interview
Jack Melville
Jack’s favourite picture
Jack in action
ART AND ICONS LIZ O’REILLY
H
British artist Jack Melville visits the island this month for an exhibition in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Bahraini-British relations – he took time out from packing to answer a few questions.
ave you been to Bahrain before or is this your first visit and how long will you be here? I have never been to Bahrain or anywhere in the Middle East before but I am so looking forward to being there for the 12 days. To enjoy the culture and the people. What made you decide to get involved with the anniversary celebrations? It was suggested to me that the celebrations would be an opportunity to promote my particular brand of art. I am also interested in all cultures and thought the experience would be beneficial for all parties. You’re well known for producing striking images of iconic figures – have you ever painted (or otherwise pictured) anyone from the Arab world and if so who? No I haven’t as yet but have been requested to paint an Arab dignitary while I am there, as yet I have no idea who that will be. But again I am very honoured to have been asked to do so. Is there anyone or anything, such as some of Bahrain’s landmarks, that you’re keen to see and perhaps picture while you’re here? I want to see as much as possible in the time I’m there and experience the culture and the people. I am so looking forward to the trip although it seems I will be busy giving workshops to schools and painting. Phew! 60 May 2016
You’ve previously said that, on embarking on your career in art, you decided not to make things easy for yourself – is this something you still stick to even though you have since embraced more traditional methods? I embark on each individual image with a new vision of how it will be seen. Each drawing is extracted from my eye, brain and through my hand, none of which is easy. I have always been able to draw but the body and mind has to be together to produce a piece otherwise it is not even worth attempting. I could spend an evening having dinner with someone, stare at their face, be incredibly interested in everything they say, and the next day, be able to remember all kinds of things they had told me. But, if I were to see that person on the street I’d have no idea that I’d ever seen them before in my life. But I can remember things that are flat, which is why I use photography as the source for the paintings. With photography, I can memorise a face. Painting is the perfect medium and photography is the perfect source, because they have already translated three dimensions into something flat. I can just affect the translation. Some of your early work was created using a pretty eclectic mix of tools such as an eraser on a power drill – how did that work and how did you come up with the idea? The idea of using power tools on a painting
simply came to me when doing some DIY. I saw how controlled the blending of colour and tone could be and produce a finish that was both exact and random. Controlled and irrational. If you had to pick a favourite piece from all your productions, which would it be and why? That’s easy it would be the portrait of my daughter Ellie. Obviously I am biased but when I was first presented to her at her birth she had a look in her eyes that conveyed, “I’m so glad to be here and full of life”. She still has that look in her eyes to this day. This was painted a couple of months ago and hopefully captures my love for her. Have any of the people you’ve pictured given any feedback on your images? Yes quite a few. The portrait is the beating force of my work, and many are the iconic image of the artists portrayed. Wilko Johnson once said to me: “I guess I’m getting more famous as a model than as a guitarist…Your portrait of me has made me famous again.” What are you currently working on and what’s coming next? The next big event is the possibility of an exhibition in Hong Kong at the Jockey Club at the end of the year. As I live in Ibiza, I am constantly being commissioned to produce portraits of famous people out here, Robert Plant and Maxi Jazz amongst that number. www.bahrainthismonth.com