Vic Reeves to publish his first art book in a decade

Wednesday 5th August 2020, 4:23pm by Jay Richardson

• Vic Reeves Art Book will be available to buy from 1st October
• The comedian is also making A Brush With Comedy, a documentary about art and comedy, with his son
• Meanwhile The Glove, a comedy film he is making with Bob Mortimer, will begin shooting next year

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Vic Reeves is publishing his first art book in a decade, dedicated to his paintings and pencil sketches.

Creatively titled Vic Reeves Art Book, the tome will be available from 1st October from Unbound after a successful crowdfunding campaign saw backers earning rewards, such as the comedian - real name Jim Moir - sketching their portrait in their copy.

Featuring more than 200 images and a foreword from artist Grayson Perry, the volume is described as the "definitive" collection of some of Reeves's best-known artworks and new pieces, "a wild ride through subjects and media, ranging from sketches to paintings".

"Whether he's depicting Sooty and Sweep unzipped and on the toilet, or grotesque versions of beloved TV personalities, Jim's unmistakable humour shines through in every brushstroke," says the blurb.

Meanwhile, Jessica Hynes and Bec Hill have joined the documentary A Brush With Comedy, a feature film Reeves is making with his son, director Louis Moir.

Also featuring absurdist stand-up Spencer Jones, the 90-minute movie, which will be released next year, will see the comedians talk about the relationship between their comedy and their art. It follows a crowdfunded short film of the same name, directed by Moir, that also featured Reeves and Noel Fielding.

Executive produced by Perry Trevers, A Brush With Comedy is produced by Alex Page and Kevin Proctor for StudioPOW, which made the stand-up comedy film Funny Cow, starring Maxine Peake and featuring Reeves and John Bishop.

"We haven't been able to do much shooting because of Covid. However, we have managed to work around it in regards to shooting at a safe and insurable distance," Proctor told British Comedy Guide.

"And the boys are going to pick up with Bec Hill in the coming month. They've already shot Jim and they've shot Spencer. I know that Jessica Hynes has been talking to Louis too about contributing. It's a veritable banquet of different talents.

"The varying degrees of comedy and comedy artists who are involved, you do have to have a sense of what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it. I like to give the boys enough space around a subject, so they've got enough time to come up with an idea for a piece that they are willing to talk about and then draw and present to the world.

"It's a case of wanting to find the right people that can put forward what Louis and Alex want to present to the world. A Brush With Comedy is in-depth, it's intelligent, the exploration of art and comedy, comedy actors and comedians who also paint. It's never been a comedy documentary. It's actually quite a serious documentary ... It's really interesting to see the passion that a lot of comedy artists have for this artform."

Last seen presenting Netflix's The Great Flower Fight with Natasia Demetriou, Reeves has fronted a number of art-themed documentaries for BBC Four, most recently Jim Moir's Weird World Of Video Art and Bauhaus Rules With Vic Reeves.

Proctor also revealed that The Glove, Reeves's long-gestating film with comedy partner Bob Mortimer about Michael Jackson's glove, has found its director in Tim Kirkby, whose credits include Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, Fleabag and Mike Myers's untitled forthcoming project for Netflix.

"The Glove is happening", the producer maintains.

"With this virus, everybody's projects have been pushed and everybody who is going to be in it, scheduling this movie around our director, our cast, it's one of those things where you've got to get it right. And to get it right, it means that we're going to shoot it next year."