Portsmouth100: Artist Karl Rudziak wants to recruit hobbyist painters for portraits of Portsmouth people
A painter is recruiting a team of amateur painters for Portsmouth100 - as part of his mission to show that culture is for everyone
A Portsmouth artist wants to gather an army of citizen portrait painters to pick up their brushes and help mark the city’s 100th anniversary.
Karl Rudziak - who is known for painting superfan John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood - is embarking on a project as part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations. He wants to amass paintings of 100 people from Portsmouth - created by residents of the city.
Any aspiring artist, who may be secretly drawing and painting at home - or who may never have plucked up the courage to give it a go - has been invited to take part.
Karl is also inviting those interested to a free portrait painting workshop using watercolour, with his aim being to “tap into the untapped cultural activity in Portsmouth”.
He said: “I have spoken to many people over the years who are secretly creative but think the local arts scene isn’t something that applies to them as a hobbyist.”
Karl, who is also President of the Portsmouth and Hampshire Art Society, wants to give people the opportunity to take part in a project that promotes their work in the wider community of Portsmouth.
He says his own work is about challenging the way the word culture is perceived in the city. “I’ll paint anybody from any background no matter what their religion, politics, ethnic background, gender, race to capture the person beneath the surface of how someone looks as best I can,” he said.
“People judge by appearances but underneath we are all human beings and that’s why I am interested in the stories behind every person, no matter how simple or uninteresting someone might think their story is.”
It’s part of a wider mission to reclaim the word “culture” from being associated only with “elitist” activities, and make people realise that culture can take many forms - and is not discounted just because it’s popular.
Pointing out that “going down the pub, watching Eastenders or going to the football is as much a cultural activity as going to an art gallery or the opera”, Karl said: “I find it amazing why, so many men for instance, don’t consider themselves cultural. Dig deeper and they’ll have an interest in history or woodwork, DIY, all highly creative activities and yet cringe when the word culture is used. I want Pompey people to reclaim the word to describe their own stories, family histories or their own person journeys.”
Paintings from the workshops will be displayed at pop-up exhibitions in libraries around the city, and will end up in a final exhibition at the international port to greet travellers as they enter the city.
The centrepiece will be a portrait of a centenarian painted by Karl - and applications to be the sitter for this piece, someone who was born in 1926, are also being invited.
To find out more contact him through his website www.rudziak.co.uk or email [email protected]