The upcoming exhibition opens Tuesday, 26th of July 2022 in London named ‘Always On My Mind’ will be a group show of London’s The Fitzrovia Gallery meant to be an aid of The UK National Brain Appeal. Money raised from sales of artworks will go to help The National Brain Appeal. The National Brain Appeal raises much-needed funds for The National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. A group art exhibition is meant to aid of The UK National Brain Appeal Charity and it will be curated by Harry Pye. In case you are in London, bare on mind that it will last 27-30 July 2022 12-6pm, The Fitzrovia Gallery, 139 Whitfield Street, London W1T 5EN
The exhibition will include works from different artists, including musicians such as Nick Cave, Francis McDonald and James F. Johnston. Other artists presenting their work will be Magda Archer, Gordon Beswick, Sasha Bowles, Billy Childish, Matthew Collings, Alice Herrick, Corin Johnson, Francis Macdonald, Kate Murdoch, Carson Parkin-Fairley, Harry Pye, Elena-Andreea Teleaga, Twinkle Troughton and Tracey Williams.
“Paintings can be postcards to the world that document a moment or inarticulate speeches from the heart that make other people feel less alone.” Harry Pye. „Always On My Mind” features collage, drawing, installation, photography, painting, prints and sculpture. The title of the exhibition comes from the name of an Elvis Presley’s song that was on top of the lists 50 years ago. It celebrates 50th anniversary of Elvis being at number one with song “You Were Always On My Mind”. Therefore, a few artists involved in this show are connected to the music such as Francis Macdonald, the drummer of Teenage Fanclub, James Johnston (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch) and of course Nick Cave himself.
“In 1981, in London, I saw the movie “This Is Elvis”. I had always been an Elvis fan, with a special love for the songs he made in the seventies – “Suspicious Minds”, “In the Ghetto”, “Kentucky Rain”, “Always on My Mind” – and had a particular obsession with the gospel album, “How Great Thou Art” that he recorded in the early sixties. The last ten minutes of “This Is Elvis” changed my ideas on performance forever”, said Nick Cave.
“My work is primarily concerned with the existential, exploring myth, archetype and the subconscious,” James Johnston said.
While Francis Macdonald from Teenage Funclub said “I enjoy drawing people I like or admire and sharing the images on-line. It’s fun, relaxing and good for my mental health and creativity. Drawing Elvis is tricky – maybe because he is so iconic. But I was glad to try and capture him across different eras while helping to raise money and awareness of a good cause.”
And after all the time Elvis Presley continues to live through art. Alice Herrick, one of the artists on the exhibition said “Elvis is everywhere and nowhere. He is always on somebody’s mind while we live in a world of multiple images and thousands of impersonators! My work is often focused on the human face and portraiture, so for this show I have used a popular paper mask image of Elvis in his prime as a template for a series of quick portraits. Elvis was a great beauty, and studying his face makes me wonder again at the infinite variety of features, proportions and expressions of the human face, how these play out in our minds, what provokes aesthetic pleasure, curiosity, or some more mysterious attraction. I have used brush pen and water to make multiple images, hoping chance and alchemy would reveal something spectacular and also allow a myriad of ‘impersonators’ to surface.”