LONDON — British singer-songwriter Boy George explores celebrities’ relationship with stardom in a new art collection launching on Friday last week.
George has depicted music stars David Bowie, Madonna and Prince alongside a self-portrait from his Culture Club days for “Fame”, a limited edition collection with British art retailer Castle Fine Art.
The colorful portraits called “Yamamoto”, “Madame X” and “Purple Reign” respectively depict his idol Bowie in his “Tokyo Pop” suit, Madonna as her alter-ego and name of her 2019 album and Prince in a purple coat in reference to his 1984 album “Purple Rain”.
The works hang alongside George’s older paintings, including other celebrity portraits featuring intricate beading, studs, sequins and safety pins.
“It’s really a reflection of me and how I see the world, my sense of humor, things that I love, my heroes, people that influence me, people that have been important to my life,” he told Reuters.
“We all have our own relationship with fame … I would say my relationship with fame has changed dramatically in the last 10 years because my thinking about things has changed so dramatically.”
The Culture Club frontman, whose real name is George O’Dowd, shot to fame in the early 1980s with his distinctive voice and androgynous look as the band topped charts with songs like “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” and “Karma Chameleon”.
George, 63, described his artistic process as a “simplistic approach … like getting ready (to go out)”.
“You start with a plain face … and as you add things, it turns into something. It gets a sadness or … attitude,” he said.
“It’s the essence I’m looking for. I’m not really trying to create something that looks exactly like somebody from a photograph.”
—Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alison Williams