Lee Buccilli: Leeds United's artist in residence turns attention to legends of music
Lee Buccilli has been artist in residence at Leeds United for the past two years, but he is changing direction with a collection of work inspired by some of the world’s iconic musicians.
The impressive result is over a dozen portraits of artists looking electric, live on stage. One of the most striking is a close up portrait of John Lennon, which Lee painted more loosely with bigger brushes.
“That was quite fun to paint, “ he said. “Close up it looks like a map, a map of blues.”
In one portrait nearly 1m tall, which can be seen at the Melodie 71 cafe bar in Kirkstall, there’s the famous jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker.
David Byrne, who fronted one of the most critically acclaimed groups of the 1980s, Talking Heads, is pictured, as is Grace Jones, the boundary-pushing model, singer, and actor.
Buccilli paints in enamel on aluminium, a technique he picked up years ago when he started work as a sign painter for Tetley's and Ansell's breweries.
His only previous brush with art was when he was a squaddie painting Army trucks and Landrovers, green and black.
In recent years he has become known for his portraits of sporting heroes from Leeds United to the present day, along with images of the ground – and after the club got promoted – celebratory scenes. He also collaborates with other artists, like Nicolas Dixon – last year the pair was commissioned to transform a summerhouse in Calverley with Leeds United murals.
But for his latest project, Gig Lit, he chose to capture 15 outstanding musicians and bands “in their natural habitat, performing live and beautifully stage lit”.
Lee said: "If go into the Eddie Gray suite (at Leeds United’s ground) there’s eight large portraits of Eddie throughout his life and career, I did those and 10 for the newly refurbished Chairman’s lounge.
"I don’t just want to be seen as the guy who did Leeds United paintings.
"I love music and going to gigs, and these paintings are all in enamel paints of iconic bands and musicians in that beautiful gig lighting.
"They are not just people I like. I wanted it to be iconic – I didn’t want to go down the cheese road.
“On opening night it was packed. People loved it.”
Lee, who studied a Fine Art degree at Leeds Beckett University at the age of 39, says he likes working in enamel, an oil-based paint which is much “slippier” than traditional oil paint and which can dry in a day. To him painting on canvas “feels like fighting against the grain”.
"The one thing that makes a fantastic portrait is light,” he says. “If you are doing a musician playing live, light is so important. I’m very methodical.
"I start with the foundations, the footings, with the darkest colours, and then I start to build up the highlights – when you get to white you know you have finished.”