Jed Neill
BRITAIN’S most celebrated mosaic artist is bringing his work to the unpretentious mountain town of Alora this month.
Ed Chapman, who has carried out commissions for sports stars, politicians, rock musicians and multiple works for the royal family, will display his mosaics alongside local artworks at Alora’s VI Exhibition for Independent Artists.
Chapman’s mosaics have been hung in galleries worldwide, from Azerbaijan to Manchester City F.C, and feature such legends as David Beckham, Nelson Mandela and David Bowie.
He brings his characters to life through various mosaic mediums including vinyl, vitreous glass, pennies, bullet-cases, childrens buttons or, in the case of Alan Sugar, sugar cubes.
His Jimi Hendrix mosaic, made of 5,000 Fender guitar picks, was auctioned for £23,000, one of the highest prices ever paid for a modern mosaic.
Outlining his thought process in deciding which pieces to choose for the Alora exhibition, he said “Picasso seems a suitable subject as he was obviously born in Malaga.
“Mrs Thatcher is relevant to Brits in Malaga and is still very controversial,” he added.
His photo-realist approach to portraiture is rooted in capturing many different photos from different angles and selecting the best one to represent the subject.
After the photo is chosen he draws from free-hand the general structure and then builds the colour up from the desired material.
“I found quite quickly that I was good at doing them. I found it a really interesting medium.
“I just wanted to carry on, but decided on works that were more and more ambitious.
“It unpretentious and pretty well done. It’s got a broad appeal. It doesn’t make any claims about the person,” he said.
The exhibition at Alora’s Casa de la Cultura is open Mondays to Fridays and runs until November 3 inclusive.
