RICHARD HELEY
“I bring the colors of Australia, where I spent my teenage and college years, infused with the wild psychedelia of the 60s and 70s. My work is also shaped by the joy of painting interactively with children and the spiritual expansion I’ve experienced as an internationally performing poetry slam champion.”
Richard Heley is a multi-talented visual artist, writer, performer, and songwriter. Born on May 29, 1950, in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England, he emigrated to Australia with his family in 1965. He attended Melbourne College of Education from 1969 to 1973.
Richard's artistic pursuits span various mediums and disciplines. As a visual artist, he is known for his painting, live performance painting, and interactive art with children. He is also an accomplished writer and performer of poetry, short stories, and children's stories. His talents as an international performance poet and songwriter have taken him on numerous tours and engagements, including several gigs sharing the stage with Joe Strummer’s early band the 101’s upstairs at The Chippenham.
In 1997, Richard became the Farrago UK Poetry Slam Champion, and he represented the UK as a member of the London team in the first World Championship Poetry Slam in Asheville, USA. He has toured the United States five times, sharing his poetic performances. Richard has also made significant contributions to the arts community, having founded the Paddington International Poetry Festival and curated and administered Jasmine Cottage Gallery in Derby and Maida Hill Place Gallery in London.
The domino players, acrylic on canvas, 2021.
Beyond his artistic endeavours, Richard has played a pivotal role in the housing sector. Having attended high school and college in Melbourne Australia, Richard came back to live in London in 1974, lived in the Frestonia squats of Latimer Rd, was rehoused by the then GLC into a derelict property in Shirland Rd where he later became a founder member and former board member, secretary and vice chair of Walterton and Elgin Community Homes, a pioneering tenant-led housing association in London. Richard, along with his art partner Seems Gill, has painted interactively with children at the WECH summer festival for many years leaving a legacy of beautiful paintings now owned, displayed and enjoyed by the WECH community. Richard and Seema have painted 60+ interactive paintings with children in UK, Australia, South Africa and USA
Art critic Nicholas Usherwood describes Richard Heley as an artist who defies conventions and embraces a diverse range of creative expressions. Richard's time in Australia and his experiences with passionate teachers left a lasting impression on his artistic journey. His paintings, influenced by his travels, collaborations, interactions with children, and poetic pursuits, exude rich imagery, bold brushwork, and vibrant colours. Richard's work invites viewers to enter his imaginative world with freedom and exhilaration, combining influences from Gauguin, Chagall, and Sidney Nolan while eschewing English restraint and reticence.
Richard Heley's creative career has been marked by a nonconformist spirit and a relentless pursuit of artistic exploration across various mediums, making him a unique and celebrated figure in the art world.
Richard is currently painting a series of portraits of local people who enjoy socialising at Maida Hill Place. Two of these portraits recently reached the final of a world wide art competition. As part of the prize Richard’s drawings and paintings were included in a New York exhibition and “The domino players”, based on models photographed in Maida Hill was shown on screen in Times Square, New York. From WECH to the world with love.
