Sassicism

Yesterday we filmed the second interview for our new documentary ‘Art Is For Everyone’. This is @harryjbartlett of @sassicism , we think all creatives can related to having the fear of starting and completing a project. And we’ve all had them 4am finishes. Harry takes traditional portraits and digitally alters them by painting make-up, clothing, hats, wigs, all inspired by drag and queer icons. #documentary #artists #creativity #drag #dragqueen

“Divine Intervention” Queen Victoria by Heinrich von Angeli 1899 This piece was inspired by the legendary Divine - the magical muse and star of John Waters cult movies, pop star and inspiration for The Little Mermaid’s Ursula. I’ve wanted to create Divine in this Sassicism series for about 2 years and the title has always been in mind. I always had the intention of turning Queen Victoria into Divine but I could never find the right portrait to use as the base - yesterday I stumbled across this beauty and the stars aligned. #sassicism #classicism #dragqueen #dragmakeup #queenvictoria #heinrichvonangeli #divine #harrisglennmilstead #divinedragqueen

“Worried About The Boy” Portrait of d’Éon by Thomas Stewart 1792 Bit of a crazy post to talk about now but I was asked by @nationalportraitgallery to create one of my Sassicism pieces using a painting in their collection for LGBT+ History Month. I opted to create a piece based on this portrait of Chevalier d’Éon who was a French diplomat and spy. He lived his life as a man as well as using his androgyny to infiltrate courts dressed as a woman. I chose to base this piece on 3 eras of @boygeorgeofficial ’s career. I’ve always been fascinated by George’s music and personal style and I wanted to celebrate the androgyny that George brought into the world. The makeup was based on the Culture Club days in the 80s, the neck makeup was based on his Leigh Bowery looks from Taboo the Musical and the outfit was inspired by George’s current style. I want to say a huge thank you to the National Portrait Gallery who has been incredibly supportive and they have championed this creation! #sassicism #classicism #harryjbartlett #dragqueen #dragqueens #gay #gayuk #gayart #lgbt #queer #queerart #digitalart #digitalpainting #dragmakeup #classicalart #classicalpainting #chevalierdeon #boygeorge #npg #nationalportraitgallery #lgbthistorymonth #lgbthm22

“Mrs F*cking Plumbcock” Mrs John Winthrop by John Singleton Copley 1773 Inspired by the phenomenal @realmarkbenton as Mam in @smoggiequeens This look was based on the brilliant “A Smoggie Murder” episode from series 1. #sassicism #classicism

“Smoggie” Portrait of Federico II Gonzaga by Francesco Francia 1510 Inspired by the fabulous @phildunnning ’s character Dickie from @smoggiequeens I knew I had to get this piece finished as soon as possible with Series 2 of Smoggie Queens airing today. And yes, I binged it all in one day while working on this artwork.

FLASH SALE ALERT 🚨 Following on from this year’s Met Gala theme “Fashion Is Art” I thought it was about time I did another flash sale on my prints. Throughout the entire month of May, all A4 prints will be £15, all A3 prints will be £30 with postage and packaging included. [£10 postage added for all shipping outside of the UK] Don’t wait around, I’m down to limited stock on certain prints so make you sure you don’t miss out! All prints are on a 300gsm heavyweight card. Drop me a DM to place an order and I can get prints shipped out ASAP.

We had to share @harryjbartlett ’s favourite hate comment he got on his @sassicism artwork for the National Portrait Gallery. Give it a rest, Logan! You can watch the full story on our YouTube channel, link in bio. 🖼️ #artists #artist #digitalart

We feel very grateful to have capture this poignant and beautiful moment, more voices like @harryjbartlett ’s need to be heard. His @sassicism art is a minimal protest that speaks very loudly. Harry was a part of our Art Is For Everyone documentary which is available to watch on YouTube. #artists #creativity #creativeprocess

As we approach the end of LGBT+ History Month, I want to share a segment of my interview with Creative Stories where I talked about my collaboration with the @nationalportraitgallery . 🖼️ Still to this day, creating a piece of art for the Portrait Gallery is one of my proudest achievements and I’m glad I got to talk about this project on film thanks to the incredible @jamesgwall and @vic_creativestories ! 🎥 The full Art Is For Everyone documentary by @creative_stories.co.uk is available to watch on YouTube. I’d love to hear your thoughts. 📺

ART IS FOR EVERYONE 🎨 Last year I got to be a part of an incredible documentary by @creative_stories.co.uk where 10 Leeds-based artists spoke openly and passionately about what creativity means to us. I got to showcase my @sassicism project, talk openly about queer representation, and discuss my collaboration with the @nationalportraitgallery . We had our screening at the Howard Assembly Rooms last month followed by a Q&A where we talked about our process, what inspired us, the challenges with social media as an artist and some utter nonsense including Cilla Black’s back catalog of music (that was my input). 😄 What a privilege it was to share my art journey on film amongst an incredible plethora of creative talents from all different mediums. Please make sure you follow all of the artists who took part in the documentary: @_sunshine_child_ @bazaar.studio @edekthompson @chapmangamo @jaslewishenman @jessrose_illustrator @a.wiggly.line @lauraslaterprint @italillywhite @sassicism Please also follow the incredible duo @jamesgwall and @vic_creativestories who are the absolute icons behind Creative Stories 👏🏻 The full Art Is For Everyone documentary is now available to watch on YouTube - please give it a watch because I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of it! 📸 @midlandstomanchester

Last year I had the pleasure of being one of 10 Yorkshire-based artists interviewed by the incredible team at @creative_stories.co.uk to talk about my artwork, the process, and what creativity means to me. Last year was a rough one for me and I found myself sinking into a creative slump and being a part of such a cool project really helped me get my creative juices flowing again so for that I am eternally grateful! 💖 “Art Is For Everyone” premiers tomorrow with a live Q&A with the creators and the artists involved. There are a few tickets left so head over to the @creative_stories.co.uk Instagram account and click the link in their bio to get yours. All proceeds from the tickets go towards @edeksdoodlechat so he can continue his incredible work in the community! Come join us tomorrow evening at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds, go on, you know you want to.

Very excited to watch the @creative_stories.co.uk Art Is For Everyone documentary tonight! A collective of Yorkshire artists (including myself) were interviewed earlier in the year about what creativity means to us and tonight I’ll finally get to see all my unhinged sound bites