Jonathan Yeo

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Jonathan Yeo
Born (1970-12-18) 18 December 1970
London, England
Nationality British
Field Portraiture

Jonathan Yeo (born London, 18 December 1970[1] ) is a British artist who rose to prominence in the 2000s as a contemporary portraitist, responsible for 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 Los Angeles. He has paintings in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Career and controversy

Yeo taught himself to paint in his early 20s while recovering from Hodgkin's Disease. In the early 2000s, he became known for his lifelike portraits of the rich and famous. Sitters included actor Dennis Hopper, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, the media mogul Rupert Murdoch and British actress Minnie Driver.[citation needed] In 2005, his portrait of Erin O'Connor was widely used to advertise London's National Portrait Gallery.

Commissioned by the House of Commons to paint the three party leaders during the 2001 general election, Yeo's approach upset some backbench MPs.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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.[2] 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.[3][4]

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 After a commission to paint the US president was reportedly awarded and then withdrawn, Yeo took it upon himself to create an image of the President anyway, making a collaged portrait from pornography.[5] The work has led to Yeo exhibiting more collages – mainly portraits and nudes – made the same way.

In June 2008 Yeo 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' 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.[6] 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.[7]

'Porn in the USA' was Yeo's first US solo show. Also staged by Lazarides, it took place in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, 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.[8][9][10]

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.[11][12] Jonathan Yeo was a judge for the 2010 Art Fund Prize for museums. The prize worth £100,000 was awarded to the Ulster Museum.[13]

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,[14] whilst it was reported in April 2011, that the Queen had commissioned Yeo to paint a portrait of David Attenborough for the Royal Collection.[15]

Yeo now has several of his paintings in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.[16]

Critical reception

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.' [17]

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.' [18]

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.' [19]

Yeo has been quoted as saying that his next body of work will explore the world of cosmetic surgery.[20]

Personal life

Yeo is the son of former Conservative Minister Tim Yeo. He is married to the former actress and journalist Shebah Ronay. They live in London and have two daughters.[21]

Portraits

Yeo's portrait subjects include:

Notable exhibitions

Solo shows:

  • You're Only Young Twice, Lazarides, London, 9 December 2011 - 21 January 2012
  • Porn in the USA, Lazarides LA, Beverly Hills, 9 July - 8 August 2010
  • Blue Period, Lazarides, London, 5 June – 11 July 2008
  • Jonathan Yeo's Sketchbook, Eleven, London,17 February – 17 March 2006
  • Proportional Representation, Portcullis House, London, October - December 2001

Group shows:

  • The Urban Artist, Clemens-Sculz-Straβe 87, Hamburg, St. Pauli, 10–14 June 2011
  • National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Lane, 27 May -
  • New Masters, Subliminal Projects, West Hollywood, 7 May - 4 June 2011
  • The Urban Artist, Soho House, Torstrasse, Berlin, 12 March - 1 April 2011
  • Peeping Tom, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, Netherlands, 19 February - 8 May 2011
  • New Art (Formerly Known As New Art), CircleCulture Gallery, Berlin, 21 January – 5 March 2011
  • Christmas Salon, Eleven, London, 10 September 2010 – 22 January 2011
  • Terminal 5, Lazarides, Rathbone Place, London, 8 October – 31 December 2010
  • Hell’s Half Acre, Tunnel 228, London, 12–18 October 2010
  • Le Salon Du Cercle de la Culture a Berlin, CircleCulture Gallery, Berlin, 25 June - 23 July 2010
  • Peeping Tom, Vegas Gallery, London, 18 February - 28 March 2010
  • The Grifters, Lazarides, Rathbone Place, London, 4 December 2009 – 16 January 2010
  • Up Against the Wall, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Athens, 15 October - 14 November 2009
  • Grow Up, Lazarides, Rathbone Place, London, 15 May - 30 June 2009
  • The Outsiders, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, 5 December 2008 – 25 January 2009
  • The Outsiders, 282 Bowery, New York City, 26 September – 17 October 2008
  • Contemporary Displays, National Portrait Gallery, London, 1 July – 30 September 2008
  • Printed Matter, Eleven, London, 21 February – 22 March 2008
  • 3 Portraits, Novas Contemporary Urban Space, 73-81 Southwark Bridge Road, London, 21 January - 1 February 2008
  • Santa’s Ghetto, Bethlehem, 3 – 24 December 2007
  • The Outsiders, Lazarides Gallery, Newcastle, 30 November 2007 – 31 January 2008
  • The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, 15 – 25 November 2007
  • The Naked Portrait, Compton Verney, Warwickshire, 29 September - 9 December 2007
  • The Naked Portrait, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 8 June - 2 September 2007
  • BP Portrait Award, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 31 March - 20 May 2007
  • Contemporary Displays, National Portrait Gallery, London, 15 March – 30 September 2007
  • Works on Paper, Eleven, London, 11 January - 10 February 2007
  • BP Portrait Award, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, London, 25 November 2006 – 3 February 2007
  • 400 Years of British Portraiture, Philip Mould, London, 22 November 2006 – 1 February 2007
  • BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London, 5 June to 17 September 2006
  • Figurations 2, Eleven, London, 27 April - 26 May 2006
  • BP National Portrait Gallery, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 17 December 2005 – 12 March 2006
  • BP Portrait Award, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, 6 October - 27 November 2005
  • Garrick Milne Portrait Prize, Christie's, London, September 2005
  • Figurations 1, Eleven, London, 7 October - 10 November 2005
  • Historical Portraits, Grosvenor House Art Fair, London, June 2005
  • National Portrait Gallery, London, 15 June - 25 September 2005
  • Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 27 February - 26 March 2005
  • BP Portrait Award, Aberdeen Art Gallery, 12 December 2004 to 22 January 2005
  • Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 2 October - 13 November 2004
  • National Portrait Gallery, London, 17 June - 19 September 2004
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2004, London, 1–30 May 2004
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2003, London, May 2003
  • ArtAid 2002, Bloomberg Space, London, October 2002
  • British Portraiture (curator: Philip Mould), Historical Portraits, London, November - December 2001
  • Summer Show, Blains Fine Art (Haunch of Venison since 2001), London, June - July 1999

References

  1. ↑ "Jonathan Yeo, Esq". Debrett's. Retrieved 8 August 2012. 
  2. ↑ Ben Hoyle, ‘Tony Blair is blooming, says painter who couldn’t keep Iraq out of the picture’, The Times, 19 January 2008.(subscription required)
  3. ↑ Tim Willis, 'Jonathan Yeo goes from porn to politics', Evening Standard, 3 February 2010
  4. ↑ Becky Pugh, 'Do we ever like portraits of ourselves?', The Daily Telegraph, 3 February 2010
  5. ↑ ’’Porn Bush’ Angers Republicans’, Der Spiegel, 30 August 2007
  6. ↑ ’Yeo paints himself into a corner’, The Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2008
  7. ↑ ’Hirst buys porn portrait’, BBC Online, 26 September 2008
  8. ↑ 'Sarah Palin Memorialized By Jonathan Yeo's Porn Art', Huffington Post, 2 July 2010
  9. ↑ 'Sarah Palin, Memorialized with Porn Art', Artinfo, 1 July 2010
  10. ↑ 'Go See This: Temporary & Edgy Art Gallery in Beverly Hills Gets a Little Naughty', LAist, 9 July 2010
  11. ↑ 'Artist-as-curator is the latest hip hotel amenity', Ralph Lauren Magazine, Volume II, Issue 2
  12. ↑ 'For the Sake of Hotel Art: Dean Street Townhouse’s Naughty Wallpaper', HotelChatter.com, 16 August 2010
  13. ↑ 'Museums celebrate Art Fund Prize nomination with Love Your Museum Weekend', 10–11 April 2010
  14. ↑ Stephanie Plentl, 'Jonathan Yeo’s sitting targets', The Daily Telegraph, 13 January 2008
  15. ↑ Richard Eden, 'The Queen asks porn artist Jonathan Yeo to draw Sir David Attenborough', The Daily Telegraph, 3 April 2011
  16. ↑ Jonathan Yeo (1970-), Artist, National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  17. ↑ Jonathan Jones, we forget: the war blemish’, The Guardian, 19 January 2008
  18. ↑ Rebecca Rose, 'The Shock of the Nude', The FT Magazine, 13 September 2008
  19. ↑ Richard Brooks, 'Portrait of Lucian Freud from Private Parts', The Sunday Times, 1 June 2008
  20. ↑ Sophie Leris, 'Sins of the flesh: why Jonathan Yeo stopped doing ‘boring’ society portraiture', The Independent on Sunday, 1 June 2008
  21. ↑ "My Secret Life: Jonathan Yeo, artist, 40". The Independent. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2012. 

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