Robbie Williams and Ed Godrich call each painting from their first exhibition after popular female names from the ’80s who have “inspired” their art.
The Take That singer and interior designer has over the past five years created 14 never-before-seen works that are deeply rooted in the rave and music scene from that era.
The Black and White Paintings exhibition will open at Sotheby’s New Bond Street Gallery in central London on Friday and run until 25 May.
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A Piece Named Donna (Eui Mok / PA)
Williams said he is now ready to share his “creative vision with the world.”
Talking about the inspiration behind naming the pieces, which include Janet, Donna and Mandy, Williams said: “We like the ambiguity of these names, which were very popular at the time, but are not so common today.
“To us, those are the names that define the ’80s, an influential era that inspired our art.”
Bonded by a love of art and music, Williams and Godrich worked on several paintings at a time, developing them in tandem, adding layers of detail to each.
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A piece called Mandy on display (Eui Mok/PA)
Godrich said: “All the characters are in our mind and they come to life as the painting develops.
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“Sometimes a character emerges accidentally, or part of a statue is incidentally caused by the direction of a brushstroke.
“Something completely different can appear when it comes to drawing Robbie, which is why so many of our works are based on fiction.
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A piece titled Janet at the first exhibition (Eui Mok/PA)
“That would add up to a little bit and I would add until we end up with a completely unique creature.”
Williams said: “Our art has taken five years to form. No one has seen this body of work publicly before, but now we are ready to share our creative vision with the world.
“I hope people will feel positivity after seeing our work. I want them to be curious, to feel curious and to see new features every time they look at each painting. ,
