“ØLDBØY” is the studio name/moniker of Arnold Aladhami, an artist, musician, and designer hailing from Toronto, Canada.




Arnold was born in Bydgoszcz, Poland to a Muslim father and Catholic mother. The fusion and discrepancy of culture in his upbringing plays a pivotal role in shaping the themes of identity and faith in Øldbøy’s work. As a child of the 1990s and early 2000s, he was introduced to a mosaic of musical genres, films, television shows and comics which provide the pop culture backdrop seen in much of his work. Witnessing the aggression of hip hop, rock ‘n’ roll, and techno he embraced music through singing and the dissonant sounds of the guitar, which led to his eventual passion for other art forms such as illustration and painting. Since then, he has pursued various artistic endeavours, constructing a multidisciplinary world to develop his creative vision. He studied art and design at The School of Design at George Brown, Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto, and is currently studying for his Masters at OCADU. He has worked with Adidas and is a tenant at Hxouse, an incubator in Toronto co-founded by Lamar Taylor and Abel Tesfaye.




The term “Øldbøy” denotes an investigation into the passage of life from youth to old age and death. The work details the existential weight of glory, beauty, and anxiety throughout life, as well as the nostalgia, foresight, awareness of now, and the matrix of time that surrounds us. Through the artist’s lens of his own mortality, as well as an exploration into the evolution of humanity and society as a whole, Øldbøy draws from concepts, movements, styles, and visions from past, present, and future. Blending the old with the new, he finds inspiration and meaning to discuss the mystery of the human condition.




Drawing from a plethora of eclectic artistic and design movements, Øldbøy’s work echoes elements of Dada, Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Art Brut, Letterism, Cobra, Fluxus, and Neo-Expressionism. In his music, he blends cherished genres from his formative years, such as 80s punk, 90s grunge, along with the rhythmic beats of golden-age hip hop and the dynamic sounds of 90s techno and rave culture. This fusion of styles and inspiration has birthed an experimental and aggressive multimedia brand that intertwines philosophy, psychology, pop culture, societal commentary, history, technology, science, and religion.