Tsuktiben Jamir
007 James Bond Star Pierce Brosnan to Host His First Solo Exhibition in LA. The name Pierce Brosnan has become synonymous with James Bond. Pierce Brendan Brosnan, an Irish actor and producer, was born on May 16, 1953. Pierce is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond, appearing in four films between 1995 and 2002. Many know him as an actor, but very few know that he also has a passion for painting.
Pierce is having his first solo art exhibition, which will open to the public from 14th– 21st May 2023 at 434 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. The audience will witness this profoundly personal and vulnerable side of Pierce for the first time. The exhibition, titled ‘So Many Dreams,’ is a selection of the actor’s paintings and sketches from the 1980s to the present.
However, painting isn’t a hobby that Pierce picked up recently. Pierce says that the LA painters of the early 1980s significantly affected him when he first arrived in the country. He even went out and bought art supplies in the hopes of painting, but they ultimately ended up in the cupboard. It wasn’t until 1987 that Brosnan’s late wife, Australian actor Cassandra Harris, received the devastating news that she had ovarian cancer—that he dusted off his painting supplies and started using the art form as a therapeutic outlet for Harris and himself.
Courtesy: The Indian Express.
“One night, I got up, and I just started painting. I started painting with my fingers,” Pierce said, remembering how he used to paint while Harris was recovering from chemotherapy. Sadly, she passed away in 1991, but the actor kept that first painting, ‘One Dark Night,’ included in the exhibition.
One can practically sense Brosnan’s frustrations and relief in the painting, as primary colours sprawl across a smeared black painted canvas. “I went to the canvas to explore that dark rage, that kind of fractured pain that I had. But the colour came out. And so the colour balance to whatever that inner life was,” he said.
Curated by himself and his wife, Keely Shaye Brosnan, the exhibition features 50 of Pierce’s paintings, including portraits, expansive outdoor landscapes, and highly inventive abstract figures. Scripts by Pierce jammed with sketches, silkscreen and lithograph prints, and 100 free-flowing drawings that cover a complete gallery wall are also on the show. A heartfelt short film created by Brosnan’s 26-year-old son, Dylan, that details the backdrop of his father’s creative process as a painter is included in the vast collection.
Drawings are often the first step of a Brosnan piece. He routinely makes business calls, and while on the line, he writes down sketches in his sketchbooks, many of which provide the basis for later paintings. His themes include everything from wholly abstract to imaginary human portraits to landscapes. Although his artwork frequently features vivid colours, he claims he doesn’t want to classify his collection.
Courtesy: Pierce Brosnan.
“Someone else can categorize it. It’s not up to me to define it. It’s the audience. It’s they who want to criticize or celebrate the work,” Pierce said.
Pierce attributes his motivation and courage to publicly share his art to his wife, journalist and documentarian Keely Shaye Brosnan. Thanks to Keely’s encouragement and the perfect timing of hosting it around the actor’s 70th birthday on 16th May, Pierce’s first solo exhibition honours his achievements and the aspirations he has realised throughout his life. He considers it as a birthday present for himself.
