Sponsored by
Pete McKee's gets rock star treatment - SLIDESHOW
IT was more like a rock and roll gig than the first night of an art exhibition.
Queues round the block, excitement in the air among hundreds of fans and cheers for the star of the show.
But this wasn't the Leadmill - it was the Forum, and the biggest night yet for popular Sheffield artist Pete McKee.
Pete, aged 42, was revealing 34 brand new paintings with a rock music theme - appropriately enough - and all were for sale at a bargain price of 333 to tie in with the 33 1/3 title of the event.
Many fans out for a Pete original of their own had to be turned away, with sales also limited to one LP sized 12 inch painting per person.
"It was an incredible evening - all 34 paintings went in almost 34 minutes!" Pete said.
"There were queues stretching outside and the buzz was more like a pop concert than anything like an art show - just brilliant."
Buyers waited patiently even though the subject matter of the paintings was kept under wraps until the show officially opened.
And the exhibition has a strong Sheffield theme, both past and present, as might be expected.
"There's one of the Leadmill, the Mojo and particularly the Limit which was famous for its sticky, nasty carpet underfoot," Pete said.
"I've done one of Phil Oakey from the Hiuman League, as well as Susan and Joanne, one of the Arctic Monkeys and there's one of Jarvis Cocker buying a jacket from a second hand store.
"And there's paintings reflecting kids struggling in bands like one called A Grand Tour with a kid in a Transit van with all the band's equipment."
Pete admitted to the crowd that the show reflected his own childhood dreams of wanting to make it in the music business.
"I wanted to be rich and famous, have all the girls after me and to appear on Top Of The Pops - that was the plan when I was 13.
"I knew it wasn't going to happen when I ended up in a band and we were supporting an ironing board. We were playing at Beighton Miners' Welfare Club and the concert promoter told us to get off as he had to raffle off an ironing board," Pete said.
Pete said the new exhibition, which is running at the Forum on Division Street for the next eight weeks, was a new peak for his career.
"It's been a while since I had an exhibition here but it's nice to get such support for my work. My next shows are going to be in Aberdeen and Stockport, but I hope to have something new to show in Sheffield closer to Christmas - but don't ask me yet what the subject matter will be!" he added.
Click on the green icon above for more photos of Pete and the exhibition in our slideshow.
READ MORE
Main news index
Latest sport.
Readers' Letters
Holidays and Travel
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
