Metamorphosis: Johnny Vegas and Emma Rodgers at the Walker
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Actor and comedian Johnny Vegas has a degree in Art and Ceramics. Three decades after he graduated, he returned to the studio after a chance meeting with local sculptor Emma Rodgers. They have made new work with bronze, clay and 3D printing, shown alongside the historic objects that inspired them.
Their display explores the idea of metamorphosis, meaning a mental or physical transformation. A common theme is transformation through flight. In Emma’s work, tragic mythical figure Icarus is transformed through the wings his father made for him. Johnny shows a fragile female figure breaking free from her fears through flight.
Emma Rodgers is known world-wide for sculptures that capture the essence of the subject. Among her public commissions in Liverpool, she made the statue of Cilla Black in Matthew Street and created the world’s largest Liver Bird.
After training in ceramics, St Helens based Johnny Vegas found that “life got in the way” and art became “an unfinished part of my story”. He recently rediscovered his artistic talent, saying that flight, faith and fear of failure are subjects currently most fluent in his work.
Further information:
Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
- Entry is free; there is a charge for some exhibitions
- Location Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EL
- How to get there By train: Liverpool Lime Street – Wirral and national services, Moorfields station – Northern line services (Southport – Hunts Cross), Liverpool Central – Wirral and Northern line services; By car: the Walker is in the city centre, close to the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel and Lime Street Station – follow the directions to Liverpool Lime St station where there is a car park just opposite the Walker Art Gallery in William Brown Street; By bus: nearest bus stations are Queens Square bus station and Liverpool One bus station
- Further information 0151 478 4199
