Nicholas John Blinko (born 4 September 1961) is a British musician and artist, best known as the lead singer, lyricist, and guitar player for the anarcho-punk band Rudimentary Peni. He is also known for being an “outsider” artist, whose pen-and-ink drawings and paintings have been shown in galleries worldwide. Blinko also creates all the drawings used by the band for its artwork.
Blinko has contributed album artwork to several musical projects aside from his own. Among these are Part 1’s 1985 release Pictures of Pain, released on Pushead’s label Pusmort; Coil’s 1997 release, Unnatural History III, released on Threshold House;[16] Iron Lung’s 2007 Prank Records release Sexless//No Sex; Omaniescum Aorisum’s 2013 Solitude Records release Mademoiselle Hélène; and Fire in the Head’s 2010 release Confessions of a Narcissist.[20] He also contributed musically to two releases by Fire in the Head.
Blinko’s artwork has been shown internationally and featured in books and magazines related to the field of outsider art. An exhibition at the National Schizophrenia Fellowship in 1994 first brought his art to public attention; he is now represented in the Collection de l’art brut in Lausanne.He had a show at Kinz + Tillou Gallery in New York City in 2006. Some of Blinko’s artwork was featured at the Portland, Oregon art exhibit “Entartete Kunts” in June 2009. In 2011, he had a solo exhibit titled “Visions of Pope Adrian 37th” at Pallant House Gallery in the U.K.[24]
Colin Rhodes’ Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives, published by Thames & Hudson in 2000, featured Blinko’s art and a description of his working process.