A painting of former Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richie Edwards is set to appear in a new London exhibition that features portraits depicting the faces of missing people. The portrait can be seen below.
The @theotherartfair London will present UNMISSABLE this weekend, an exhibition of poignant new portraits that depict the faces of missing persons. It includes my portrait of Richey Edwards, one of my teen idols.#missingpeople #otherartfair #otherartfairlondon #richeyedwards pic.twitter.com/0AZfdMtv0B
— Will Teather (@will_teather) 13 March 2019
Edwards, the Preachers’ lyricist and guitarist, disappeared in 1995 at the age of 27. Having not been seen since, he was officially declared “presumed dead” in 2008.
The exhibition, entitled Unmissable, will take place at The Other Art Fair in Brick Lane this weekend. Unmissable was organised by curator and artist Ben Moore to mark the 25th anniversary of the charity Missing People. Moore’s own brother disappeared in 2003. Edwards’ portrait was painted by artist Will Teather, who has described Edwards as “one of his teen idols”.
Edwards’ sister Rachel, since Richie’s disappearance, has campaigned for various missing person’s charities in the hope of discovering more about her brother’s whereabouts.
“For the last 24 years I have lived in hope of solving the mystery of what happened to Richard. I am desperate for news as to his fate and am appealing to the public to help me,” she said in a statement.
Rachel also discussed the upcoming exhibition, stating, “I hope the exhibition will be a poignant and effective way of raising awareness for Missing People – a charity that has and continues to support my family and I for almost 25 years. I’m so pleased that the money raised will go towards helping them to continue to be there for others like me and will shine a light on all missing people, and their families, and hopefully bring us some answers.”
Meanwhile, Moore added: “Since my brother went missing, I have developed a strong connection with Rachel Edwards as we both share the same belief that our brothers are still with us living and breathing on the planet and the hope that we will one day see them again.”
Teather had this to say about his portrait,”Edwards is still missing of course, and creating this artwork has caused me to reflect yet again on the loss of his talent, but also how hard it must be for any family to never know the fate of their siblings. Now, I hope that I have paid a fitting to tribute to one of the missing idols of my youth.”
Unmissable is part of The Other Art Fair which takes place at the Truman Brewery from March 14th to the 17th. The exhibition contains paintings by 25 artists of 25 different missing people. All the portraits are for sale in aid of charity.
