Boy George on ‘taking ownership’ of criticism by putting it in his artwork
By Hannah Roberts, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Boy George has said he takes “ownership” of criticism and hostility by pouring it into his artwork.
The former Voice judge, who found fame as the lead singer of new wave band Culture Club, has explored identity, overcoming fear of judgment, and exhibitionism as a “double-edged sword”, in his new mixed media project, Punky Doodle Dandies.
The collection is comprised of brightly coloured punk-inspired twin portraits that show one figure smiling and the other frowning.
Also included is a matching pair of art-worked poems, incorporated in the work as Boy George expresses himself “much better with lyrics”.
The 64-year-old told the PA news agency: “My work is about telling people to be who they want to be.”
He added: “The poetry (in the collection) reflects that dichotomy between exhibitionism and fear, because exhibitionism is a double-edged sword.
“On the one hand, you want people to look at you and notice you. On the other hand, you don’t want them to attack you, you’re sort of almost facilitating a little bit of hostility.
“But at the same time, you go, ‘Well, you don’t have to hit me, though’. So it’s always that balance. And I think the poems are about ‘Well I’m glad you’re annoyed, but that’s on you.’
“I feel like we live in this world now where everyone’s so frightened to have an opinion, because if you say anything that someone else doesn’t agree with, we now have this unprecedented access to each other, where you can go, ‘I hate you’ and so a lot of my work is about playing with that conversation.
“This particular collection is like ‘Ah, I know what I want to say now’.”
Asked how his response to criticism has changed through the years, he said: “I still deal with it in the same way, but I put it into my work.”
The singer said one of his other paintings, Be Your Own Best Friend, came about as a result of a “hateful” review he “got in Scotland a year ago”.
“That was scathing, hateful, said I had no talent, I couldn’t sing, it was just awful, and it really ruined my Christmas,” he said.
“And then I thought, right, I’m just going to make a painting. And then I made a song about it. ‘Where are all the people that hate me? I ain’t seen much of them lately. I got a kiss from the Glasgow witch…’
“You can criticise somebody for going out there and doing what they do, but it shouldn’t stop you from doing what you do.
“And if you can turn that hostility into… I mean, that’s what love songs are. ‘You broke my heart. Do you really want to hurt me?’ There’s endless songs about that.
“What you do with that is you take ownership of that, and you write, you make something out of it, and that feels like revenge.”
Last year the artist released a collection called Fame which explored the music star’s relationship with stardom, depicting some of the musicians who have inspired him through the years – Madonna, David Bowie and Prince.
Punky Doodle Dandies is available at Castle Fine Art galleries across the UK and worldwide at castlefineart.com.
