Vic Reeves at Mews of Mayfair

06 April, 2009
by: Katuschka

Celebrities eh? Not content with having cushy jobs, fame and bags of cash, everyone from professional sunglasses-wearer Bono, to Spock and even television finger-wagger Colombo feels the need to flex their creative muscle and express their philosophical side through the medium of art. However, Shooting Stars comedian and quintessential English eccentric Vic Reeves has previously trained at art school and built up a dedicated following for his quirky drawings as much as for his offbeat comedy. He can therefore set foot in both camps without fearing cries of pretension.

Where Eagles Tremble at Mews of Mayfair (hosted by Eyestorm) celebrates the life of fictional film-maker Alan Todd, a typically bizarre Reeves creation. Todd's biography is pinned to the wall, and charts his infancy growing up as Alan Turdman, to his autumn years in Tunisia with Nubian musicians, via dropping naked men out of planes and brushes with the law. Accompanied by a huge portrait of Todd, who has a slug for a nose and a face straight out of the S&M mask scene (Reeves jokes that it is a self-portrait), the tone is set for a somewhat colourful evening. However, Reeves' paintings of vintage planes in both calm and stormy skies with the titles of Todd's films (such as Return to the Gayport and The Puff) splashed across them for subtle comedic value are skilfully rendered oil paintings on large pieces of driftwood, with a surprisingly poignant air to them.

Reeves' 1940s flight machines are evocative of heroic vintage aviation movies such as A Matter of Life and Death and Dambusters; whilst the homosexual overtones, phallic machinery and irreverent humour echo the ludicrous machismo of Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising. The intentionally crude comic-book palette and style, combined with the careful detail of the planes (Reeves explains to us that he decided to use the theme of planes because he was obsessed with them at art school and his best friend is a pilot) and Todd's extraordinary story all possess a naïve, Boys' Own charm. His wife tells us that Reeves painted them in his shed, and it's hard not to imagine Reeves whirring planes over his head and making 'zoom' noises whilst painting.

Being a celebrity show, with plenty of schmoozing and paps, Reeves is supported by his fellow comedians; notably Noel Fielding (who buys Flight of the Retard because he likes the name) and Jack Dee who is in suitably disgruntled form. When the show dies down, a few fans come over and ask Reeves to sing the Shooting Stars theme for their phone (which he gamely does). It seems that maintaining a balance between being a serious artist and a wacky comedian is to make one interchangeable with the other, be talented at both and try not to take it all too seriously. Reeves pulls it off with eloquent aplomb. Eranu indeed...

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