Joe Simpson: Musician Portraits

Figurative painter Joe Simpson will be displaying his series of photo-real paintings featuring contemporary music icons in partnership with UK Charity the Royal Albert Hall this summer.

The exhibition sees the celebrities captured in incredible detail in a range of situations and poses, from close personal moments at home to moments backstage when getting ready for the frenetic action of live performance.

Joe’s Musician Portraits exhibition, which features Brandon Flowers, Mark Ronson, Paloma Faith, Maxi Jazz, David Gray, Jamie Cullum and Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) among others, will be displayed as part of the Hall’s reflect series from Tuesday 29 May- Sunday 10 June.

Head of Programming, Lucy Noble comments: “We’re incredibly lucky to be exhibiting Joe’s paintings, some of which have been shown in the best galleries in the world. The exhibition marks our latest instalment in the reflect series, which aims to provide greater access to the arts by showcasing bodies of work from a broad selection of artists”.

There are 22 paintings in this free exhibition, each piece Oil on Canvas, sized 60 x 60 cm. Joe approached his favourite musicians from a wide range of musical genres and nationalities to include in the series. Once the subjects agreed to be included, Joe met up with each artist to take original photographs to work from to create an original oil painting.

Over a year in the making, the project has taken Joe all over the country - to visiting the musician’s houses and studios, to backstage at arena concerts and festivals and as far as Las Vegas to meet Brandon Flowers. Joe’s portrait of Maxi Jazz from the series was shortlisted for the prestigious BP Portrait Award 2011. The painting has been exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery in an exhibition which has been the most popular show in the gallery’s history.

Joe Simpson currently lives and works in London. His paintings have been shown both nationally and internationally, including prestigious venues such as The National Portrait Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Cornerhouse and The House of Commons.

Joe said: “I’ve tried to root each painting in a tradition of painted portraiture – each piece has a quiet, still and almost introspective feel to them. I’d tried to capture the way that each person held themselves when I met them, usually I didn’t give the musicians a great deal of direction, or plan how I wanted the piece to turn out. These paintings have physicality to them that you don’t get with a photograph, the paint has a specific weight and application - you can see layers and brushmarks in the hair and skin tones. I’m really excited to see all the paintings together for the first time.

I'm really looking forward to exhibiting these paintings in such a prestigious venue that has a long history of hosting live performances by some iconic musicians”