Midlands to Miami: Prolific Offaly digital artist to feature at prestigious art exhibition

Tullamore's Alan Bolton is an internationally-renowned digital artist who is set be one of the featured artists at Context Art Miami 2025 which kicks off on December 2 where he will showcase five new artworks.

The Offaly native is one of five Irish participants, out of over 1,300 international exhibitors, taking part in the prestigious festival. The exhibition celebrates the world's leading artists and explored how technology continues to redefine the way art is experienced. 

It's a milestone which marks a culmination of the successful career that Alan has built and how he continues to be one of the leading digital artists in the industry.

It's been an incredible journey from where it all started as he looks back fondly upon his younger years in the Faithful County. He reflects: "I loved my childhood in Tullamore. I grew up near Charleville Castle, so we spent most of our time outdoors in nature. I had a great group of friends in my school and neighbourhood."

Alan is the eldest of three children with two younger brothers and went to St. Joseph's and Scoil Eoin Pol for primary school before moving on to Coláiste Choilm for secondary school and he says they were "places that really shaped my early curiosity and creativity."

He remembers being impacted by art throughout his education. "I did art in school and I will always remember my art teacher, Ms. Carroll, at Coláiste Choilm. She was great. Some teachers just leave a positive mark on you for life."

Alan's interest in art began to fill his evenings after school as well. "From a young age, I was always drawn to making things. At around the age of 15, I discovered Photoshop, and I became obsessed with it. I was making edits to home photos and desktop graphics every day after school." 

It wasn't long before he entered the digital art space: "Everyone was joining the now-defunct platform called 'Bebo'. I was creating 'Bebo Skins' for all my friends at the time, which were background graphics for your social media account. That was the start of my digital art journey."

Alan incorporated his skills into his school work but quickly found out that his enthusiasm and understanding of digital art didn't always translate to a larger audience. "When I was in Transition Year, we wanted to run our Mini Company to sell Bebo Skins, but no one had any idea what we were actually selling. The idea of selling a digital product from a stall in the Bridge Centre was unheard of back then."

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After finishing secondary school, he went on to study Business & Management and Digital Marketing in Dublin Institute of Technology, Although, he didn't ultimately embark on a career in marketing, he believes it contributed towards his ambitions as an artist. "I enjoyed my degree, and some aspects of it benefited me greatly after college. For example, when you are working full-time as an artist, you are a business. You need to be responsible for your marketing and accounting amongst other things."

He never stopped doing art throughout college and began to hone his skills even further throughout this time. "I started to learn video editing and photography. I was doing the digital marketing modules in college, and then learning the creative side and editing skills myself". 

After graduating in 2017, Alan was faced with the crossroads of what to do next and decided on a move to America after having great experiences whilst on a J1 during his college years. "I always recommend that ambitious Irish college students obtain a J1 Visa and spend a period of time in the USA. It wasn’t always my goal to move to LA, but I felt it was now or never." 

"I had moved to LA on my own. I was definitely a little naive, to be honest, to think I could arrive in a city of that size and easily land a job, but it worked out well and was the most influential experience of my life" he recollects. 

He secured a job right away with popular YouTube channel MihranTV as the lead content creator which he done for 14 months, Alan credits this time as instilling a shift in his mentality. "I met the most amazing people on my first day that changed my life and whole mindset. They had such a positive outlook and drive for life that I never experienced in Ireland. The word no didn’t exist in their vocabulary. There was nothing they couldn’t achieve."

Alan also built a strong work ethic during this period stating: "We worked insane hours, but I was there to work and learn. I think they could see in me that I was very dedicated. I loved every minute of it, and I felt so passionate about what I was doing every day. That’s the kind of work ethic that has stuck with me to this day." 

Alan's stateside journey was thrown into jeopardy with his graduate visa expiring which meant that he would have to apply for a new visa in order to be allowed to continue in LA. "I wanted to move to LA permanently. I applied for an H1B visa while in the USA but unfortunately my application was denied. They said my college degree was not relevant enough to my work in the creative field so I had to return to Ireland." 

Alan admits: "I fought the visa denial for about 8 months. Ultimately, I never won my case and was left with nothing but a huge legal bill. At this stage, I was already working with brands in Ireland, creating various kinds of social media content. So the decision to remain in Ireland and go all in on my own career felt like the right decision."

He picked up where he left off back on home soil in 2019. "I was contacted by Westbrook, which is Will Smith’s social media agency, which was a huge boost for me. They sent me on tour with Tiesto in Poland and just told me to “create my usual stuff”. I then went on to create a few more projects with Will Smith’s water company JUST Water."

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Alan would once again have to adapt in order to thrive as a result of adversity, this time in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic. "I had just started to take on projects for Westbrook, and they had more lined up for me throughout 2020, but that’s when Covid hit. Almost all my in-person client work was gone overnight. That’s when I shifted my focus to creating more 3D art, music visuals, and selling my art and photography online."

"I was researching more ways I could sell my digital art, and I came across NFTs. I immediately thought this would be the future for digital art and went all in." 

He understands consumers being apprehensive of the new purchase methods saying: "I totally understand how intimidating it can be for newcomers, it’s important to understand the technology behind NFTs and what you’re actually buying. There’s a lot of education needed in the space, but one thing is clear: NFTs aren’t disappearing anytime soon."

Alan says: "I would love to see more digital art exhibitions in Ireland" and that "more could be done by schools" across the country but admits he doesn't know how much the curriculum has advanced since he was in school.

Referring to a particular time during school which showed the attitude towards digital art, he explains: "When I was in Transition Year, we had a careers class where they brought in local business owners to help with our career paths, and I was basically told that pursuing graphic design or anything digital art-related was stupid and that I’d never get a job in Ireland. That always stuck with me."

Signing to a management company created a host of new opportunities for Alan. "I was signed to Seven20 for my first music/art collaboration. It was a big deal for me personally, I’m a huge deadmau5 fan, and now I was getting signed to his management team. I am also the only digital artist on their roster of DJs and producers". 

He believes the deal was crucial to furthering his career. "The right management can be hugely beneficial to bring opportunities to the table that just wouldn’t be possible for a solo artist."

Alan reveals how the partnership came into existence. "When I started to create music visuals, I made them to deadmau5 tracks for fun, as I just loved his music. I would post the visuals on Instagram and tag deadmau5 and his management team.

"After doing this a few times, they took notice of my work and reached out to me to create ten music visuals throughout 2020 for a number of artists on their record labels, in early 2021, we started making plans for some music/art collaborations. This led me to create three collaborations with deadmau5 and his record label Hau5trap over the years."

Alan also elaborated on his collaboration with Premier League club Manchester City saying: "They reached out to me directly as they had recently done a digital art collaboration and were looking for an artist for a new release. They were amazing to work with."

"They were so dedicated and committed to the whole process where I had full creative control. In total, we did two collaborations on five artworks, and I’m very proud of those pieces of work" he added. 

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Alan has also settled in to new surroundings following his stint back home in Ireland declaring: "Since 2020, I’ve lived in Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany. I’ve based myself out of Madeira, Portugal, for the past few years. I love it here. It’s an amazing island."

He says his living situation is ideal for creating new content: "I don’t travel for work, I just move to new locations as I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do so. It’s great to visit new places and cultures and get inspired by the different surroundings."

Alan describes his style as "surreal and abstract 3D animations and still image artworks. I’ve had quite a journey through several artistic mediums, and I feel all the skills I’ve acquired shape my artistic style today." This distinct art style has enabled him to have his work exhibited in array of places internationally such as Los Angeles, Canada, Beijing, Singapore and the UK throughout his decorated career. 

The Tullamore artist's next venture will be at Context Art Miami from December 2 - 7. "I’m very excited for the show, it usually gets about 90,000 attendees during the week. I have five new animated works releasing for the exhibition that will all be sold through Blackdove, my exhibition partner."

He added: "Miami Art Week is a big deal in the art world, so it’s always been on my radar. There’s a huge increase in digital art exhibitions this year, which is great to see."

Speaking on future goals, he reveals: "I’d love to open my own gallery. Maybe a cool coffee shop/creative space. I’d also love to create some physical pieces that come with accompanying NFTs and experiment more with physical works."

Alan has not ruled out a possible exhibition in Offaly in the future. "My family is still based in Tullamore, so I make it home about once a year. I’d love the chance to do a local exhibition someday. The challenge is that traditional gallery spaces often aren’t set up for digital art. Unless it’s already a dedicated digital venue, many places understandably hesitate to take on that transformation. Still, if the right opportunity came along, I’d be excited to do it."