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| Depression of Alastair Campbell and Amy Winehouse captured for exhibition | Depression of Alastair Campbell and Amy Winehouse captured for exhibition |
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| It is an exhibition like no other. Before taking the photographs from which he constructs his paintings, artist Toby Brown asks his subjects to describe how they feel when they are depressed. “In that split second, they kind of go back – and I take my snapshots to work from,” he explained. | It is an exhibition like no other. Before taking the photographs from which he constructs his paintings, artist Toby Brown asks his subjects to describe how they feel when they are depressed. “In that split second, they kind of go back – and I take my snapshots to work from,” he explained. |
| On Thursday the Debut Contemporary gallery in Notting Hill, west London, will showcase the extraordinary results, almost exclusively featuring sufferers of mental ill health. | On Thursday the Debut Contemporary gallery in Notting Hill, west London, will showcase the extraordinary results, almost exclusively featuring sufferers of mental ill health. |
| The subjects of the portraits include family and friends, but Brown has also persuaded a number of well-known sufferers of depression to pose for him, including Tony Blair’s former director of communications, Alastair Campbell, and an array of names from stage and screen. | The subjects of the portraits include family and friends, but Brown has also persuaded a number of well-known sufferers of depression to pose for him, including Tony Blair’s former director of communications, Alastair Campbell, and an array of names from stage and screen. |
| More significantly, however, Brown himself knows all too well how clinical depression feels. The former motorcycle courier has been blighted by depression on and off since 2008 when, as the recession hit, he found himself with a £120,000 mortgage, a £30,000 credit card debt and letters from the bailiffs. | More significantly, however, Brown himself knows all too well how clinical depression feels. The former motorcycle courier has been blighted by depression on and off since 2008 when, as the recession hit, he found himself with a £120,000 mortgage, a £30,000 credit card debt and letters from the bailiffs. |
| With his life spiralling out of control, Brown started on a cocktail of anti-depressants, sleeping pills, the antipyschotic drug Olanzapine and illegal drugs. He was admitted to the Priory hospital in west London as his marriage collapsed, along with his family business. | With his life spiralling out of control, Brown started on a cocktail of anti-depressants, sleeping pills, the antipyschotic drug Olanzapine and illegal drugs. He was admitted to the Priory hospital in west London as his marriage collapsed, along with his family business. |
| But at rock bottom, living in a caravan on an industrial estate, Brown, now 51, reinvented himself. “Everyone had said to me: ‘Why can’t you just get on with your day?’ So I decided to throw some paint,” he said. “I did three self- portraits to try to show what was going on underneath. That is where it all started.” | But at rock bottom, living in a caravan on an industrial estate, Brown, now 51, reinvented himself. “Everyone had said to me: ‘Why can’t you just get on with your day?’ So I decided to throw some paint,” he said. “I did three self- portraits to try to show what was going on underneath. That is where it all started.” |
| Brown’s self-portraits were spotted by Samir Ceric, founder of the Debut Contemporary gallery, and an idea was born. “Being married to a designer of luxury handbags who has suffered on and off from depression and battles anxiety, his subject matter, his personal experience, resonated with me,” said Ceric. | Brown’s self-portraits were spotted by Samir Ceric, founder of the Debut Contemporary gallery, and an idea was born. “Being married to a designer of luxury handbags who has suffered on and off from depression and battles anxiety, his subject matter, his personal experience, resonated with me,” said Ceric. |
| It hasn’t been easy. The project – involving 18 portraits, the largest of which is six feet by four feet – has been a year in the making. “We approached people, but they didn’t want to open up, so that has been quite a difficult journey,” Brown admitted. However, with the backing of the mental health charity Mind, people were persuaded, and after contacting Campbell through Twitter the two met recently to allow the artist to sketch and take snapshots. Campbell believes Brown has caught something. | It hasn’t been easy. The project – involving 18 portraits, the largest of which is six feet by four feet – has been a year in the making. “We approached people, but they didn’t want to open up, so that has been quite a difficult journey,” Brown admitted. However, with the backing of the mental health charity Mind, people were persuaded, and after contacting Campbell through Twitter the two met recently to allow the artist to sketch and take snapshots. Campbell believes Brown has caught something. |
| “I was in a really good mood that day,” Campbell said. “The medication was working, Burnley had been promoted to the Premier League. All was going well. Toby asked me to describe what depression felt like. It is like being dead and alive at the same time.” | “I was in a really good mood that day,” Campbell said. “The medication was working, Burnley had been promoted to the Premier League. All was going well. Toby asked me to describe what depression felt like. It is like being dead and alive at the same time.” |
| Campbell, who worked in Downing Street from 1997 to 2003, added: “Fiona [Campbell’s partner] thinks the painting is quite good. My daughter, Grace, found it more challenging, although she has seen me depressed. I think when I’m not active my eyes do go a bit dead. Toby concentrates on the eyes.” | Campbell, who worked in Downing Street from 1997 to 2003, added: “Fiona [Campbell’s partner] thinks the painting is quite good. My daughter, Grace, found it more challenging, although she has seen me depressed. I think when I’m not active my eyes do go a bit dead. Toby concentrates on the eyes.” |
| The timing of the exhibition is poignant. Last week Sally Brampton, 60, the author, former fashion editor of the Observer and founding editor of British Elle, took her own life after a battle with depression. The circumstances of her death are unclear, but it is thought that she walked into the sea at St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, near her home. | The timing of the exhibition is poignant. Last week Sally Brampton, 60, the author, former fashion editor of the Observer and founding editor of British Elle, took her own life after a battle with depression. The circumstances of her death are unclear, but it is thought that she walked into the sea at St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, near her home. |
| “Killing oneself is, anyway, a misnomer,” Brampton had written in her acclaimed memoir on depression, Shoot the Damn Dog. “We don’t kill ourselves. We are simply defeated by the long, hard struggle to stay alive.” | “Killing oneself is, anyway, a misnomer,” Brampton had written in her acclaimed memoir on depression, Shoot the Damn Dog. “We don’t kill ourselves. We are simply defeated by the long, hard struggle to stay alive.” |
| “I knew her,” Campbell said. “I don’t think I would do what she did. I don’t know what was going through her mind. But I know what it is like to feel like things can’t be any worse. And I think this cultural space is incredibly important – TV, radio, theatre, art. That is what drives the cultural change in attitudes [to mental health] that will lead to the political change.” | “I knew her,” Campbell said. “I don’t think I would do what she did. I don’t know what was going through her mind. But I know what it is like to feel like things can’t be any worse. And I think this cultural space is incredibly important – TV, radio, theatre, art. That is what drives the cultural change in attitudes [to mental health] that will lead to the political change.” |
| Among the other famous names who agreed to pose for Brown are the presenter and vocal coach Carrie Grant; the lead singer of the indie group Embrace, Danny McNamara; This Morning presenter Anna Williamson; former Coronation Street actress Georgia Taylor; and singer-songwriter Sandi Thom. All of them are fellow sufferers. Brown’s painting of McNamara is set to go on the cover of Embrace’s next album. | Among the other famous names who agreed to pose for Brown are the presenter and vocal coach Carrie Grant; the lead singer of the indie group Embrace, Danny McNamara; This Morning presenter Anna Williamson; former Coronation Street actress Georgia Taylor; and singer-songwriter Sandi Thom. All of them are fellow sufferers. Brown’s painting of McNamara is set to go on the cover of Embrace’s next album. |
| The artist has also painted the singer Amy Winehouse, from a photograph that was found on her computer after her death in July 2011. “The photo came on for a split second in Asif Kapadia’s movie about her,” Brown said. “I remember saying to my girlfriend that it would be amazing to have that in the show. I tracked it down. It is a kind of selfie.” | The artist has also painted the singer Amy Winehouse, from a photograph that was found on her computer after her death in July 2011. “The photo came on for a split second in Asif Kapadia’s movie about her,” Brown said. “I remember saying to my girlfriend that it would be amazing to have that in the show. I tracked it down. It is a kind of selfie.” |
| His paintings have a misty quality, Brown added, partly because he was born with a squint and with only 35% vision in his left eye. | His paintings have a misty quality, Brown added, partly because he was born with a squint and with only 35% vision in his left eye. |
| “Also, I don’t really paint, I scrub the canvas,” he said of his works, which will be on sale for prices ranging from about £3,000 to £10,000. “I use quite big brushes, often decorators’ brushes. It is quite aggressive.” | “Also, I don’t really paint, I scrub the canvas,” he said of his works, which will be on sale for prices ranging from about £3,000 to £10,000. “I use quite big brushes, often decorators’ brushes. It is quite aggressive.” |
| Brown, who will be donating 20% of Thursday’s takings to Mind, added, however, that he uses more delicate brushes for the focus of his work. “The eyes of the subject are very detailed,” he said. “The eyes kind of tell you what is going on. People who suffer from depression might be smiling, but you just need to look at their eyes and it is kind of dead.” | Brown, who will be donating 20% of Thursday’s takings to Mind, added, however, that he uses more delicate brushes for the focus of his work. “The eyes of the subject are very detailed,” he said. “The eyes kind of tell you what is going on. People who suffer from depression might be smiling, but you just need to look at their eyes and it is kind of dead.” |