Jim Moir | RedHouse Originals

Artwork

William IV And His Icecream Hairdo

George III In His Straight Jacket

Charles II Hiding In The Oak Tree

Cromwell Hurls His Mace To The Floor

Henry V And His Special Face Arrow Tool

Edward II With His B.F. Piers Gaveston

King John Loses His Jewels In The Wash

Richard I And His Lion Punch-Up

Edward And Mrs Simpson And Herr Hitler

Avocets And Chicks On The Shore

Two Mandarin Ducks Flying Over Football Pitch

Biography

“People think that I am a comedian, but art comes first.”

Jim Moir

Born in Leeds in 1959, Jim Moir first came to prominence as a comedian, actor, and musician with the stage alias, ‘Vic Reeves’. His television sketches with long-term writing partner Bob Mortimer have solidified his status as a national treasure; however, long before the character of Vic Reeves brought success, Moir was a practicing artist.

After completing an engineering apprenticeship, he studied Fine Art Foundation at Sir John Cass College, London in 1983, which led to a curator position at The Gardner Gallery and his first exhibition in 1985. Moir had applied for Goldsmiths but was rejected on the basis that he was already ‘too accomplished’: “I wanted to go to Goldsmiths but they wouldn’t let me in so I just walked in and started using the facilities and went to the lectures. I did that for three years.”

Moir’s unwavering passion for image-making and sculpture has been integral to his career; through set design and props on shows including Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and Shooting Stars, his artwork has remained ever-present on television screens as the backdrop to his comedic vision. Since presenting Turner Prize Moments in 2011 he has tipped the balance of focus from performance towards visual art.

The influence of Pop Art giants from the 1960s such as Andy Warhol, Peter Blake and Gilbert & George is evident within his paintings, both thematically and stylistically. Often dreamlike and peppered with satirical humour, Moir’s fantastical compositions have also been compared to the Surrealist and Dadaist movements of the 1920s and 1930s.

Moir’s visual language is a plethora of the imagined as well as the experienced – recognisable within the apparent absurdities are an abundance of cultural references; depictions of rock’n’roll icons, beloved cartoon characters, religious iconography and historic moments, fictitiously portrayed to exaggerate and parody.

Moir’s debut exhibition with RedHouse was the first within his native county of Yorkshire, aptly titled Yorkshire Rocks & Dinghy Fights in 2022. This successful exhibition was followed by Birdland in September 2024 which focussed on the mercurial artist’s favourite subject, captivating visitors and featuring in the first season of Sky Arts’ ‘Painting Birds with Jim & Nancy Moir’.

RedHouse is excited to present the next installment opening this October; Jim Moir: What A Load Of Monarchs, which includes paintings and prints that will feature in Charlie Higson’s forthcoming book ‘Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History Of Our Kings & Queens’.

The artist lives and works in the south east of England.

“Painting is what I always liked doing and if you can get the opportunity to live your life doing what you like doing then grasp it”