Seychellois artist Justin Reddy’s new exhibition at the Carrefour des Arts in the capital Victoria is drawing substantial attention for works that are inspired by Country and Western music artists, in which Reddy, a mixed-media artist, used various bright colours to bring their portraits to life.
“I like to collect items such as stamps and coins or discarded objects like plastic bottle tops or empty bottles, items that fascinate me, or just capture my attention because I don’t understand them and I work with those. I also have a collection of artists who I love their music, so I thought I would honour them in this way. I wanted to use a lot of colour, I didn’t want to mix media this time, » explained Reddy.
He painted artists that he admires and whose music he loves, like Dolly Parton, Nana Mouskouri, Joanne Campbell, Ray Charles as well as Willy Nelson.
Reddy, who completed his studies in Greece, described his childhood on the farm in Seychelles influenced and moulded by Country and Western music playing on the radio.
« I grew up on a farm, and at the time we didn’t have TV, but we did have a radio. I heard a lot of Country and Western music on the radio. They were songs that touched me a lot, » he recalled.
Reddy says that his goal for this year is to build a gallery to display all of his artwork.
« I still have a lot of artworks that I created since my school days. There’s still a lot of work to do, we’ve already submitted the plan. We expect to complete it by the end of this year, » he added.
The exhibition « Spotlight on Country and Western Music Artists » at the Carrefour des Arts will continue until the end of February, where his paintings are for sale.