Vonn Stropp
| Vonn
Stropp is one of 123 pseudonyms used by a reclusive man born in Stanwell,
England, in 1962. The son of an alcoholic, schizophrenic Irishman
and an English mother, he describes his childhood as "being grey,
overcast, an eternal hangover." Vonn Stropp's parents were ill-equipped
financially and emotionally to create a nurturing environment for
their four sons and daughter, so Vonn Stropp 'brought himself up'
and taught himself to draw and paint. At the age of eleven, he began
having ecstatic, visionary experiences. Vonn Stropp left school at
sixteen, and after various menial or labouring jobs, he began to paint
obsessively. He claims that the entire experience of painting is immensely
painful, likening the artistic process to being "crucified,"
but that he has no choice. Occasionally, he says, he experiences "vistas
of calm sunshine in the room I am working—a golden
light." These circumstances do not, however, reflect his rather
dark, claustrophobic bed-sit in Hounslow.
Vonn Stropp's work is represented in many museum collections world-wide, these include The Collection de l'Art Brut and the Bethlem Royal, where his drawings are being displayed alongside those of Richard Dadd. Musicians Michael Stipe and Jimmy Page are also ardent collectors of this extraordinary artist's work. |
For further information and a list of works currently available |
