LONDON.- Sotheby’s London: Robbie Williams and Ed Godrich’s debut exhibition, ‘Black and White Paintings’ opened in Sotheby’s New Bond Street Galleries. Under the moniker Williams Godrich, the exhibition features 14 never-before-seen paintings. The show marks the very first time their works have been exhibited together publicly and will remain on view until 25 May, 2022.

A partnership built on, in their own words, “friendship, communication, respect and trust”, Robbie and Ed immediately bonded over a love of Abstraction and Outsider Art, as well as music, which encouraged them to collaborate together as an artist duo. In five years, they have created a body of work with an aesthetic deeply rooted in a nostalgia for the 1990s rave and music scene: vibrant, euphoric and pulsating with life.

Robbie and Ed work on multiple paintings at one time, with both artists constantly on the move, developing the work in tandem with one other while building layers of individual detail particular to each of them. For the duo, this is a key component to their artistic process and as the painting develops, the intricacy and character of the painting comes to life, with hundreds of characters evolving and ultimately merging into one.

Speaking about their paintings, Ed stated: “All the characters are in our head and they come to life as the painting develops. Sometimes a character will emerge by mistake, or part of a figurine will happen by chance because of the direction of a single brushstroke. Robbie might see something completely different when it’s his turn to draw, that’s why our works take on multiple narratives. He’ll add a bit and I’ll add a bit until we end up with a completely unique being.”

All 14 paintings are also titled after popular female names from the 1980s, from Linda to Donna, Paula to Tracy, Lorraine and Trish. Robbie said: “We like the obscurity of these names, which were highly popular back in the day, but are not so common today. For us, they are the names that define the eighties, an influential era, which has inspired our art.”

“Our art has been five years in the making. Nobody has seen this body of work publicly before, but now, we’re ready to share our creative vision with the world. I hope people will feel a sense of positivity when looking at our work. I want them to be intrigued, to feel curious, and spot new characteristics every time they look back at each painting.” --Robbie Williams

“We’re excited for everyone to see our work and are thrilled to be partnering with Sotheby’s. The paintings will find a new life beyond our control - encountering the works altogether will be a voyage of discovery for us as artists as well as the viewer.” --Ed Godrich