and mounted on wooden backed canvas.

The cards themselves carry the compositions. Kings and queens recur throughout, their existing linework absorbed into new characters and scenes. Hood works dark tones into the shading and outlines of each piece, giving the finished work a graphic, almost stencil-like edge that sits somewhere between pop art and street art.

The titles are part of the work. Lines like In The War Of Ego The Loser Always Wins and What Doesn't Kill Me read like aphorisms, pulling the series toward the same undercurrent of philosophy and self-examination that runs through Hood's practice more broadly. A recurring New York thread, seen in pieces like New York Is A Verb and New York Punches, reflects the city's pull on the artist and its recurring presence across this body of work.

Guy Hepner Gallery presents 15 works from the Playing Cards series, available through private sale. Each piece is signed by the artist. Complimentary valuations and current pricing are available on enquiry.

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It Was The Fuck Aroundest of Times

About Elmo Hood

Elmo Hood is a self-taught contemporary artist working at the intersection of pop art and mixed media. Born in 1989 in Southampton, England, he now lives and works in Brisbane, Australia.

Hood's career began in 2013 with a single collage made from two playing cards. The piece went viral, leading to a string of international exhibitions and a growing collector base that has followed his work ever since. Those early card pieces set the template for what would become his signature process: cutting, burning, and reassembling found materials to build emotionally charged compositions.

Today his work fuses pop art sensibility with layered mixed media technique. Playing cards remain central to his practice, their existing color and imagery repurposed into new palettes, while darker tones anchor the outlines and shading of each piece. Kings and queens recur throughout his output, alongside recurring nods to philosophy, religion, and the paranormal, giving the work a mythic, symbol-driven undercurrent beneath its pop surface.

Hood's work has been featured in British GQ, Forbes, Glamour, Wall Street International, and Made in Shoreditch, among other publications. He has exhibited across London, Paris, New York, Miami, Ibiza, Bahrain, and Munich, with pieces auctioned at the Houses of Parliament. His exhibition history includes solo shows such as Down the Rabbit Hole at Westbank Gallery, London, and House of Cards in Miami, alongside group exhibitions in New York and at the Bahrain Art Fair.

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