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Stars Come To Life In New
Exhibition At Liverpool's St George's Hall
BY day he is a Council cleaning
manager. But Billy Scott has a secret passion which he is about to share with
the world. The 50 year old Liverpool City Council worker is also a talented
artist, and now up to 200 of his works are set to go on show in the City's
grandest public building, St George's Hall (North Entrance via Heritage Centre).
Simulacra, which opens, on Saturday, 25 November 2017, will feature a host of
famous faces, brought to life in stunning drawings which Billy creates in a shed
at his home in Anfield. The father of 3 has been producing line drawings,
sketched in pencil or graphite, since he was a child.
After attending Anfield Comprehensive, in 1984 at the age of 17 Billy started
his working career on a Youth Training Scheme with the City Council in the then
Central Liverpool Training Workshop, studying signwriting. While there his
artistic flair was spotted by lecturers and he embarked on a 6 month study of
art, building up a portfolio of work to be presented to Liverpool School of Art
and Design. But having turned down the chance to undertake a Degree in
Fine Arts, Billy put studying to 1 side and continued with art as a hobby,
concentrating on portraits of footballers and celebrities. To date, this hobby
has seen the body of artwork grow to include more than 500 drawings, which
remain in his private collection. With around 200 portraits on show, Simulacra
represents 2 years' work in the making and brings together a diverse range of
subjects from various genres of popular culture.
Visitors will go on a journey through sections
from icons and sportsmen and women to TV characters, film, British and
international music, and famous Liverpudlians. Along the way you will be able to
stare in to the brilliantly realised faces of everyone from:- Bill Shankly and
Dixie Dean to Bjork and Bryan Ferry, Salvador Dali and Ken Dodd to Audrey
Hepburn and Adele, and Tom Hardy to Tony Hancock, as well as:- The Beatles,
Cilla, Elvis Costello, Kenny Everett, Leonard Rossiter and the artist's
favourite, David Bowie.
Billy Scott says:- "I've drawn since I was a kid, but just pursued it as a
hobby. I started putting them up on my Facebook page a couple of years ago, and
the reaction I got from people spurred me on to do more. I've sold a few prints
over the years and I've done a few commissions for friends and family. But I
wouldn't describe myself as an artist. The exhibition will be extremely
accessible and is split into different categories. It's only existed in plastic
A4 folders until now, so I can't wait to see all the pictures framed and on the
wall."
St George's Hall general manager Alan Smith adds:- "It's a delight to host
such an accessible exhibition depicting the great and good of the entertainment
and leisure world. It's even more pleasing to introduce the work of local artist
Billy Scott who has produced the drawings over a 35 year span. Everyone thinks
they can draw, copy, and emulate, but here is a real artist whose sheer joy of
sketching subjects he simply likes comes across in this joyous exhibition. It's
a real explosion of quality of art."
The free event will be open daily apart from
24 December to 26 December and on 1 January 2017. Opening hours will be
10am to 5pm, with no admission fee being charged...
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