Extraordinary Portraits - Season 2
Season 2
Episodes
Episode 1
In this unlikely match, painter Stuart Pearson Wright is challenged to capture charity fundraiser Harriet Middleton's joy and love for her Shetlander heritage.
Cancer survivor Harriet volunteered her knitting skills to help raise over £100,000 to buy the island's only hospital an MRI scanner. Now she is paired with an artist who has been called one of the most gifted portrait artists of his generation. Stuart is well known for his figurative paintings and irreverent, sometimes humorous tone.
This link-up will see Stuart swap his paintbrush for knitting needles and forego his studio for the Scottish Isles to create a portrait that does the island proud, just as Harriet did.
Episode 2
Charlotte Banfield has cerebral palsy and autism. Bullied at school and once afraid to leave the house, she is now an adaptive surfer. Her match is Bella Kotak, a fine-art, fashion and portrait photographer who is inspired by fairy tales and nature. Can Bella transform this shy surf champion who was once afraid of water into the main character of her own fairy tale?
Bella travels down to Charlotte's hometown of Cornwall to immerse herself in the surfer's paradise of Newquay and meet the woman who gave Charlotte the confidence to believe in herself and the water, her mum.
In this transformative portrait, we see a beautiful friendship form and a magical work of art made.
Episode 3
This week, experimental artist Lo Lo celebrates the bravery of Jahmal Howlett-Mundle coming out as a bisexual footballer.
Jahmal's story hit the headlines when phone footage of him coming out to his teammates went viral. Once crippled with anxiety, the semi-professional footballer and teacher found solace in sharing his truth - and who better to transform this into a work of art than Lo Lo, a non-binary painter, sculptor and filmmaker.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Lo Lo uses gut instinct to choose the medium of their work. Through collaboration and shared experience, a deep connection is made between this artist and sitter and the result is a soul stirring portrait that questions what it means to be a professional athlete today, illuminating the multiple layers of our psyche that make us who we are.
Episode 4
Karenjeet Kaur Bains is a record-breaking British powerlifter and Team GB's first female Sikh Champion. Amar Stewart is a British artist based in North Carolina's vibrant art scene.
Famed for his paintings of hip hop stars depicted as royalty, Amar is self-taught and doesn't play by the rules, and this masterpiece will be no different. In his exploration into the woman behind the powerlifter, Amar meets her mother, who was denied the same athletic opportunities, and her father/trainer, who is proud that his daughter is smashing stereotypes as well as records.
Amar Stewart explores his own heritage as he paints Karenjeet, who summons the power of her ancestors to gain strength before she competes, smashing through gender stereotypes in the Asian community and celebrating her Sikh faith.
Episode 5
In this Scottish link up, contemporary portrait painter Ross Muir depicts the strength and hope he sees in Jamie Dalgoutte, a young man who went through the care system and is now helping to build a future for himself and others.
Jamie was in care with 14 different families before the age of six, and he now devotes his time to promoting positive change in the system by working with people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
An ability to turn negatives into positives ignites a deep connection with this pairing, as Ross shares his own experience of battling drug addiction and finding light in discovering his passion to paint. Entirely self-taught, Ross uses unconventional methods, taking inspiration from the world of art and music and applying his unique, contemporary twist.
Episode 6
Award-winning painter Laura Quinn Harris is famous for the amount of detail she puts into her works. Laura started life in academia before finding her creative side, something that links her to her sitter - inspirational rapping teacher Christian, who went viral when 50 Cent shared a clip of him performing in front of a class.
Laura's meticulous portraits take hundreds of hours to complete, but before she can begin she needs to see Christian in action, taking his blend of accessible teaching and mental health awareness into the classrooms. She wants to portray Christian's many sides in a single painting - but will her love for visual pattern and his love for rhyme pattern create the perfect recipe for a powerful portrait?
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