Robbie Williams and interior designer Ed Godrich presented 14 collaborative black-and-white paintings at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries in London in May 2022.
The exhibition marked the first public presentation devoted to their joint studio practice. One work, Beverly, was also offered for sale, making it the first of their collaborations to enter an auction.
A practice developed through collaboration
Williams and Godrich described painting as a shared process in which they entered a meditative, concentrated state. Their work developed over several years before being moved from the studio into a gallery setting.
The pair treated art and music as related forms of emotional support. Williams described both as capable of offering company in moments of loneliness and changing the way a person feels. This emphasis placed the paintings within a personal creative practice rather than presenting them simply as an extension of a music career.
The works were predominantly black and white, giving the exhibition a visual identity distinct from the colour and spectacle usually associated with Williams’s public image.
From collecting to curating
Alongside their own exhibition, Williams and Godrich served as guest curators for a Sotheby’s contemporary sale. Their selection included works associated with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Christo, Banksy, Damien Hirst, Henry Hudson and Grayson Perry.
This curatorial role connected their painting practice with Williams’s long-standing interest in contemporary art. He had previously identified Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock among the artists who influenced his thinking about making images.
Godrich brought a different visual background to the collaboration through more than two decades of work in interior design. The partnership combined his experience of space, material and composition with Williams’s approach to performance and emotional expression.
The exhibition ran from 13 to 25 May 2022. Stripped of the surrounding celebrity coverage, it represented a straightforward transition from private collaborative work to public artistic presentation.