Robbie Williams, Adrien Brody, Bob Dylan, and now Ed Sheeran. The British singer is the latest to join the ranks of celebrities trying to make a name for themselves in the visual arts.
Sheeran’s Jackson Pollock-style paintings, featuring layers of multi-coloured drippings and splatters, have gone on display in central London. They’ll make up an exhibition called Cosmic Carpark Paintings at Heni gallery in Soho which opened today (July 11) and will run until Friday, August 1. It’s a free exhibition, with no appointment required.
The name of the exhibition comes from Sheeran himself, as he created the paintings in a disused London carpark while he was in between tours over the past few years.
‘I started painting at the end of my Divide Tour in 2019 and it’s something that I’ve used as a creative outlet ever since,’ Sheeran told the BBC.
‘When I was growing up, both of my parents worked in art, so I’ve naturally always been interested in it, and I always enjoyed studying art at school.
‘I was back and forth on tour last year, and I used a lot of my downtime in the UK to paint.
‘I’d run to a disused car park in Soho each morning, paint, then run home and I’d do that daily until I headed back out on tour again.’
The paintings on display will also be up for sale, with proceeds going to The Ed Sheeran Foundation, which works to offer music education and opportunities to young people from all backgrounds.
Sheeran said the artist Damien Hirst, alongside Heni’s founder Joe Hage, encouraged him to do the exhibition.
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