Capturing art-world and creative figures at home in their living room, at their desks and by their windows, British photographer Joanna Vestey’s portraits are a marker of our strange times. Wearing their masks, her subjects, including Grayson Perry, Jenny Saville and Camille Walala, have been photographed as part of a series to raise money for art therapy charity, AT The Bus.
Before the most recent UK restrictions, Oxfordshire-born Vestey travelled across the country to document life under lockdown. Relying only on her tripod, camera and a stool, Vestey shot her subjects using only natural light, creating portraits that are remarkable in their intimacy.
Portait image of Grayson Perry wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
The masked portraits are now on sale as limited-edition prints in an auction that aims to raise £150,000 for the art therapy programme delivered by AT The Bus.
Based inside a double-decker bus with custom-built studio spaces, the programme runs creative sessions for young people aged 7 to 18 during term time. The bus, whose exterior was designed by Walala, takes up residence in school grounds across Oxfordshire and London throughout the year, providing a safe space for students to attend classes where they learn to create and transform objects.
Portait image of Camille Walala wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
Portait image of Joy Labinjo wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
With young people’s mental health being heavily impacted by the pandemic, the opportunities offered by the programme are more vital than ever.
‘AT The Bus helps children rediscover their habits of creativity,’ says Saville, a patron of the charity. ‘The process of being utterly present in the moment, where all your concentration is given to a particular creative task – it’s when humans play their best game, can love life, and themselves.’
Portait image of Dame Zandra Rhodes wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
Alongside Saville, Perry and Walala, the impressive line-up of portraits includes Joy Labinjo, Zandra Rhodes, Richard Wentworth, Fiona Banner, Philippa Perry, Dawn French and Cornelia Parker.
Each limited-edition print is signed and is part of a run of only 50, costing £150 per print and available to purchase at atthebus.org.uk. The funds raised from the project will enable AT The Bus to deliver 5,000 hours of art as therapy.
INFORMATION
See the full limited edition portrait series at atthebus.org.uk
-
‘Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style’ at Design Museum interrogates the loaded history of swimwearCurator Amber Butchart speaks to Wallpaper* about the Design Museum’s latest exhibition, which explores the cultural impact of swimwear – from Pamela Anderson’s bombshell ‘Baywatch’ one-piece to those made for sports, leisure or fashion statement
-
The Frick Collection's expansion by Selldorf Architects is both surgical and delicateThe New York cultural institution gets a $220 million glow-up
-
Come as you are to see Kurt Cobain’s acoustic guitar on show in the UK for the first timeKurt Cobain’s acoustic guitar goes on display at the Royal College of Music Museum in London as part of an exhibition exploring Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
Secret 7” is back with limited-edition vinyl cover art to aid War ChildSecret 7” returns with it charity auction of seven new mystery tracks sealed behind 700 uniquely designed vinyl cover sleeves (and anyone can bid)
-
Lana Trzebinski’s ceramics for de Pury sale are mediations on healingLana Trzebinski on creating her ‘Fractal Series’ of ceramic art in her Nairobi studio, for a selling exhibition with de Pury
-
Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth unite for a sensorial London exhibition and auctionHospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth are working together to raise money for arts and mental health charities
-
Pharrell Williams’ third Joopiter auction is an eclectic and cultural mish-mashPharrell Williams’ ‘Just Phriends’ Joopiter auction is curated by Sarah Andelman; bidding opens 19 June 2023
-
Adam Pendleton and Venus Williams unite to preserve Nina Simone’s childhood home in New York auctionMajor contemporary artists will auction works in May 2023, with funds supporting the preservation of Nina Simone’s childhood home
-
‘George Club: Twenty Years in Mayfair’ offers art by David Hockney, Tracey Emin and moreChristie’s hosts an online charity auction of original artworks from the soon-to-reopen George in Mount Street, London, in support of the Caring Family Foundation
-
Buckhorn Sculpture Park: inside the art paradise dreamt up by collectors Sherry and Joel MallinAs legendary art collectors Sherry and Joel Mallin prepare to sell their upstate New York home – and the star-studded collection occupying Buckhorn, its onsite sculpture park – we go behind the scenes of this art treasure trove, and the extraordinary life, work and spirit of the Mallins
