The man behind the Gorillaz artwork has produced an exclusive piece of art for a new exhibition at Manchester's Contact Theatre.
Jamie Hewlett, creator of Gorillaz, Tank Girl, and Monkey: Journey to the West art fame, will unveil the paintings documenting a life changing trip to Bangladesh.
The free show on Thursday organised by Oxfam in collaboration with Contact features nine other paintings of Hewlett’s trip to Asia.
Jamie accompanied the international development charity to Char Atra, which was struck by Cyclone Aila, in 2009.
Inspired by Manchester and Bangladesh, this unique piece of art will be auctioned off alongside the one-off large scale exhibition prints on Thursday 23rd September.
Jamie said: “Char Atra is such an idyllic place and it’s horrific to think of it being simply washed away.
“I wanted my paintings to be optimistic as well as realistic and I wanted to show what a beautiful place it is.
“I hope by concentrating on the people and their every day lives that I have given people here in Britain something they can relate to.”
Jamie met people trying to raise their homes above flood levels, parents who have lost children and pupils who swim to school with books on their heads.
The gallery will host screenings of climate change films and discussions along with artistic evenings and animation workshops.
Serena Tramonti from Oxfam Campaigns in the North of England said: “We hope this exhibition will not only inspire art lovers with Jamie’s beautiful paintings, but also push everyone to act to protect our planet and its people.
“Natural disasters are on the increase because of climate change- visitors can take action by pushing Chris Hulne the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to achieve a fair deal for climate change for poor countries.”
Limited edition prints of Jamie’s paintings can also be purchased online to support Oxfam’s River Basin programme at www.oxfam.org.uk/jamiehewlett.
Almost £40,000 has been raised and we hope the Manchester show will boost this.
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