Peckham Expat – now settled nicely in Bromley – Mark McGowan: The Artist Taxi Driver, has an exhibition of new artworks called The Bromley Pele in The Hit or Miss, one of Bromley’s best bars and community hubs, writes Michael Holland.
The exhibition includes portraits of Lady Gaga, Lionel Messi, Pablo Escobar, Bruce Forsyth and a South London gang boss in McGowan’s own inimitable style: ‘I like those old gangsters,’ begins the artist. ‘I find them quite romantic; a lot of them were lovable rogues, weren’t they?’ he ponders before talking about the good qualities of Escobar who became one of the richest men in the world by flooding the planet with cocaine.
There is also an array of pigeon paintings with something to say: ‘I have to keep the sweary pigeon paintings in this box in case they upset people,’ he reveals while surreptitiously sliding one out for me to see.
He quotes from Maya Angelou; praises the internet for allowing all artists to show their work without having to wait for a gallery to take a liking to their art, while admitting that it is also now more competitive. ‘But it’s the spirit of making art that I love. I sell my original paintings for £20 because poor people want to buy art too.’
McGowan enjoys the ‘art exchange’, when a story comes with a painting: He tells a tale about painting a robin on the day his dad died with the words “Too sad to tell you why”. It was sold to someone who said it reminded them of their late father. ‘So I told her the meaning behind it and we had this beautiful interaction about what it means, what it’s about, why I painted it… And sharing that with someone is very special.’
The Artist Taxi Driver is renowned for his somewhat controversial performance art that has always attracted media attention if not always the right kind. They all have a message, they all have something to say about the wrongs in society and he tries to address that. But that is not all he is about, his paintings include lots of animals which attract a different kind of attention: ‘People love the tiny, sweet animals with some poetic text because the world is f**king sh*t, Mike! I do some really dark landscapes and I can’t sell ‘em. I ask people why and I’m told “There’s already too much darkness in the world so I don’t want it on my wall”, and I get that so I paint badgers and foxes and robins to evoke other emotions.’
Mark was keen to tell me of the good work Giles Hinkley does at the Hit or Miss with coffee mornings, free art classes. and pottery painting, while in the evening the bar hosts quizzes, open mic nights, art exhibitions for local artists and live music. They also raise a lot of money for local charities.
During my time with the artist I watched painting after painting get sold, with the naughty pigeon artworks being a firm favourite.
Hit or Miss, Chatterton Road, Bromley, BR2 9QN until January.
