"Guy Portelli from Tonbridge was given the money for a 25% share in Pop Icons, a series of models depicting musicians such as John Lennon and Bob Marley."
He appeared on series 6 of Dragons Den in 2008 and I watched a show the other day where the Dragons caught up with entrepeneurs, he was doing fabulously well, so I decided to do a bit of research into him.
Some of his work is absolutely beautiful and gives me the urge to go out and buy a lot of crafty stuff to start making sculptures and I'm sure thats what art is all about; as well as apreciating it of course!!
"Excess"
Amy Winehouse straddling a broken bottle of champagne. I like the idea behind this more that the sculpture itself, it is all about Amy's excess lifestyle and however beautiful it may appear on the outside, on the inside things are falling apart. This was the opening sculpture at his exhibition.
"Imagine"
John Lennon inspired by Lennon's own self portraits. Simplistic, yet you know who it is straight away.
"Grace Jones"
Uses influences such as futurism and pop art, specifically Andy Warhol. I think this style captures Grace Jones in a very masculine way, yet the smooth sculpting technique allows you to also see that this is a women.
"What You Want"
Spice Girls were a formed pop group, packaged specifically for the teenage market this piece is all about fun and the girls erupt into a sculpture using sweets prom a pick and mix bag. This piece is so fun, I'm not sure though that you would know it was the spice girls, but it is a good piece of influential art.
"Hey Joe"
Taking ideaology from the 1960s and flower power, this sculpture is Henrix, both poet and politican "rising out of the ashes" My favourite of the pop art collection, I am a big fan of this mosaic style combined with aluminum and bronze, it is very cutting. I really would like this on my wall!
See more from the Collection: www.portelli-popicon.co.uk
"Dream Catcher"
A memorial sculpture for Becky Earland. Hillview school, Tonbridge
I absolutely adore this piece, it is so intricate and pretty, I especially like the fact the people at the bottom spell out Becky's name.
I saw him on Dragon's Den too, he struck me as a little odd! His designs are amazing though, and what really stood out for me was his innovative use of materials and craftsmanship to create his sculptures. His process seemed so technical and painstakingly slow, I was amazed at his passion and the lengths he went to to create such masterpieces. His patience definitely pays off though, with gorgeous work as a result. I hope it all works out for him with the dragons!
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