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Kate the angel... now that's a change
By Valentine Low, Evening Standard 08.02.08
'Vulnerable': Kate Moss is a red-eyed, straggly-haired angel in Paul Karslake's portrayal
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This is Kate Moss, but not as we know her. The supermodel known for her drug-taking, unsuitable boyfriends and love of partying is portrayed as ... an angel.
The picture is by Paul Karslake, the artist brother-in-law of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, and forms part of his new West End show about celebrity.
Karslake, 49, has painted Moss, 33, once before, when she asked him to show her with Elvis Presley.
"That was when she was with Pete Doherty and she wasn't really on this planet," he said. "She has got it together a bit now. This is a portrait with a bit of a twist - nobody knows she is really an angel.
"I wanted her with hair soaking wet and straggly, and red-eyed, which you would never have with her being a professional model.
"I've done her all vulnerable: she is quite sweet, really. In some ways she is a victim of celebrity culture. She has been abused by the media."
The exhibition, Ideas And Idols, also includes pictures of the Rolling Stones, Michael Caine and Twiggy as well as past Hollywood stars such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
"It's a study of the way celebrity has evolved," said Karslake. "I've always wanted to know what it is that turns a celebrity into a true icon."
• Ideas And Idols is at the Scream Gallery, Bruton Street, from 22 February.
Reader views (1)
I, personally, would hate to be a celebrity, as you are never left alone to get on with your life without someone supervising you. Just think of what it would be like having your parents, the vicar, your teachers, the doctor and hospital, the police and lawyers all knowing your every move! I dare say, you'd run away screaming! I know I would. Somewhere there has to be trust: without it we are lost. And to me, Kate looks lost and unhappy. Would I want that for any child of mine? Certainly not!
- Carlyle Braden, Croydon, UK
