Jonathan Yeo: Turning Plastic Into Paint

Jonathan Yeo is taking over the art world one generous brush stroke at a time.  Once considered a craft tailored to the elite, Yeo is bringing portraiture to a new generation and many have taken notice. He has painted the portraits of scores for celebrities and public figures including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and actresses Sienna Miller and Nicole Kidman. Many have sat for his pieces, however others have declined  because of their controversial subject matter  such as nudity and pornography.

Nonetheless, nothing stops Yeo from expressing his vision.

“In the 90s, portrait painting was so out of fashion. People would pity you when you said you did that. I just liked painting faces,”Yeo said in an interview with The Guardian.

The Guardian, also reveals his first portrait was of anti-apartheid Activist Trevor Huddleston and he went on to do political portraits across British political party lines. His last portrait was of British Prime Minister, David Cameron and it sold for $320,000. Currently, Yeo commands a minimum of £100,000 or  $150,000 for his paintings.

Yeo’s pieces are as creative as they are controversial. Some of his most famous pieces are his collages. Many artists have collages in their portfolios but I doubt that many have used pornographic magazines to make collages and paintings. Yeo has used porn magazines to create portraits of the Former U.S. President George W. Bush and Playboy Magazine Founder Hugh Hefner and these collages have been sold for  over 46,000 in American dollars.

These portraits were shown in an art show at the Lazarides Gallery in Los Angeles last year. This was his first solo show in the United States. Looking at the painting from afar, no one would know they are a compilation of porn and even up close, a small detail, such as the use of a phallus for a finger, would go unnoticed. He calls the three years he spent doing these portraits “childish” but he credits his concern about the over-sexualized western world and his two daughters as a motivation for these pieces. “I’m probably sounding like a grumpy old man, but you become aware of the creeping pornographication of the mass media when you’re trying to explain the world to them,” said Yeo in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.

Although pornographic magazines would elicit blushing and bashfulness from most people, Yeo isn’t fazed by the magazines and just sees them as just another medium. “You soon get over the content, and start really only looking for very particular skin tones,” said Yeo in a Financial Times interview. “You soon learn which magazines are good for certain areas of the face. Big Butt magazine [a pornographic magazine] is a good one.”

Yeo’s latest collection, “You’re Only Young Twice,” features portraits of figures going through various cosmetic surgeries. He spent over a year sitting in on surgeries and consultations with doctors and their patients. Yeo feels like he has something in common with these surgeons.

“It started off from talking about it with a cosmetic surgeon friend who is a frustrated artist,” explains Yeo.  “From talking to more surgeons, I discovered they are all frustrated artists. Watching them work was riveting. They move like a craftsman making a musical instrument.”

-Ashleigh Atwell