Artist's brush with life inspires work

Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam and John Prescott have all bought artwork from Dudley College lecturer Robert Bowers. He talks to Cathy Spencer.

There is nothing Robert Bowers loves more than a bit of controversy.

"I love people to talk about my artwork, whether they are saying it is good, or bad," says the Dudley College art lecturer.

"In October John Billingham at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery rang me up and asked if I wanted to put on an exhibition.

"There are 56 pieces of artwork and I managed to create them all in just two months.

"I'm working all the time – it feels like 36-hour days because I'm like a tin of condensed milk, I manage to fit everything in to a small space.

"I worked on Christmas Day, New Year's Eve but now I'm pleased with the exhibition."

The title of the exhibition – The Picasso From Dudley – at the St James's Road museum is inspired by Robert's hero Picasso, who refused to be pigeon-holed by critics.

Robert has produced a range of famous artworks, from the sculpture of a man on a motorbike outside the Waitrose store on the Penn Road in Wolverhampton to the Royal Television Award won by John Thaw.

His sculptures can be found in a range of corporate and high-profile collections including Audi, BMW and Porsche.

"I think some people are surprised that one artist can produce such a wide variety of pieces," says Robert.

"I am inspired by everything and it is a nightmare to walk down a street because I see image after image and each one gets locked away in my head, ready to put on canvas. My work has been bought by people in the public eye.

"Mo Mowlam had a painting of an eye, because she was looking forward to her future after she left Northern Ireland.

"John Prescott had a stone sculpture and Tony Blair had a wall sculpture, which was an image of birth, life and death."

Robert, aged 40, was born in Dudley but now lives in Claverley and has been working as a painter and sculptor for the last 10 years after a career switch from being a hairdresser. He lectures in life drawing at Dudley College and has recently been elected an associate member of the prestigious Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.

"The exhibition includes a range of tight sculptures," says Robert.

"This is where I have used women's tights coated in resin, stretched taut across curved, feminine frames.

"It not only celebrates the curves of the female form but the sculptures can be placed outside and when rain falls on them it makes the same sound as when you hear rain falling on a caravan roof.

"It is a wonderful sound which reminds me of some great caravan holidays."

Paintings on display include watercolour and ink line drawings. These are a complete contrast to the glitter and collage spray paint used in the sparkling and striking Pygmalion collection which continues the story of the Greek myth.

"Pygmalion is the story of a man who carved out his ideal woman and it is a story that has inspired films such as My Fair Lady and Pretty Woman," says Robert. "This is a story which inspires everything for me, it is always there in my mind." Robert's use of unusual media continues with the fiery car spray paint and acrylic red love collection which asks for the viewers' interpretation of love. "The greatest love story of all is Romeo and Juliet and their balcony inspired this group of paintings," says Robert.

"As people go through life they have different relationships. With each relationship you learn something about life and yourself and your experiences affect you in your next relationship. Piercing Beauty is a painting modelled on someone who sat for me and I used images off the internet for her features – so the woman in the picture doesn't exist. I make jewellery and so decided to pierce the woman's ear and hang a real earring from it." The exhibition also features the critical glitter-based collection, which looks at the futile glamorisation of war and guns.

"The pictures illustrate how everything that happens in America eventually happens over here, such as how the gun culture has been glamorised," he says

"I have also shown how the American government gamble with life. Even though most of my work is based on love, I work so hard sadly I haven't got time for a relationship. My paintings are my babies."

* The Picasso From Dudley exhibition runs until March 1 at the museum on St James's Road, Dudley which is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Admission is free.