With his ongoing portrait project “Where Are We Now” Rod Kitson is creating a gallery of visitor portraits painted in real-time at The Other Art Fair.
South-East London based figurative artist Rod Kitson is offering visitors to The Other Art Fair London the chance to sit for a portrait as part of his ongoing project ‘Where Are We Now’.
Rod will be painting portraits live in real time at the fair. Each sitting will take two hours and by the close of the fair he will have created a mini gallery of portraits of visitors to the event, all painted from life, in oil paint.
‘Visitors to the fair can expect to see an artist at work, paintings being made in real time, from life, in oils, and then added to the gallery of past portraits on the wall of my booth. Visitors will be able to interact with me and I am expecting it to be a challenge – in a good way – to make portraits in this environment!
The paintings may be good, they may be bad, but however they turn out they will reflect the circumstances in which they were made.’ – Rod Kitson
Also on display in his booth are many other portraits from a 350-painting series which he has been producing since 2019, that will form an exhibition in June this year called ‘Where Are We Now’ at his South London gallery in a disused retail space. The portraits created at the Fair will also go into this Summer exhibition.
Rod’s overarching vision for ‘Where Are We Now’ is to represent the passing of time through portraiture. Comparing the initial instalments to the most recent show a progression of his artistic practice but also invite questions as to who the subjects are and where they’ve found themselves.
This extends to Kitson’s personal experience of the project, having painted friends – some who remain close and others who are now distant – alongside strangers. These strangers become known by the end of their sittings, through conversation, often intimate and at times becoming emotional.
“Each painting takes two hours and all are from real life, not photographs. They are not dour, silent exchanges. I encourage my sitters to tell me about their lives. I love hearing people’s stories. Sometimes it feels like a therapy session, both for me and them. Somehow the situation seems to open people up to talking, and I’m a good listener. There have been tears, tales of love and loss, of nefarious scrapes and capers. But what’s said in the portrait room, stays in the portrait room…”
If you would like to be painted by Rod, then email isolationart2020@gmail.com or get in touch through his Instagram, Twitter or TikTok @RodKitsonArt
Celebrated for its unexpected take on the traditional art fair experience, The Other Art Fair offers switched-on Londoners the chance to buy artwork directly from over 150 incredible emerging talents. The fair continues its mission to reframe art, and how it is enjoyed; offering a fair that is inclusive, evocative, and inspiring, with a vibrant programme of exciting features, guest exhibitions, immersive installations, live poetry readings and DJs.
The Other Art Fair, March 9-12 at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. Tickets: £9-£12 + booking fee.
Opening Night (March 9): Tickets £25. Book at www.theotherartfair.com