| Jonathan Yeo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 December 1970 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Field | Portraiture |
Jonathan Yeo (born London, 18 December 1970) is a British artist who rose to prominence in the 2000s as a contemporary portraitist, responsible for iconic paintings of Nicole Kidman, Dennis Hopper, Prince Philip, Erin O'Connor, Tony Blair, and David Cameron among his sitters. His unauthorised 2007 portrait of George W Bush, created from cuttings of pornographic magazines brought him worldwide notoriety, and was shown in London, New York and LA. He is married to the former actress and journalist Shebah Ronay and they have two daughters.
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The son of former Conservative Minister Tim Yeo, Jonathan Yeo taught himself to paint in his early 20s while recovering from Hodgkin's Disease. In the early 2000s, he became best known for his lifelike portraits of the rich and famous. Sitters included actor Dennis Hopper, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, Saville Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, the media mogul Rupert Murdoch and British actress Minnie Driver. In 2005, his portrait of Erin O’Connor was widely used to advertise the National Portrait Gallery. In 2006, the National Portrait Gallery acquired Yeo’s portrait of Rupert Murdoch for its permanent collection.
Commissioned by the House of Commons to paint the three party leaders during the 2001 general election, Yeo's approach upset some backbench MPs. His triptych of Tony Blair, William Hague, and Charles Kennedy, Proportional Representation, was made up of canvases that were sized according to the subjects’ popularity. In 2003 he caused uproar at the highly conservative Royal Society of Portrait Painters by unveiling a full-frontal double nude of Ivan Massow, the entrepreneur and vocal patron of the arts.
In January 2008 Yeo's official portrait of former Prime Minister Tony Blair was unveiled and struck a public chord with its Iraq war reference. It showed an older and wearier-looking Blair wearing a dazzling red poppy - a recognisable symbol of war remembrance for the British.[1] Maintaining the political subjects that have featured throughout his work, in 2009, Yeo unveiled a portrait of David Cameron, which was later sold in an auction in 2010 for £200,000.[2][3]
Yeo is perhaps best known internationally for his portrayal of George W Bush. After a commission to paint the US president was reportedly awarded and then withdrawn, Yeo took it upon himself to create an image of the President anyway, making a collaged portrait from pornography.[4] The work has led to Yeo exhibiting more collages – mainly portraits and nudes – made the same way.
In June 2008 he had a sell out show at Lazarides Gallery, owned by Steve Lazarides, a specialist dealer in outsider and street art, well known for launching Banksy’s career. The show 'Blue Period' included the Bush porn portrait as well as new collages of Hugh Hefner and Lucian Freud.
It was reported that the George Bush collage was seized by Israeli customs on the way to the Banksy curated 'Santa's Ghetto' exhibition in Bethlehem in December 2007.[5] Most recently it was widely reported that his collage of Paris Hilton, made the same way, was bought from an exhibition in New York by the British artist Damien Hirst.[6]
'Porn in the USA' was Yeo's first US solo-show, also staged by Lazarides, it took place in Beverly Hills, LA, and was met by critical acclaim. Following on from the subversive success of 'Bush' (2007), this exhibition housed portraits of Tiger Woods, Sarah Palin and Hugh Hefner; all fashioned from pornographic collage cutouts.[7][8][9]
Yeo is art consultant at Soho House group internationally, has co-curated the clubs worldwide, and designed the now notorious, subtly pornographic wallpaper that adorns many of its walls.[10][11] Jonathan Yeo was a judge for the 2010 Art Fund Prize for museums. The other judges included Kirsty Young (Chairman), Kathy Gee, Professor A C Grayling, Professor Steve Jones, Sally Osman and Lars Tharp. The prize worth £100,000 was awarded to the Ulster Museum.[12]
Yeo had two works involved in the recent dispute over the sale of the late Dennis Hopper's art collection. He was one of only three artists to have been commissioned by the late Dennis Hopper to paint his portrait; Hopper described his work as 'timeless and exquisite'. Two other artists commissioned to paint Hopper include Andy Warhol and Julian Schnabel.
Famous sitters continue to commission Yeo to paint their portraits, including Prince Philip and Nicole Kidman,[13] whilst it was reported in April 2011, that the Queen had commissioned Yeo to paint a portrait of David Attenborough for the Royal Collection.[14] The National Portrait Gallery commissioned a portrait of Sir Michael Parkinson by Jonathan Yeo, to sit within its permanent collection; it was unveiled on 27 May 2011.[15]
In his Guardian review of the Blair portrait, Jonathan Jones accuses Yeo and his subject of conspiring to manipulate the image of the former PM, claiming that, 'Blair is a tacit co-conspirator who walked in wearing the poppy, then sat as bleak as he looks here, in invitation to the artist to home in on that tell-tale paper flower.' [16]
Some commentators have suggested that, by making portraits and other work which poke fun at the politicians and celebrities they depict, he risks alienating the very people whom he used to paint very successfully. NPG director Sandy Nairne was reported as being concerned about Yeo pushing the porn collage theme too far saying 'the Bush collage was a riposte. And there was a certain logic in that riposte. What is more puzzling is what happens after that.' [17]
Other critics and commentators have been more supportive, however, Charles Saumarez-Smith, former Director of the National Gallery and Royal Academy, said of the porn-collage of Lucian Freud, 'Yeo is the young rising star of portraiture and Freud is the acknowledged master. It’s a homage that has its tradition in the past. Painters would quite often do portraits of other artists they admired. Admittedly this one of Freud is rather different as Yeo has used this other dimension – people’s private parts.' [18]
Yeo has been quoted as saying that his next body of work will explore the world of cosmetic surgery.[19]
Yeo's portrait subjects include:
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