Rowan's inspired by clown painting

Rowan McCabe at Gallery Oldham. Rowan created a poem titled My Pierrot based on the painting Bonjour Pierrot.

A POET took inspiration from a painting in Gallery Oldham to create a unique poem focused on mental health.

Charity Art UK challenged North East-based poet Rowan McCabe to create an original piece of work from a painting of his choice.

Rowan, from Heaton in Newcastle upon Tyne, chose "Bonjour, Pierrot!", a painting by Ethel Wright, for his work entitled "My Pierrot".

He said: "The minute I saw it, it struck a chord. The idea of the clown who's hiding a lot of sadness ­- I think we all know someone like that.

"I've got to admit, I didn't know anything about Pierrot until I finished the poem.

"The odd thing was, once I found out how influential this character had been on culture for hundreds and hundreds of years, it didn't actually make me change anything I'd already written.

"I think that's the sign of a good painting ­- I didn't need to know the backstory, I could feel it from the start."

The character of Pierrot was originally created in the 17th century and first appeared in a Molière play, Dom Juan, performed by a group of Italian players in Paris.

Over the centuries Pierrot has typically been defined by his naivety and his lovelorn nature ­- the trusting fool, always in pursuit of someone who turns him down ­- but the artist decided to create a piece based on the character to introduce the character to an English audience.

Rowan's poem based on the painting tells the story of a young man who is "the legend of the party" but who hides his true feelings like "an actor behind a curtain".

The poem states: "the last one throwing shapes on the dancefloor, every time. He greets each group of high-heeled girls with cheesy chat up lines. And never talks about his life ­- you'll ask, but he won't mention."

Rowan, who became the world's first and only Door-to-Door Poet and knocks on the doors of strangers and writes poems based on what is important to them, said: "Mental health problems have affected me, my family, and my friends.

"There's nowhere near enough help for people who are struggling and can't afford private healthcare.

"What the painting really reminded me of was that sometimes a person can seem really silly and fun, but be hiding a lot underneath the surface. It felt important to talk about that."

The poem, which was performed by Rowan at Gallery Oldham and filmed, was part of Art UK's "Art Speaks" project which challenged four poets to create an original piece inspired by a painting of their choice from the UK's public art collection.

The poems covered themes such as addiction, immigration, identity and mental health, and were filmed at museums and galleries across the country including Oldham, Bristol, Dulwich and Birmingham.

Andrew Ellis, director of Art UK, said: "The Art Speaks films were designed to make publicly owned art relevant to everyday life.

"Gallery Oldham was the perfect setting for Rowan McCabe to performs his poem 'My Pierrot' in response to the gallery's 'Bonjour, Pierrot!' by Ethel Wright.

"We hope that this short series of films will inspire audiences to look at the artworks featured in a different light and, perhaps, inspire other creative responses to art in public collections."

Art UK is the online home for every UK public art collection, with their website aiming to open up the nation's art for enjoyment, learning and research.

The charity creates digital scans of artworks, tells the stories behind the art and creates opportunities for public interaction with art both online and offline.

Art UK already features more than 200,000 oil paintings by some 38,000 artists on display in museums, universities, town halls, hospitals and other civic buildings across the United Kingdom.

Rowan will be performing his poetry at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, from 4pm to 5pm at the Banshee Labyrinth every day (except Thursdays).

To view the video performance of Rowan's poem visit https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-speaks-rowan-mccabe.