The people who work behind the scenes to make a theatre production shine are rarely seen, but there’s currently an exhibition at the National Theatre that draws them out into the limelight.
The theatre’s first artist in residence, Curtis Holder, has been allowed behind the curtain to sketch the many staff who work there, and now his large portraits are on display in the theatre’s foyer in a free exhibition.
Holder’s subjects range from wigs, hair and make-up assistants, to prop and puppet makers, deputy ladies cutter, costume workroom trainees, technicians, and stage door supervisors.
The sketches are multi-layered and you can see the person’s movement in the way he has combined several poses into a single drawing to deliver a more dynamic fluid impression of the person at work.
It’s a pleasing exhibition to see, as it puts the often overlooked people where they belong.
The exhibition, The Makers: Portraits from Backstage is on the upper floor of the main reception foyer of the National Theatre and is open until some point in the future.
Curtis Holder (born Leicester, 1968) is a London-based artist working in graphite and coloured pencils on paper. He studied at Kingston University and Central Saint Martins, London.
In 2020 he won Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, judged by this exhibition’s curator, Kate Bryan. Holder has exhibited widely in the UK and in Paris. His work is held in public collections including the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Soho House.
