An imaginative storyteller, Johnny Depp has long found freedom through art. The artist's fluent, expressive style is in the vein of the artists we recognise as Neo-Expressionists.

For Depp, there has always been art. Before acting, and before music, art has always been an important outlet for his creativity. With his sketchbook as a permanent fixture in his hand, Depp is constantly sketching or visually conceptualising the world around him. His mind rejects the ordinary, challenges the accepted and oscillates between the pictorial and the lyrical, giving rise to his own multi-layered expressionistic style.

As an actor, Johnny Depp is known for his depth of research and commitment to characterisation. He is an innate student of human behaviour; studying, translating, and harnessing qualities he sees in others to weave into the tapestry of the persona he is creating. This has resulted in laser-sharp powers of observation, and the ability to identify and utilise the subtlest nuance.

He has wielded this skill in his visual art, using it to create a true authenticity and depth in the portraits of those who have become the most important figures in his life; those who have altered the course of his life, providing influence and inspiration. A closer look at his portraiture reveals the qualities that Depp felt his subjects revealed most keenly to him or are his strongest points of recall when revisiting times shared and memories made.

Depp's first Friends & Heroes collection was released in July 2022. It sold out in hours and there was so much interest in his art debut from collectors worldwide. 'I didn't believe it, it didn't make sense to me,' said Depp about the incredible reception to the pieces. 'I'm obviously really touched that people wanted to look a little further outside of my day job as it were, investigating some of the imagery that interests me. I tried to give the pieces a personal touch; sparkles that you saw in their eyes, very simple little things. Hopefully it bought those friends and heroes of mine out in a way that I see them'.

An award-winning actor with a 40-year career in film which has spanned blockbuster movies and art house films, Depp has always been involved with art, although it took him a while to make his visual art public. 'For many years I really held myself strictly to just the day job of the film business,' he explained, 'even though in my heart and forever I've been a musician, and I've always needed to escape into a blank piece of paper, whether it be writing, drawing or painting a blank canvas. Tackling something for the first time with no idea of what's about to commence and what it will come out to be is deeply fulfilling'.

'When I just decided not to limit myself any more and go public with my art, I thought that if people go for it that's great and if not, that's alright too. But the fact that it seemed for the most part to be a very positive reaction to these strange things I have put on canvas. Art has always been part of my life, so for people to actually see this stuff now for the first time, to react the way that they have so positively to whatever I have made is very moving. I am glad they are interested.'