August 17, 2020
London Artist Tapped to Create 27-Foot-High George Michael Mural
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
The late, great, out singer George Michael will be remembered in a huge mural that's been commissioned of artist Dawn Mellor, reports U.K. newspaper The Guardian.
The 27-foot-high work of public art is slated to be unveiled in Brent, a borough of London, where Michael grew up, as part of Brent's London Borough of Culture later this year, The Guardian noted.
Reported the newspaper:
"Mellor, who uses the pronouns they/them, has spent the last two decades of their career painting portraits of prominent figures such as the Queen, Karl Lagerfeld and Condoleezza Rice – as well as prominent queer icons including Madonna and Judy Garland.
This will be the Manchester-born artist's first permanent public artwork."
Michael was formerly part of the duo "Wham!" and found solo success with "Faith" and other hit songs.
The BBC recalled that Michael died near the end of 2016, on Christmas Day. He was 53 years old. Openly gay after he came out in 1998, Michael was a supporter of LGBTQ causes.
The Guardian recalled that an Australian artist, Scott Marsh, created a mural of Michael in 2017. That work was vandalized just after Australia legalized marriage equality. The 23-year-old man responsible for the vandalism cited his religion as the reason for his act.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
