The Connor Brothers Artist Biography
Origins & Identity Deception
The Connor Brothers are the pseudonymous British artists behind a provocative art identity, Mike Snelle and James Golding, who rose to prominence in 2012-13. Initially masquerading as fictional brothers Franklyn and Brendan Connor, raised in a cult and living in Brooklyn, they used this elaborate myth as their public persona. In 2014, the truth was revealed: the “Connor Brothers” are not brothers at all, but two former art dealers from London, creating work rooted in their real experiences of mental health challenges, addiction, recovery, and identity.
Artistic Style & Key Influences
Their work sits at the intersection of conceptual art, pop culture appropriation, and visual satire, especially drawing on 1950s advertising, Hollywood starlets, vintage paperback and pulp fiction aesthetics. The signature “Pulp Fiction” series and “Mills & Boon-inspired covers” combine ironic text and romantic cliché with evocative imagery to challenge clichés, gender norms, and cultural expectation. Their prints, paintings and mixed media works provoke discussions on truth vs fiction, reality, perception, identity and how we construct meaning through popular imagery.
Exhibitions, Recognition & Social Engagement
The Connor Brothers have held sell-out exhibitions across London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and other international art centres. Their work has also been auctioned through major houses such as Christie’s and Bonhams and featured in editorial media globally. Alongside commercial success, their work is deeply committed to activism and philanthropy: raising funds for mental health charities (notably CALM), addressing refugee and displacement crises, and using their art to foster awareness and reduce stigma.
Themes & Legacy
At the core of The Connor Brothers’ practice is the exploration of appearance versus reality, the power of narrative myth, and how art can heal and question. Their mythmaking is not simply deception but a tool: fiction used to unpack trauma, to provide distance, to engage public imagination. Over time, their art has evolved—while still rooted in retro, pulp, and pop aesthetics, it increasingly foregrounds urgent contemporary themes: mental health, identity, social justice. Their legacy is one of originality, provocation, cultural commentary and an enduring questioning of what we accept as truth in the world of art and myth.