Rising British art superstar Will McNally has captured and reconstructed iconic scenes from Hollywood classics in his nostalgic neon-splattered paintings, but his appeal spreads further than just the usual gallery-wanderers and art-collectors; instead, he’s caught the eye of film studios, professional sports stars, celebrities and the public alike.
Unlike any art you’ve seen before, Will has reimagined the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street, The Dark Knight and a variety of gangster movies in muted highlighter tones that come across like nostalgic noughties throwbacks, creating show-stopping pieces that can be appreciated by even the amateur eye. This wide appeal has seen the value of Will’s art rise a hefty 58% in the last six months alone, landing him several commissions from Hollywood studios and producers.
Not all of us have time to study up on brush techniques, after all – but we were all rooting for Leo DiCaprio to finally win the Oscar and we have all watched far more comic book film adaptations than we should probably admit. Will is a huge film fan himself, saying ‘I’m a huge movie buff, and I just love creating pieces that you can cherish and put on your wall, that will stand out and make people go “wow” when they come to your house’. There’s a sentiment we can all get on-board with!
One of Will’s latest pieces to attract attention is a painting of DiCaprio – playing the Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street – in which quotes from the film are cleverly written into the pinstripes of his signature pin-striped suit. It’s been racking up the likes on Instagram, and has made him consider taking on more movie scenes. He says, ‘Films are my comfort zone, and I love sitting down and capturing what I get from them on the canvas. The challenge is creating an epic piece people will remember, that uses famous scenes to make them instantly memorable – while bringing something unique to each piece that takes it to a new level’. Will is now considering ideas for a similar piece with a scene from Pulp Fiction.
Most recently, Will has taken on custom commissions from Universal and Warner Bros. The latter were some pretty lavish pieces, transforming his imagery from canvas to full characters: ‘I’ve been commissioned by Warner Bros to do special edition, customised busts of Mortal Kombat characters for their clients. I did one of the character Scorpion, where if you turned off the lights it’d glow in the dark and look like the skull was on fire’. Impressive stuff!
Will’s start in the art world wasn’t atypical. He first picked up a paintbrush aged 15 to paint a portrait for the Kray twins as a favour for a family member. Entirely self-taught, he explains ‘When I was 15, I used to go to my auntie’s house, and one time she was doing a charity event and looking for ways to make money. I told her I could paint something, which surprised her. So we went and bought two canvases and some paint, and then I started painting the Krays. My auntie couldn’t believe I could paint something like that, so we went to the charity with it, and it sold for a few hundred quid. At the time, as a young lad, I was thinking that was a lot of money, and that was the drive when I was that age – thinking about the amount of sweets I could buy with that!’.
Admittedly now, he could definitely pick up a few packs of Haribo; although as the value of his paintings go up, they may begin to become less accessible to mainstream consumers. For now, they’re still wildly affordable considering their esteem in the art world.
You can check out Will’s latest work alongside that of retro collage creator Joe Webb in an upcoming virtual exhibition at the Sebastian Gallery. The exhibition will be held entirely online to keep attendees and artists safe, and those interested will still be able to purchase pieces as they would in person. No prior art knowledge is required to check out the show, and it’s open to all – but some film knowhow wouldn’t hurt!
