MDX Graduate has his first ever pencil portrait erected in Parliament
MDX Graduate has his first ever pencil portrait erected in Parliament
14/12/2017
An evening of firsts
The first pencil portrait to hang officially in the House of Commons was unveiled on 5 December. The portrait is of the late Bernie Grant MP and the artist is MDX alumnus, Kelvin Okafor. Middlesex awarded Bernie Grant a posthumous Honorary Doctorate in 2001.
Kelvin is the first Black artist to be permanently exhibited in the House of Commons and the stunning pencil portrait will be placed outside the Attlee room in Portcullis House. It was unveiled by Leader of the Opposition, the Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn MP.
Kelvin, an MDX Fine Art graduate raised in Tottenham, North London, has won numerous awards for his highly detailed drawings which each take more than 180 hours to create. Okafor was catapulted onto the world stage in 2013 and has continued to captivate both the general public and seasoned art collectors ever since and the Parliamentary Art collection commissioned this work under the guidance of David Lammy MP.
Working with nothing more than charcoal and graphite, the young north Londoner captures the inner essence of his subjects whether they are famous celebrities, friends or family members. The Guardian put Okafor alongside past masters Vermeer and Caravaggio.
Kurt Barling, Professor of Journalism at MDX, was invited to show an abridged version of his BBC biography of Grant at the unveiling. Two of his journalism students covered the event as part of their course assessment. He said: “The event was extraordinary on many levels. It was exhilarating to witness the unveiling of the work of the first Black artist to permanently exhibit in those hallowed halls and the fact that he’s an MDX graduate shows the qualities of leadership we nurture in our students. How we celebrate diversity, practice inclusion, and transform potential into success.
“It was also a fantastic learning experience for two MDX Journalism undergraduates who were given exclusive access along with the BBC to film the occasion.”
Check out the timelapse video of Okafor's work below:
MDX Graduate has his first ever pencil portrait erected in Parliament
Kelvin is the first Black artist to be permanently exhibited in the House of Commons and the stunning pencil portrait will be placed outside the Attlee room in Portcullis House. It was unveiled by Leader of the Opposition, the Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn MP.
Kelvin, an MDX Fine Art graduate raised in Tottenham, North London, has won numerous awards for his highly detailed drawings which each take more than 180 hours to create. Okafor was catapulted onto the world stage in 2013 and has continued to captivate both the general public and seasoned art collectors ever since and the Parliamentary Art collection commissioned this work under the guidance of David Lammy MP.
Working with nothing more than charcoal and graphite, the young north Londoner captures the inner essence of his subjects whether they are famous celebrities, friends or family members. The Guardian put Okafor alongside past masters Vermeer and Caravaggio.
Kurt Barling, Professor of Journalism at MDX, was invited to show an abridged version of his BBC biography of Grant at the unveiling. Two of his journalism students covered the event as part of their course assessment. He said: “The event was extraordinary on many levels. It was exhilarating to witness the unveiling of the work of the first Black artist to permanently exhibit in those hallowed halls and the fact that he’s an MDX graduate shows the qualities of leadership we nurture in our students. How we celebrate diversity, practice inclusion, and transform potential into success.
“It was also a fantastic learning experience for two MDX Journalism undergraduates who were given exclusive access along with the BBC to film the occasion.”
Check out the timelapse video of Okafor's work below: