Arts Editor: Christopher George
Vincent Kamp is an artist known for his striking portraits of gangsters, bearded gamblers and tattooed barbers… (and Sam Smith!).
His love of edgy characters and moody atmospheres is obvious in his work. Fascinated by the underground world of urban subculture, Kamp delves beneath the surface of social class, creating intense portraits of people in a fused background of cinematic lighting, brooding tension and impending drama. He (unsurprisingly) cites film, especially the gangster genre, as one of his main influences as a painter.
Last year, he created a series of paintings based on a story he wrote called The Long Game, so it may not come as a big surprise that he has finally turned his hand at film-making for his latest project. ‘Queen of Diamonds’ is a stylish short film scripted by Kamp himself and co-directed with Naeem Mahmood, the award-winning director of ‘Bright Young Turks’.
Kamp explains: ‘I made this film to show how I visualise the story before I tell it with paint. My paintings have always been inspired by cinematographers and I felt it was time to take that creative influence to the next level”.
Featuring a top cast that include Giorgia May Foote (Coronation Street), Tamer Hussan (Layer Cake), Leo Gregory (Once Upon a Time in London) and Samuel Anderson (The History Boys), Queen of Diamonds is a short thriller about an audacious plot to rob an international diamond trader.
But the film is only the starting point for Kamp’s next exhibition opening on 12 September at Clarendon Fine Art in London’s Mayfair where Queen of Diamonds will be screened alongside a new series of paintings based on the film.
Until then you can watch the trailer for Queen of Diamonds here: Queen of Diamonds Trailer
Queen of Diamonds will be at Clarendon Fine Art, Mayfair, 46 Dover Street, London W1S 4FF from 12 to 28 September 2019
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