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Artist Jack Melville aims to draw in art lovers to the Bahrain Financial Harbour this week as part of the bicentenary celebrations of British-Bahraini relations with a selection of stunning sketches of legendary celebrities.
Images of iconic model Twiggy, beloved British comedian Tommy Cooper and screen starlet Audrey Hepburn are just a few of the famous faces that will be exhibited in the Art Space in the west tower’s reception area.
The 58-year-old former art director of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi will be exhibiting 17 of his black and white penned portraits of iconic faces at the month-long show entitled ‘Do What You Love’ and is thrilled to be a part of the year-long festivities being staged in the kingdom.
Jack, who is staying at the Downtown Rotana Hotel in Manama, said: “I’m extremely honoured to be a part of the bicentennial celebrations. Everybody in Bahrain, particularly at the hotel, has been so wonderful and warm. I am looking forward to the next few days – working hard for the launch event tonight and then enjoying Bahrain and seeing more of its culture.”
The artist’s current work can fetch more than BD2,700 and his portraits of pop icons are in huge demand. Recent commissions include drawings of David Bowie and Prince shortly before they passed away this year.
Jack said: “I was brought up with Bowie’s music and it affected my life. Every time you hear a certain song it takes you back to a certain period in your past. Prince and Bowie are key players in everybody’s lives. Their passing is such a sad loss.”
He will not be sketching their images again until ‘things settle’ and ‘he’s ready’, refusing to jump on the bandwagon and hype surrounding their recent tragic deaths.
Shortly before cancer-sufferer Bowie died, Jack spent three-and-a-half weeks capturing him on canvas and was commissioned by a fan – a caviar importer for Denmark.
Jack is currently fighting his own battle against cancer. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago and is now in remission although doctors have told him that he must continue to have regular blood tests as he is not clear of the disease.
He said: “I’m still fighting it but I feel so well at the moment. I think you have got to live every single day and enjoy what you are doing. Fortunately, I really enjoy making art. I have been painting all the time which is something that I love.
“If you can find the beauty in life and take something out of it … well, that’s a good quality of life to have.
“I concentrate on the eyes of my subjects as they are the steps into their souls.”
During his earlier career Jack received many accolades including winning the Cannes Advertising Film Gold Award and taking the Art Director of Europe prize from the Art Director’s Club.
However, as the advertising industry became more interested in computer-generated techniques, Jack, who considered himself ‘a dinosaur’, decided to pursue a career with his beloved pencils and sketchpad.
He started drawing portraitures of family and friends using mediums such as ink, graphite, pastel, water colour, conté crayon and finger-painting. And before he knew it he was sketching pictures of performers appearing at his favourite musical haunts.
Jack said: “I love faces and I love portraits. I started drawing friends and family and I thought ‘this is not bad – I quite like this’.
“I got involved in the music business and a few celebrities asked me to draw their portraits too.”
While Jack painted many pictures, one of his favourites is that of late Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn. Although, probably the most memorable and personal piece that he ever produced was of his dear friend ‘Wilko’ Johnson of the acclaimed Dr Feelgood, a rock, rhythm & blues band with a huge following in the UK.
He was commissioned to paint a 4ft x 5ft portrait of Wilko that is now hanging outside the legendary gig destination The Railway Hotel in Southend, a seaside town in Essex, frequented by the London crowd. Jack had first met the performer more than 20 years earlier.
Jack said: “I have drawn a few celebrities before Wilko but his was the most personal and closest relationship I’ve had with one.
“When I met him again at the Railway Hotel we really connected. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, at first thought terminal, and at the same time I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. We sort of formed this bond.
“I was asked by the Railway Hotel to draw a large portrait of him to mount on the wall. He loved it and our friendship continues to flourish to this day.
“The project made BBC News and Wilko said that it made him famous again.
“He was later told his cancer was not terminal after surgeons successfully removed a large tumour. He did a ‘going away’ tour because he thought he was dying and now he is carrying on with a ‘comeback’ tour!”
Jack was later commissioned to paint an impressive 20ft mural depicting Wilko and Lee Brilleaux in the Feelgood Cafe Project which ran at Chalkwell Park Hall in Essex.
Jack’s works of art have now grown in demand from galleries all over the world and, in particular, the English capital where they have been displayed at The Sheaf next to the Shard in Southwark Street and the Westbank Gallery.
Jack also exhibited his work at the luxurious Atzaro hotel & spa in tourism hotspot Ibiza, a Balearic island in the Mediterranean Sea. His plan to stay for a month turned into a year and he decided to sell his unique barge-based studio in the English countryside to live there with his wife, Suzy, who used to be the personal assistant to Beatles’ star Paul McCartney.
The couple, both divorcees, met in an apartment building 28 years ago having lived on different floors. They have four children between them. His daughters, Laura, a TV producer, and Ellie, a top racehorse groom, live in the UK. He also gets on well with Suzy’s children, builder, Tom, and lawyer, Louise.
His visit to the kingdom has been organised by another old friend, David Jeffery, group creative director of Communion, a communications company with offices in Bahrain, Dubai and Kochi.
After Bahrain, Jack will be returning home to Ibiza to prepare for another exhibition and will be featuring his sketch of Muhammad Ali which he only completed earlier this week in Bahrain.
Pie-in-the-sky or will star set down in the kingdom?NEGOTIATIONS are in the final stages to bring LMFAO’s DJ Sky Blu to a nightspot in Bahrain, GulfWeekly can reveal.
Details of the chart-topper’s much-anticipated appearance are set to be announced next week.
After several past cancelled gigs in Bahrain, the 30-year-old rapper, record producer, DJ and dancer, Skyler Austen Gordy, best known as one half of the musical US electro pop-duo LMFAO, will likely perform on May 19.
After burning bridges in Bahrain on more than one occasion with LMFAO’s no-show antics, social media is buzzing with rumours of the newly-proposed appearance.
DJ Sky Blu aka The Party President, along with his uncle and Sexy and I Know It lyrical partner Redfoo, were set to end the 2012 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on a high note.
Instead, they ended up disappointing fans by cancelling the show at the 11th-hour citing DJ Air’s broken fibular and dislocated ankle as the reason. He was also reportedly suffering from a back injury. However, the performer didn’t seem to have any issues when he was spotted dancing to his body-pumping jams along with Redfoo live on the American Idol TV show in the US before F1 weekend.
LMFAO was also scheduled to perform at an hotel outlet in the kingdom later this month and it is believed the show was cancelled because of other ‘tour commitments’.
Entertainment writers suggest the act is undergoing a ‘temporary hiatus’ with solo careers now taking centre stage. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that DJ Sky Blu has released singles including Pop Bottles, We Love Girls, Go On Girl and a nine-track album Rebel Music as a free download.
Watch this space.
