Gallery bosses have expressed their delight at hosting the first solo exhibition by actor Nick Frost.<\/p>\n
More than 40 pieces are now on display by the Spaced star at the Linden Hill Studio in St George\u2019s Road, Deal, and will be until next month.<\/p>\n
From left: Gallery directors Sophie and Myles Corley, actor Nick Frost and gallery assistants Maisie Smith and Rosie Royden<\/p>\n
The actor, also known for Hot Fuzz and The World\u2019s End, realised his love for painting in recent years after attending an art therapy class aged 47, where he says he was reprogrammed to believe art was for everyone and that even he could do it.<\/p>\n
Now, the 54-year-old has taken on his own solo exhibition titled Strangers I Made, featuring abstract portraits in oil, ink and mixed media.<\/p>\n
The collection launched on Saturday at a private event, also attended by comedy star Vic Reeves.<\/p>\n
Director of Linden Hall Studio, Myles Corley, says he was impressed with the actor\u2019s work and pleased to see it on a larger scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are absolutely thrilled to host, and it\u2019s the first time he\u2019s shown a body of work on this scale. The feedback is great. People really like it, and it\u2019s an exciting show for us to have this summer,\u201d the 32-year-old said.<\/p>\n
Vic Reeves and Nick Frost at the launch of the Hot Fuzz star\u2019s solo exhibition in Deal. Pictures: Myles Corley<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he felt quite nervous. It\u2019s not like he\u2019s playing a character. It\u2019s actually his direct work. There\u2019s really nowhere to hide, so it\u2019s a very exposing thing to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe normally show established painters and sculptors, whereas it\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve shown someone known for another career. It\u2019s nice to show a new part of a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big thing for him to take on, and we weren\u2019t sure what he was going to say when we approached him, but he has put his mind to it, worked really hard, and we\u2019re thrilled with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gallery, opened in 2014, is run by Mr Corley with his wife Sophie and his parents John and Heather.<\/p>\n
They say, over the years, they\u2019ve witnessed first-hand the transition of Deal from sleepy seaside town to a cultural hub.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is on display in Deal until July. Picture: Myles Corley<\/p>\n
Their relationship with Frost sparked when Mr Corley wrote to the actor after reading articles about his pursuit of art, with a few of the Shaun of the Dead actor\u2019s pieces later finding their way to Deal.<\/p>\n
Mr Corley said he was intrigued by Frost\u2019s work, from the colour combinations to the use of shapes to create portraits that \u201creally grab your attention\u201d.<\/p>\n
Nick Frost is best known for starring in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy of films, alongside Simon Pegg, consisting of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World\u2019s End.<\/p>\n
The actor has also penned two books, an autobiography titled Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies and a cookbook, A Slice of Fried Gold: Taste My Memories.<\/p>\n
His exhibition comes off the back of filming the new Harry Potter series for HBO, with Frost starring as Hagrid.<\/p>\n
The work is on display in Deal until July 25, with more than 40 pieces available to purchase on the gallery\u2019s website, with prices ranging from \u00a3500 to \u00a315,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gallery bosses have expressed their delight at hosting the first solo exhibition by actor Nick Frost. More than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,3860,1120,96,192,191,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-642238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-deal","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}