After more than 40 years in stand-up comedy, music and acting, Billy Connolly has turned his hand to contemporary art.
The comedian on Wednesday unveiled to the world a series of pen and ink drawings called Born on a Rainy Day, the result of two years of sketching. The six pen and ink drawings are based on characters from his imagination.
It was an interest that came to him late in life, he said. “Art, for me, bears no relation to comedy or music. My art is pure and ‘unjudged’. I am creating it for myself – it is personal and private whereas with a film, comedy show or music you expect people to be critiquing, watching, assessing. Art is different; it liberates you.”
Walkies, Giclée on Paper
Billy Connolly describes his work as something of an enigma, something that takes over him as he begins to create. This process adapted by Connelly is akin to the surrealist automatism movement, whereby the artist allows the hand to move randomly across the paper or canvas, without an intent to create anything specific.
Ben Austin studied History of Art at Reading University. He started Catto Contemporary in Shoreditch where he was responsible for helping to launch the careers of several artists and showed Anthony Micallef and Banksy in a curated exhibition entitled ‘Perverse Pop’ back in 2001. Austin has worked at Art Review, before setting himself up as an independent curator and through Austin Enterprises he staged the legendary Frieze opening night show/party entitled ‘Decadence, Decay and the Demimonde’ at Home House in 2007, which featured art on loan from the Saatchi Gallery (Marcus Harvey, Liz Neal and Barry Reigate). He has also curated exhibition at the Blouin Foundation – ‘After Dark’ series, featuring acclaimed artists such as Alice Anderson. He has been on the judging panel for the ‘Young Masters’ prize. More recently he curated ‘Art Britannia’ during Miami Basel featuring a collection of contemporary British artists and acted as the initial curator and advisor the The Dot Project Gallery in Fulham. Ben Austin acts as an art advisor and dealer. He writes for numerous publications including Artlyst and FAD.
Catriona Gallagher is a visual artist based between Northumberland (UK), and Athens (Greece). Her work unfolds poetical stories and critical observations […]
Sandy & Andy McKay, Giclée on Paper
