FARIS BADWAN

FARIS BADWAN presents DRAWING A STRAIGHT NUMBER 9
August 2010

Faris Badwan, frontman of The Horrors, will present a new exhibition of his drawings, artwork and projections at The Book Club on London’s Leonard Street from the 11th of August till the 29th of August 2010.A former student of St Martins College of Art, his unique artwork has adorned the sleeves of The Horrors records, T – Shirts and fanzines, he has also created sleeves for records by Hatcham Social and The Charlatans.The new show will feature one hundred original new pieces for the very first time and follows his show in Bristol last year and the first exhibition at The Bodhi Gallery on London’s Brick Lane in 2007.Cited by the NME as the most exciting British band since the Sex Pistols, The Horrors released their debut single ‘Sheena Is A Parasite’ in April 2006which wasaccompanied by the infamous Chris Cunningham video starring Samantha Morton. The debut album ‘Strange House’ followed in March 2007 and the band played tours and every major festival all over the world over the next eighteen months.

The follow up to their debut, the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominated ‘Primary Colours’, was recorded with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and was released on XL Recordings in May 2009. The album was critically acclaimed across the board, culminating with the award of the NME’s  ‘Album of The Year’ in December. The Horrors, who have spent most of the last twelve months touring around the world, are currently in the studio writing and recording new material for the third album.

Faris – “What I wanted to get across with this exhibition was how much of a part of my life drawing always has been. It invades all of my daily routine, be it in the shredded form of masking tape stuck to my walls, line-drawings on restaurant napkins or supermarket receipts, to the sketchbooks I carry with me. It really is the one constant solid thing in my life – a stream which runs regardless of what I happen to be doing or where.”

Chris Cunningham – “Faris sketchbooks are a self contained and private, little universe… I love the craft and detail plus they make me realise how similar we are – I spent my life (until I got into film making) drawing rather then talking to people.”

Geoff Barrow, Portishead – ‘For a bloke that doesn’t talk much, he doesn’t half draw loads’.
PRESS:

NME http://www.nme.com/news/the- horrors/51895

Clash http://www.clashmusic.com/ news/the-horrors-art- exhibition