You might recognise Joseph (Joe) Gilgun as an actor from iconic films like This Is England and award-winning series’ such as Misfits. Most recently he’s written and starred in seven series of SKY’s longest running show, Brassic, but what you might not know is Joe’s now an accomplished artist too, selling his work through independent art galleries like George Thornton Art in Nottingham and Knightsbridge Fine Art in Essex. Yet he’s adamant there’s “never a plan” and “I don’t know what I’m doing“.
Image source: The Independent
“The painting started because I didn’t know what to do. When I wasn’t doing Brassic, suddenly there’s all this time and I’d sit… wallowing. I started drawing these faces; crowds of faces on top of each other. To the point where, at a distance, it just looks like a load of scribble. Then as you move in they ‘re missing elements: ears, eyes, or they’d miss a nose. This feeling of them being unfinished; the unreachable.”
JOE GILGUN
Just like Vinnie, the leading character in Brassic played by Joe, the actor and artist has bipolar disorder, experiencing depressive downs and manic highs.
“It’s a double-edged sword, bipolar,” says Joe, “because there are times you’re off your [*] nut, really creative, staying up after a long day to write. Then other times the self-loathing is unbearable. I can’t look at myself in the mirror.”
His art, he says, is inspired by “sadness” that’s “eternal” and “permanent”.
Joe’s a self-taught artist and doesn’t follow conventional methods.
He uses “a blend of acrylic, spray paint and charcoal” and “doesn’t limit himself, ” says George Thornton Art. “Art works have been painted on bed sheets due to the times he’s been too anxious to leave the house. Broken gates salvaged from wastelands next to filming locations have also found their way into the collection.”
Joe uses “whatever’s at hand; a splash of tea, a mouthful of spit”.
“The idea is ― I think, paint the unreachable,” says Joe. “Paint people who just can’t [*] tell you what’s going on, or they can’t hear you. There’s a lot of shouting; a lot of grinning. It’s a crowd that you wouldn’t necessarily want watching you, and I think it’s my perception, potentially, of the outside world. People en mass… they’re not easy.”
Releasing pain through art
Joe’s results show you don’t need professional art kits or materials, or even a canvas to express pain, trauma or frustration through art. If you’ve got something you want to get out of your system and it’s too big or too complex to express in words, look around you, grab whatever’s to hand, and simply make a start.
