Long before he found fame in one of the biggest rock'n' roll bands of all time, Ronnie Wood was an artist. His natural gift for colour, along with an effortless transition between styles, is showcased in his pieces. Lifelong influences from maestros such as Eugène Delacroix, Francisco Goya and El Greco are masterfully synchronised for a performance that is as electrifying as his music.
For Ronnie, who counts Damien Hirst amongst his confidants, art is a conduit for musical experience. The self-described 'noise' his art evokes can be felt in each confident sweep of colour and fearless segue through artistic genres. Akin to his legendary slide guitar technique, Ronnie jumps from one medium to the next without ever missing a beat.
Self-perception is accompanied by intimate renderings of his Rolling Stones bandmates, whose transformation through black-and-white sketches and vibrant portraits reveals the unique facets of their on-stage personas. Ronnie is equally candid in his choice of subject matter; several of the artworks are taken from his 1995 Endangered Species Suite, reflecting a cause he has campaigned for in his private life.
Ronnie Wood was born in 1947 in Middlesex, England, into a musical and artistic family. Before beginning his musical career, he received formal art training at Ealing College of Art, London. Throughout the years, the artist and the musician have been inseparable. As his musical career progressed, Ronnie continued his passion for painting and drawing; his subjects ranging from band members and musicians he admired, knew and sometimes played with, to family and close friends' and of course, the self-portrait. It is as natural to find him with a pencil as with a guitar, drawing portraits of contemporaries and finding inspiration from his musical influences.
Wood has been painting and sketching ever since he was a child and is a passionate and dedicated artist, taking inspiration from artists such as Egon Schiele, Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. Nowadays Wood is adept at creating pieces from landscapes, to portraiture, abstract to architectural; creating his original pieces in charcoals, oils, watercolours, spray paints, oil pastels and acrylics. Varying his style and his medium depending on the feeling or mood he is trying to evoke with his work.