A Julian Friers portrait exhibition of people in the Irish music business opens this evening from 7pm at the London Street Gallery, L'Derry. The 'Rhythm and Hues' exhibition runs until the 5th of October and features 16 individuals including Paddy Glasgow, Soak, Andrew Ferris, Dave Fanning, Terri Hooley and many more.
The renowned artist is mainly recognised for his landscape and wildlife paintings, but cites 2007's A Little Solidarity Festival as an inspiration for the specially commissioned City of Culture 2013 exhibition.
“My imagination was fired by the vibrancy of new musical creativity and the rejection of rivalry amongst performers,” he explained. “The Solidarity weekend of 2007 has almost moved into the folklore of local music here. It seemed to capture a real sense of the vibrancy of new musical creativity and the rejection of rivalry among performers - it was well named.
Julian also has a close connection to the local music scene through his sons; Rory from And So I Watch You From Afar and Ewen from Axis Of.