Lewis Crowley, a 21-year-old self-taught artist, who is originally from Drimoleague but now lives and works in Bantry, has created 101 original artworks depicting each and every one of the songs that the British band, Radiohead, has released on their nine albums. The exhibition, Daydreaming – A Portrait of Radiohead, will debut at Ma Murphy’s Bar at New Street in Bantry on July 16th.
Lewis’ first solo exhibition is likely to draw similarly ardent Radiohead fans to himself who will, no doubt, be delighted to know that the paintings are for sale and are in the same numerical sequence as the songs were recorded. The exhibition will be running in tandem with this year’s West Cork Literary Festival, which started out as a fringe event 27 years ago and has been a lightning rod for the visual arts too.
‘Radiohead’s music has always made me feel deeply restless, haunted, uplifted, and undone,’ Lewis told The Southern Star. ‘This exhibition is a way of translating those feelings into paint, colour, and form, making each piece a kind of echo.’
Artist Lewis Crowley.
Daydreaming explores themes of alienation, love and inner unrest, all filtered through his unique lens. The exhibition has already been described as ‘a vivid, emotional diary’ told through a shared love of music and art.
What is even more unusual about this exhibition is that the one-day event, which runs from midday until 8pm, and promises to be every bit as ethereal as Radiohead’s music. This may be his first exhibition, but Lewis described the level of interest expressed in his work, so far, as being ‘game changing.’
