Better late than never...
You'll have seen on Paul's socials that he has been busy as usual, specifically painting his 250th mural (check it out here: my latest mural). However, for three magical weeks in February 2024, he had his very own exhibition, hosted by The Royal Liver Building.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended the press launch evening and the exhibition throughout its time being open. It was really busy but we got it over the line with minutes to spare, thanks in no small part to the hard work of @lauramccannphotos. During the 3 weeks, over 8,000 visitors came to wander around Liverpool's very first street art exhibition and to chat to Paul in person.
There was live painting over the 3 weeks. Paul created a mural that will now be permanently on display to the public in The Liver Building. The artwork is inspired by a visit to the Liver Building archives, which recorded the construction of the landmark. The painting is dedicated to the unsung heroes - the men who built it with their own hands.
As well as the overwhelming number of visitors, there were art classes led by Paul for both children and adults. It was Paul's first time running a class and he was amazed by the level of art talent amongst the students, Paul's Heart Hands Peace mural was the subject and the participants were more than up to the task. Thank you to all the attendees, it was lovely to meet you all and I hope you're happy with your masterpieces.
Along with everything else on offer at the exhibition, Paul painted two canvas murals during the exhibition (the Tiger and the Gorilla). One was offered in a raffle and the other was auctioned (courtesy of Adam Partridge Auctioneers) with every single penny raised going to charity. An impressive £4360 was donated to Alderhey Children's Charity and Whitechapel Centre. Thank you again to everyone who bought tickets and took part in the auction, Paul is really proud of what was achieved for two local & important charities.
Thank you to ITV and Andy Bonner for coming to interview Paul about the exhibition in the run. You can watch the interview here: ITV interview
Thanks to the Liverpool Echo, Danny Haygarth and Colin Lane for the great coverage of the exhibition.
You can read the article here.
Thanks again to everyone who attended. Thanks especially to the Liver Building for being the perfect hosts and really supporting the whole event from start to finish. Will there be another one? There definitely will be but not for a while yet. What's seldom is special, but more honestly, an exhibition is a hell of a lot of work! :)
Special thanks to:
Ian and Laura for their patience and mucking in to help- Royal Liver Building
Scruffy Murphy's for the bar
Royal Liver Suite for the canapes
Claire Bryan of Radio Merseyside for hosting the Q&A
Anyone we may have forgotten, please let me know if I have - it's a pure oversight and apologies for this in advance!
Here is a year review of Paul Curtis' work in 2023. This year's tally was:
· 18 outdoor murals
· 17 interior murals
· 2 statues
· 2 marathons (1 PB (Manchester 3:04:20 🥳))
2023 was a good year with quite a few big'uns, some interesting projects and opportunities to paint beyond Merseyside in different places around the UK.
The year kicked off with some indoor murals that allowed for some shelter from the January weather! A 2-part mural for Scruffy Murphy's bar (in association with Jack Daniel's) capturing the deep south and paying tribute to BB King and Johnny Cash. This was followed by a huge 18m long mural at Anfield Road Primary School depicteding the famous Rainhill Trials (famously won by Stephenson's Rocket). The mural was painted in the style of Lowry, with nods to some of his most famous work and containing 1072 stick men!
Indoor work continued into February with a large exaggerated depiction of an Audi A3 rally car at Magnet Autos in Bootle. It was then back to Anfield Road Primary to paint another 18m epic. This time it was a New York theme, celebrating its importance as a dock but in 1930s imagery - including an impressive King Kong.
Springtime saw Paul Curtis Artwork become Paul Curtis Artwork LTD, perhaps not the most interesting news for some, but a big milestone for Paul. He also created a floral mural for the cocktail terrace at Mercure Atlantic Tower Hotel, overlooking The Liver Building. He also ended up down in Ipswich to paint a mural of Bobby Robson leading Ipswich Town to FA Cup victory in 1978. He also did a great historical mural for Pleasant Street School: a roman stood before the Colosseum (this added to the previous murals: The Great Fire of London, Egypt and Mersey Ferry which were all painted in 2022).
As summer approached, Liverpool was gearing up for the Eurovision Song Contest. The University of Liverpool commissioned Paul to paint a street art piece to give hope for world peace. The mural, consisting of the globe, doves and a heart in hands, takes pride of place on the campus. This was followed by a major LFC mural, celebrating the captain of the women's team, Missy Bo Kearns, holding aloft the FA Women’s Super League Trophy in 2022.
June saw Paul returning to Scruffy Murphy's to paint another pair of murals. This time it was Elvis Presley and woman boxer, Katie Taylor who were being given the tribute treatment. There was also a first for Paul as he was invited to do a live painting by Mallorcan arts collective, Literatua Expandida, at the Innside Melia Hotel. A large-scale masterpiece was created in less than 4-hours!
July saw Paul head to Bradford City FC for a collaboration to paint a huge cock (the mascot for Bradford is a male chicken 😁). This massive bantam stands proud outside the stadium and is a real impact piece! He went straight to another football club, this time Ashville F.C in Wallasey. The founder, John Dennett, MBE, was celebrated in a large-scale piece on the side of the club house.
August was quite emotional. Paul lost his good friend, Ben Harrison. Ben was a really good man who really helped Paul in his goal to be become an Artist. Ben organised 19 different Tranmere Rovers murals for Paul to paint. He will be sadly missed by many. There was also a mural for Olivia Pratt-Korbel (the 9 year old girl tragically shot dead by a masked gunman) at her School, St Margaret Mary's. There was an unusual large mural on a bridge at the Tawd Valley in Skelmersdale. The underwater fish theme meant that Paul literally had to paint whilst standing in a river!
September was a good month seeing Paul return to Jamaica Street in the Baltic Triangle. Paul painted a striking mural to Liverpool poet, Levi Tefari. He also took a trip to Basildon to paint some number statues with 4 other artists from all over the UK, in a project that sought to raise awareness about MPN10 (a blood cancer disease).
The good projects continued into October, with Paul painting 2 street art murals that gained alot of media interest. The first was a a dual portrait of Katerina Johnson-Thompson (KJT) & Jack Hunter-Spivey, both Olympians and world champions in their respective sports, painted at St Marks in Halewood. The second was a portrait of Liverpool FC's legendary manager, Bill Shankly, painted in collaboration with Bill's granddaughter and Hotel Tia. Paul was also awarded an Alumni Award by the University of Liverpool for the positive impact he has made to the city.
Two more important murals would follow before the year was out. One was a massive street art piece, called, Skills for Life, in Wallasey in association with the UK Scouts Association. The second was a street art portrait of Paul McCartney near Abbey Road bar in Liverpool.
As part of the @eurovision being held in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine, @livuni commissioned me to paint this mural.
We are celebrating world unity, love and peace.
Eurovision will take place in the Liverpool city centre at the M&S bank arena on 9th to the 13th of May.
Look out for the construction video to follow soon.
This mural is located on the university of Liverpool campus at the guild of students base.
