Reepham-raised artist Will Teather has been invited to exhibit in Miami, Florida, USA, as part of a Star Wars-themed project at the Red Dot Miami art fair from 6–10 December.
Will Teather (left) with Ben Moore of Art Wars
Art Wars is an international touring art project, where artists are invited to reinvent stormtrooper helmets as artworks. Previous editions have included helmets adapted by Damian Hirst and Anish Kapoor.
Mr Teather, who has a studio at Muspole Workshops in Norwich, has been asked to paint a 360-degree panorama onto the outside of his stormtrooper helmet.
The artist gained recognition in the art world when, in 2015, he broke the record for the highest sale at London’s prestigious event, The Other Art Fair, with a 360-degree panorama of a Norwich bookshop painted onto a sphere.
These panoramic artworks form part of Mr Teather’s ongoing series, Infinite Perspectives, which “explores new ground in the depiction of space, blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture,” he said. “These are three-dimensional paintings on globes and unusually formed canvases.
“The paintings employ an innovative type of inverted perspective, which gives a 360-degree view of a space, with both the perspective and the representation slyly shifting, depending on which point you look at them. They are meant to describe the journey of the eye as it scans across a space.
“For the panorama I am designing for the stormtrooper helmet, I intend to create a flock of doves – a symbol of peace. It will seem as if the helmet is positioned in the centre of the flock reflecting its surroundings with the birds flying around it.”
This will be the Mr Teather’s first exhibition in Miami. He previously received a scholarship to spend a month in New York in 2012, which led to exhibitions in Manhattan, New York state and Vermont.
He added: “I find the American art world very exciting; there is a real hunger for new ideas that explore untouched avenues within painting.
“I believe that the works genuinely contribute something new to realist painting, through providing a fresh and perhaps more genuine way of describing our perception of space.”
His next UK exhibitions are at Art Fair East in Norwich from 30 Novenber–3 December at St Andrew’s Hall and at Norwich Arts Centre from 8–29 January.
Mr Teather is the visual artist-in-residence for Norwich Arts Centre, and was born in Reepham. His parents still live in the town.
Having trained at Central St Martins and Chelsea College of Art & Design, his paintings have featured in more than 100 gallery exhibitions and publications, showing alongside works by Picasso, Dali and Banksy.
He has received numerous grants, scholarships and awards, besides being a finalist in international art prizes, such as the Celeste Prize and Cork Street Open Exhibition.
Mr Teather has been artist-in-residence for venues including the Arts Students League of New York, Aberdeen Arts Centre and the Anteros Arts Foundation.
His work is held in public and private collections, including the Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aude Gotto Collection and Modern Artists Gallery.
He is currently an associate lecturer at Norwich University of the Arts.
See our earlier story:
Will Teather in his studio with prototypes of Infinite Perspectives, 2014