A softly spoken Welshman sheepishly admits that he can paint a bit. He shows his paintings - a bit of Picasso here, a milky watercolour there - to a gallery. Apart from an interesting landscape redolent perhaps of his childhood - a farmhouse stands out against a blood red sky - there's not much to distinguish this from the amateur fare usually seen at all-encompassing open exhibitions in village halls. Apart from the scrawl along the bottom. It says Anthony Hopkins.
Hopkins, it transpires, has forthcoming exhibitions of his art in London and Edinburgh. The shows haven't opened yet and only a few images of his works have sneaked on to the internet, so it's a bit mean to write off the paintings of a man who won an Oscar for his chilling portrayal of the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter. But it is very, very unlikely that Gallery 27 in London or The Studio in Edinburgh would have programmed their respective exhibitions if it hadn't been for that scrawl along the bottom. And maybe it doesn't matter. Sure, the art is passable at best, but so, in a sense, is Tracey Emin's work in paint and drawing. And just like that famous British artist, you don't go to these exhibitions to be wowed by incredible technique. You go in the hope of peeking behind the public persona of the actor and understanding what he's really like.
Hopkins, of course, isn't the first actor or musician to bare his soul through art. It's usually an act of spectacular folly: Bob Dylan's excellent memoir, Chronicles, may argue that making art has been important to him since childhood, but sadly that doesn't make the work much cop. A recent Dylan exhibition veered from seemingly dashed-off Picasso and Matisse clones to hilariously literal watercolours. Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Pete Doherty, David Bowie and many more have all dabbled, generally unsuccessfully, in painting that usually looks like the visual accompaniment to a poor lyric.
Nobody, then, would ever see this work if its creator wasn't already famous. John Squire from The Stone Roses is perhaps the only musician of recent times who can really argue that his painting and sculpture stands apart from his famous band's two albums. And even he produced a piece recently that featured the words: "I have no desire to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses".
So for most famous actors and musicians, art is just another way to underline to themselves and their fans how interesting, important and creative they are. But there's one man who is proving that creative skills can be transferable. When the American fashion director Tom Ford, essentially responsible for making Gucci the label it is today, decided he'd like to have a go at film directing, most people suppressed a laugh. But Ford wasn't joking: he spent $7 million (Dh25.7m) of his own money making a movie that initially struggled for a distributor. But eventually the Weinstein Company picked it up. A Single Man got its worldwide release, won a Golden Globe and is now tipped for Oscar success.
Talent, eh? Disgusting, isn't it? If Ford decides to take up painting, he'll probably be an artist worth watching, too. But Ford is exceptional - not least because he was only famous in certain circles for his designs and fashion acumen. The circles, indeed, of actors and musicians. And whatever the reviews say, these people will continue to paint. Misguided or not, there's a certain narcissism that propels a Dylan or a Hopkins to the top in their preferred fields. And with that narcissism clearly comes a misguided belief that it's their creativity as a whole rather than their songwriting or acting skills that people are fascinated by.
Us? We blame the galleries. An exhibition by a famous actor or musician is box-office gold, and don't they know it.
* Ben East
Sweet%20Tooth
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The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Company%20profile
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Company%20Profile
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
RACE CARD AND SELECTIONS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
The National selections
5pm: RB Hot Spot
5.30pm: Dahess D’Arabie
6pm: Taamol
6.30pm: Rmmas
7pm: RB Seqondtonone
7.30pm: AF Mouthirah
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
