Boy George unveils ‘punky pop art’ collection: ‘I’d love to know what Madonna thinks!’
Exclusive: "It's about the travellers I grew up with" says The Boy of his new project, as he chats to Attitude about fame, Chappell Roan and biopics ("it's being written!")
Boy George has unveiled a blockbuster new art collection meditating on fame, otherness – and Madame X-era Madonna.
The Culture Club frontman’s colourful new show for Castle Fine Art vibrates with energy, fun and humour and features everyone from BG’s childhood hero David Bowie to Drag Race UK‘s Veronica Green. One of the showpieces is The Boy himself: an arrestingly abstract take on his 80s persona.
“I’m quite happy to paint people who don’t like me as well!” George told Attitude with a smirk at a London pre-showing Wednesday. (One of them might well be Madge – but we’re convinced they’ll make up one day!) He also finds inspiration in everyday encounters: “I like watching girls on the Tube putting their make-up on, going home, and painting it!”
“It’s about the human experience” – Boy George
“It’s a celebration – not necessarily of LGBQIA+, but about otherness,” the pop icon explained. “Labels tend to narrow things down. It’s about the human experience.”
The star, known for hits like ‘Karma Chameleon’ and ‘Bow Down Mister’, describes the show’s aesthetic as “punky pop art, focused on pop culture. But also, all of my growing up years, from glam rock to punk rock to electronics. It’s about the travellers I grew up with. Sometimes people no one else knows.”
“My experience with fame has really changed over the years,” he went on. “That’s really reflected in my humour, the art, the provocative nature of it. I want to make people feel something.”
“I’d love to know what Madonna thinks of my picture of her,” the star furthermore smiled of M. “She doesn’t say a lot; doesn’t react a lot to what’s said about her, and that’s kind of cool. It’s probably the best policy. But I think I’ve been very flattering.”
Here, George talks us through the collection in detail, reflects on his changing relationship with fame, and shares details about his hands-off approach to his upcoming biopic!
The subjects have been lovingly depicted. They’re not necessarily naturalistic, beautiful depictions, but you can tell there’s affection.
Boy George: Absolutely. Being weird is wonderful. We live in this really interesting time where everyone’s overstimulated. They can’t cope with what’s coming at them in terms of ideas, different lifestyles, whether it’s gay or trans or whatever, cultural, sexual, spiritual – there’s so much happening. I’ve always enjoyed being in the stink of everything. It’s very Gemini. I love it, I hate it! That comes across in my work as well. There’s celebration, but an irreverence. I would certainly never judge anyone for being different! And people are the most interesting things about life. I’m lucky – I can slip by when I’m in my civvies.
Some of the people in the exhibition have off-duty looks, right?
Some of them. If you go back to the 70s, when I was looming large before I got famous, there were people who would hide when they saw me in the daytime! I wasn’t one of these weekender types. On Dover Street in a nun’s habit… People would dart into the café! One of the reasons I enjoy not dressing up, sometimes, is to make dressing up more fun. As I’ve gotten older, I’m better at turning up done. ‘Stick the eyebrows on’. When I go to things and I’m not done up, I feel like people get disappointed!
How did you approach the work? Like a 9-5 job, or did you just work when you felt inspiration?
I was working on it this morning at, like, 6! I enjoy it – I don’t look at anything I do as work. When people are like, ‘that must be stressful’, I’m like, ‘that’s not helpful’. As I’ve got older, I’ve realised your attitude to what you do can be so damaging. It’s very zen, when I’m painting; I really try to get involved physically in what I’m doing. I’ll have the telly on in the background, but I won’t be watching. There’s this weird process where you’re painting something, when the paint first goes on, it looks awful. Then it dries and you’re like, it looks good now.
Like lyrics and sounds.
Exactly. With lyrics, I try to push myself to say things I haven’t said. It’s the same with art. There’s a simplicity.
Why did you pick that particular era for Madonna?
Madonna now is more interesting. She always was interesting, but from a pop culture view, she’s fascinating. I went to her last show. Also, one of my best friends really fancies her now. Obsessed! I want to celebrate who she is now. There’s something about her. She’s got a paintable face.
You, Bowie, Prince, Madonna all had ups and downs, and I know Prince is no longer with us, but you all had long careers. Why do you think you guys survived where others struggled?
In my case, it’s definitely something to do with the punk rock thing. And obviously, growing up in a working-class family, there wasn’t a lot of money.
Resourcefulness.
It forced creativity. I started to enjoy that as a teen. I liked the idea that I could go to a charity shop and create something.
Reflecting on fame, I know not everyone depicted here is famous…
They thought they were!
Did the work give you food for thought on the current state of play for fame? Do you think society is experiencing a reckoning with it?
We’re back to this thing of overstimulation because of the internet. There’s a pressure on everyone to be more interesting, more revealing of who they are. I always say, a therapist would never say ‘go online and tell everyone your deepest, darkest secrets before you’re ready to share it’. There’s a sense of danger there. Sometimes you post something because you’re angry or haven’t slept and regret it…
You say something. The day, you think something else.
In my case, 10 minutes after I’ve said something. I think: ‘I didn’t actually mean to say that’. It was impulse. I’ve learnt to be more mindful about the way I speak to people I love, people I work with. I’m conscious. Especially when moving into different areas of culture as well. … There are cliches about fame, how people handle it. No one’s really worked that out yet. I get more fun out of being me now. I’ve removed a lot the anxiety I used to carry. When you express yourself in a loving, conscious way, the reactions are totally different. Someone like me, I have a reputation, which most of the time has nothing to do with who I am, but who I was in the past. I believe people can be redeemed.
Chappell Roan is 26. You were 22 when you shot to fame. Do you see any parallels between her journey and yours?
When you speak out, you are helping people, in a strange way. I never really knew that. I didn’t know people were being affected. ‘You doing this made me feel stronger and more confident.’ It’s great somebody is out there – she’s a gay woman, right? – which, again, it’s difficult to be a gay woman in the world, in the public eye.
Are you able to give us any details about the biopic?
I know it’s being written. The idea sounds like real fun, if they do what they say they’re going to do. I hate those people who go on Graham Norton and won’t say anything – part of me wants to tell you everything!
Given this show, are you interested in contributing to the visuals, the posters, the look of the film?
Yes and no. One of the things that’s changed about me is, when someone does something, I want to let them do it. I used to be such a control freak. That’s the one thing me, Prince, Madonna and so on had in common – control issues about how things are done. As I get older, I think, I don’t want to get involved in that. It’s good to let people do their thing. Also, if you want to get it done your way, do it in a gracious, rather than an angry way.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity