Art works in which he has used his own blood are to be unveiled tonight (Monday) at a London exhibition being staged by Pete Doherty (pictured), the Babyshambles front man, who used to live in a cottage on the Savernake estate and perform in a Marlborough pub
The 34-year-old pop performer, poet and actor, has his work on show in an exhibition entitled Blood, Gold and Oil at Electric D Art Gallery, in Battersea, South London, which runs until December 20.
He is one of several artists featured in the show, promoted by Marlborough taxi firm owner and town councillor Justin Cook, which explores unconventional techniques and the use of different materials.
And in one of his most controversial pieces entitled Heartstopper, Doherty has produced a collage of personal effects during a particularity turbulent period in his life, which has included being arrested – and jailed – for possessing cocaine, heroin and cannabis.
Police reports, drugs paraphernalia and Doherty’s own hospital tag after he experienced cardiac arrest following a drugs overdose all litter the canvas in a chaotic ensemble.
He explained: “Almost unfailingly, I get an enormous amount of joy from having completed a piece, the finished result is something to look at and cherish, like writing a song lyric, carving something, anything made out of nothing you can call your own, something that’s been worth doing.
“That’s my ambition, my aim really, to be productive and to grow, 99 per cent inspiration, one per cent blood.”
The man behind the exhibition is taxi firm owner and Conservative town councillor Justin Cook, to whom Doherty sold several of his works in 2009 in a bid to clear his outstanding taxi account.
And since then Mr Cook has established his own a thriving art business.
“I think the works I have from Doherty are the best conceptual work he has ever created and as such it’s time to show the outside world,” Mr Cook told Marlborough News Online.
“The exhibition contains other interesting artists and different techniques, whether it is DNA on canvas or gold leaf on steel, it promises to be a unique and special show”.
Mr Cook, who is the curator of the exhibition, will be operating his taxi business as an installation within the show.
Other featured artists include Matthew Broussard, an American now living in Italy, who expresses his art in sculptures, paintings and installations using a wide variety of materials and techniques.
“Growing up in Texas there was precious little grandiose scenery or epic poetry to be found,” he said. “But the basic questions of humanity – of pain and faith, ambition and doubt – were all present.”
Paintings in gold leaf on steel, paintings on old road signs and old bed sheets all feature in Broussard’s work.