An Ode To Christian Joy Print

This new and exclusive print has been created to celebrate the reopening of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s iconic Round Room.

Emily Sparkes’s An Ode to Christian Joy is a self-portrait painted by the artist while studying at Birmingham School of Art. It was acquired by Birmingham Museums Trust in 2015. It deals with the uncomfortable “truths” of European portrait painting, both in terms of contemporary views on gender, sexuality, and status that characterised such artworks, as well as the prolonged immobility required of its sitters. The costume worn in the painting is a replica of an outfit made by the American fashion designer, Christian Joy.

The painting has been included in multiple landmark shows at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery including Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender and Identity (2 December 2017 – 15 April 2018) and Women Power Protest (10 November 2018 – 31 March 2019). It is currently on display in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s newly refurbished Round Room.

Emily Sparkes (b. 1992, Worcester) lives and works in London. She studied at Birmingham School of Art before joining the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited in several national and international solo shows including Flowers Gallery, London and the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Norway.

• A3 Giclée art print
• Inspired by the collection at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
• Printed at the Royal College of Art, London

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Giclée print on Somerset Enhanced Velvet Paper 225gsm

Image size : 209 x 313 mm

Paper size: 297 x 420 mm (A3)

Unframed

Signed by the artist on the front of the picture

Printed at the Royal College of Art, London

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