Robbie Williams to exhibit his paintings for first time | Robbie Williams
He’s improved regarded for stepping out on phase and delivering some of the most memorable British pop times in recent memory, but now Robbie Williams is swapping the microphone and the highlight for an easel as he offers his first at any time exhibition.
Williams and his resourceful husband or wife, Ed Godrich, are presenting an exhibition of their black-and-white paintings and curating a sale at Sotheby’s that will characteristic some of their favourite artists, which includes Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grayson Perry and Damien Hirst.
The pair’s really like of street artwork, which established their bond and encouraged their paintings, is the thread that operates by their exhibition and the sale.
Godrich and Williams’s Black and White Paintings exhibition will be on display at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries from 13-25 May possibly, even though their Contemporary Curated sale runs from 22-28 April and involves operates by graffiti author turned artwork globe star Basquiat, and avenue artist Richard Hambleton.
The pair describe the Canadian-born New York-based Hambleton – who employs brushes and black paint in pots to make “immense human shadows” – as “the daddy” of them all and a huge impact on their operate. “He was at the forefront of a revolution that has ongoing to this day. To have a Richard Hambleton, acknowledges your deep understanding of avenue art,” they reported.
Williams and Godrich, who co-started the interior architecture studio Godrich Interiors, reported they went into “a meditative trance-like state” when they established their very own get the job done, and that it was not uncommon for them to neglect painting sure sections of the canvas.
“There are references to so a lot of issues buried in the layers of every perform, some private, some not. On nearer inspection each and every viewer will understand the information in a entirely different way,” they said.
In complete, 14 of the duo’s is effective will be on display screen at the exhibition, with Williams and Godrich creating the paintings even though listening to songs (typically Annie Mac’s DJ sets) in their Los Angeles studio that they share.
Other perform in their curated sale features the place portray, 2- Hydroxypyridine by Damien Hirst, whom they describe as “a mischievous scamp”, and Grayson Perry’s self-portrait ceramics piece Him and Her. “The intriguing point about this piece is it covers so several parts of Grayson’s creativeness. We all will need a ceramic of Grayson and a pink creature in our lives,” they claimed. “Without Grayson, it all feels a fraction regular.”
Williams, an early trader in Banksy, has dabbled in the art marketplace right before. In January he set up a few performs by Banksy from his non-public assortment for a blended estimate of £10m. At the time he claimed the goal of offering Girl with Balloon, Vandalised Oils (Choppers) and Kissing Coppers was to totally free up space to be in a position to purchase “new art from new people” and support fund his very own get the job done.
The previous Choose That singer to start with told enthusiasts about his really like for art in 2011. In a website write-up on his formal web-site, he explained that he was motivated by Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol and had taken up the apply through the group’s down time.
Williams reportedly created 40 significant functions throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, and recently sold greetings card-sized artworks to assist encourage his new gallery, which doubles as a nightclub that he described as “the opposite of Studio 54, which was exclusive and pretentious”.
Godrich and Williams mentioned: “We are proud of what we have created and it is time to share what has been coming out of our brains for the previous couple of decades. Accomplishing an exhibition presents the operate a likelihood to breathe outside of the studio.”