Johnny Depp is an award-winning actor. He is also an accomplished musician, and has long played in bands alongside recognised stars such as Jeff Beck, Shane McGowan and Alice Cooper. Throughout his life, he has also been an artist, but for decades kept this outlet of his creativity private. In recent years, his art has gained more interest and attention. In A Bunch of Stuff, Depp invites us into this creative realm. This exhibition comprises a carefully selected cross-section of his artworks. At its centre is the Black Box, an immersive environment featuring film based upon the pictures, accompanied by Depp’s own words, memories and idiosyncratic musings. The gallery space is punctuated with objects and artefacts from his own collection. The show also features his Bodega, a curated retail space featuring items selected by Depp himself, from exhibition catalogues and postcards to toys and tchotchkes.
The Black Box
At the heart of this exhibition is The Black Box, an immersive realm. Here, art and animation are blended together to take us on a journey through Depp’s pictures, memories and thoughts. This provides a vibrant, vital, shifting contrast to the fixed ‘white walls’ of the usual gallery space. The screens display ever-shifting visual assemblages in which elements from Depp’s pictures are assembled, disassembled and brought to vivid, poetic life. A specially designed musical score and soundscape have been overlaid with Depp’s own musings.
The Black Box was made by the creative team at Thinkwell. They brought a formidable arsenal of expertise to this process, employing various techniques such as 2D, 3D, stop motion and frame-by-frame animation. This is a fitting range of techniques to celebrate the work of Depp, himself a pioneer and connoisseur of the movie world.
INNER CHILD
Echoes I, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes II, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes III, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes IV, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes V, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes VI, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Echoes VII, 2008
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Celebrity, 1994
Pastel on paper
30 x 22 1/2 in (76 x 57 cm)
Self-Portrait, 1999
Charcoal and pastel on paper
22 x 30 in (56.5 x 76.5 cm)
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride, 2021
Pen on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Close Your Eyes And Look At Everything You Can’t See, 2021
Ink on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Question Everything!, 2021
Pen on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
If There Is Doubt There Is No Doubt, 2021
Pen and acrylic on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
HEDY LAMARR
Erased By The Same World, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Spun Out Of Beauty, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
A Perfect Cocoon, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Her Beauty A Spectacle, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Her Thoughts Too Pure..., 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
The Light Of Her Being, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Her Exotic Allure, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Torn At The Seams, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
For Daring To Dream, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Frozen In Scream, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
Yes It's All That It Seems..., 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
But It's Life And It's Death, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
She Began And She Ended, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
I Don't Believe, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
In Humans Anymore, 2024
Ink on paper
24 x 18in (61 x 46cm)
MEDITATIONS
Weimar Republic I, 2022
Liquitex paint marker on paper
5 x 3 1/2 in (13 x 9 cm)
3 Days Ago, ‘3 days ago’
Acrylic, pencil and pen on paper and perspex
16 1/2 x 11 1/2 in (42 x 29 cm)
Blue Eyed Banana
Liquitex paint marker and pen on paper
8 x 5 in (20 x 13 cm)
Face To Face, 2019
Acrylic, pastel and pen on hotel notepaper
8 1/2 x 12 in (21 x 30 cm)
Boxed In, 2024
Acrylic on paper
16 x 12 in (41 x 30 cm)
Roy
Acrylic, pen and Liquitex paint marker on paper
8 x 6 in (20 x 15 cm)
Neon
Ink and Liquitex paint marker on paper
10 x 7 1/2 in (26 x 19 cm)
Café du Monde
Acrylic, pastel and coffee stain on card
12 1/2 x 8 in (32 x 20 cm)
King 7
Acrylic and Liquitex paint marker on canvas, taped to wood board
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Hi Five, 2024
Watercolour, pen and collage on paper
7 x 5 1/2 in (18 x 14 cm)
Meditation III
Acrylic and pen on card
12 x 8 1/2 in (31 x 22 cm)
Who’s Who, 1999
Acrylic and Rizla papers on canvas
35 1/2 x 35 1/2 in (90 x 90 cm)
On The Bus, 2022
Acrylic and pen on card
12 x 8 1/2 in (30 x 21 cm)
Chiseled
Acrylic, pen and pencil on paper
8 1/2 x 6 in (21 x 15 cm)
Sideways, 2015
Acrylic, pen and pencil on lined paper
8 1/2 x 6 in (21 x 15 cm)
Cheek bone
Acrylic, pen, pastel and coffee stain on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Brainstorm
Watercolour, pen and pencil paper
12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in (32 x 24 cm)
Fractured, 2023
Acrylic, pen and tape on perspex
25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in (65 x 50 cm)
Banana
Watercolour and Liquitex paint marker on paper
9 x 6 1/2 in (23 x 16 cm)
Spectre
Acrylic, pen and pastel on paper
16 x 12 in (41 x 31 cm)
Spotted, 2024
Acrylic and Liquitex paint marker on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Meditation I
Acrylic on paper
25 1/2 x 19 in (65 x 48 cm)
Someone Else’s Youth, 2020
Acrylic and pen on paper
5 x 4 in (12 x 10 cm)
Bunnyman man
Acrylic, pen and collage on paper
17 1/2 x 14 in (44 x 35 cm)
13+1-1, 2023
Collage and flatbed printed glass with hand gilded finish on antique frame
16 x 14 in (41 x 35 cm)
13, 2023
Collage and flatbed printed glass with hand gilded finish on antique frame
16 x 14 in (41 x 35 cm)
The Bunnyman, 2006
Acrylic, Rizla papers and resin on canvas
72 x 47 1/2 in (183 x 121.5 cm)
DEATH BY CONFETTI
The King
Acrylic on celotex panel
15 x 10 in (38 x 25.5 cm)
Death By Confetttti, 2022
Acrylic, pen and perspex on canvas
23 1/2 x 20 1/2 in (60 x 52 cm)
Death By Confetti - Fucked Up Mauve, 2024
Acrylic, Liquitex paint marker and pen on paper
8 1/2 x 6 in (21 x 15 cm)
Death By Confetti - Pink Confetti, 2023
Acrylic and Liquitex paint marker on cloth
10 1/2 x 8 1/2 in (27 x 22 cm)
A Beautiful Day
Watercolour and pen on paper
9 x 7 1/2 in (23 x 19 cm)
Aren’t Jokes Meant To Be Funny?, 2021
Watercolour and pen on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Oral Aura
Acrylic and pen on paper
10 x 8 in (26 x 20 cm)
Still Here, 2020
Acrylic and pen on paper
12 x 8 1/2 in (31 x 22 cm)
Chuckle
Acrylic on wood board
29 1/2 x 23 1/2 in (75 x 60 cm)
All Mouth, No Trousers
Acrylic and pen on paper
16 1/2 x 11 1/2 in (42 x 29 cm)
Death By Confetti - Pretty in Pink, 2024
Embellished hand-woven dyed calico tapestry
75 x 47 in (190 x 120 cm)
Coffee Skull, 2023
Watercolour on paper
9 x 7 in (23 x 18 cm)
Death By Confetti - Celebration, 2019–2024
Acrylic, Liquitex paint marker and pastel on canvas
75 x 45 in (191 x 114 cm)
REVERIE
Moohman, 2008
Oil, Rizla papers and resin on canvas
76 x 60 in (183 x 152 cm)
Rose
Acrylic and ink on paper
25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in (65 x 50 cm)
Jackamo, 2007
Acrylic on canvas
31 1/2 x 31 1/2 in (80 x 80 cm)
Vanessa, 2008
Oil on wood board
64 x 49 in (163 x 125 cm)
Life Is A Bird Song, 2021
Pen on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
Finito, 2024
Pen on paper
16 1/2 x 12 in (42 x 30 cm)
LAYERS
Him By Me, 2004
Watercolour on paper
9 1/2 x 8 1/2 in (24 x 22 cm)
Me, 2004
Oil on wood board
26 1/2 x 27 1/2 in (67 x 70 cm)
Kerouac, 2005
Oil and chalk on canvas
45 x 45 in (114 x 114 cm)
Marlon, 2001
Pastel and Rizla papers on canvas
48 x 48 in (122 x 122 cm)
Artaud I, 2000
Oil and pastel on canvas
12 x 10 1/2 in (30 x 27 cm)
Artaud II, 2000
Oil and pastel on canvas
12 x 10 1/2 in (30 x 27 cm)
Julian Schnabel, 2008
Oil on wood board
54 1/2 x 43 in (139 x 109 cm)
Betty Sue, 2006
Acrylic and Rizla papers on canvas
48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
pp.132–133
Betty Sue Wells, 1997
Acrylic and pastel on canvas
24 x 24 in (61 x 61 cm)
Patching Up Holes, 1998
Acrylic and varnish on canvas
31 1/2 x 31 1/2 in (80 x 80 cm)