The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Famous UK faces appear all along street hoarding
● Island building project is decorated by artist for local services
It is a novel way to display your talents – on a hoarding around a new building project in Shetland.
But a number of paintings of figures from British life – from the Queen and Stephen Hawking to Amy Winehouse and Naomi Campbell – have gone on display in Lerwick, with the pieces on sale to raise extra money for Shetland’s NHS.
A total of 20 “faces of the UK”, painted by local artist Balazs Onhausz, are now lining the boarding around the flats being built on King Harald Street after being installed on Sunday.
The paintings are based on the colours of the Union Flag and made
Finlay Hall is asking for help with his latest poem from recycled materials, with the canvases created from bags used in salmon farming.
“The idea of making a series of famous people in the UK came when I was trying to apply for the citizenship first about two years ago,” said Onhausz, who is originally from Hungary.
“So I thought if I pass it I want to make an exhibition about these faces just to kind of celebrate in a way. I thought it’s actually a great opportunity to try to make a charity show for the NHS in this hard time and appreciate their work.
“To add to the story I never passed the ‘Life in the UK’ test, but I know exactly who these people are on the paintings since I was a kid and some of them my childhood idols.
“So anyone who’s interested to buy any of the paintings please contact me on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll donate the income to NHS Shetland.”
Mr Onhausz added that he has the relevant permission to display the paintings for up to 28 days.
He previously hit the headlines for painting graffiti with a social distancing message on a listed war monument.
The Batman and Jokerthemed artwork in the ruins of the Second World War coastal battery at the Ness of Sound in Shetland was described as “unacceptable”.
Mr Onhausz apologised.