Masked artist series raises money for art therapy
Grayson Perry, Jenny Saville and Camille Walala are photographed for a new portrait series by Joanna Vestey, in support of art therapy charity AT The Bus
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Capturing art-world and creative figures at home in their living room, at their desks and by their windows, British photographer Joanna Vestey’s portraits are a marker of our strange times. Wearing their masks, her subjects, including Grayson Perry, Jenny Saville and Camille Walala, have been photographed as part of a series to raise money for art therapy charity, AT The Bus.
Before the most recent UK restrictions, Oxfordshire-born Vestey travelled across the country to document life under lockdown. Relying only on her tripod, camera and a stool, Vestey shot her subjects using only natural light, creating portraits that are remarkable in their intimacy.
Portait image of Grayson Perry wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
The masked portraits are now on sale as limited-edition prints in an auction that aims to raise £150,000 for the art therapy programme delivered by AT The Bus.
Based inside a double-decker bus with custom-built studio spaces, the programme runs creative sessions for young people aged 7 to 18 during term time. The bus, whose exterior was designed by Walala, takes up residence in school grounds across Oxfordshire and London throughout the year, providing a safe space for students to attend classes where they learn to create and transform objects.
Portait image of Camille Walala wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
Portait image of Joy Labinjo wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
With young people’s mental health being heavily impacted by the pandemic, the opportunities offered by the programme are more vital than ever.
‘AT The Bus helps children rediscover their habits of creativity,’ says Saville, a patron of the charity. ‘The process of being utterly present in the moment, where all your concentration is given to a particular creative task – it’s when humans play their best game, can love life, and themselves.’
Portait image of Dame Zandra Rhodes wearing a mask shot for Joanna Vestey's Masked portrait series
Alongside Saville, Perry and Walala, the impressive line-up of portraits includes Joy Labinjo, Zandra Rhodes, Richard Wentworth, Fiona Banner, Philippa Perry, Dawn French and Cornelia Parker.
Each limited-edition print is signed and is part of a run of only 50, costing £150 per print and available to purchase at atthebus.org.uk. The funds raised from the project will enable AT The Bus to deliver 5,000 hours of art as therapy.
INFORMATION
See the full limited edition portrait series at atthebus.org.uk
-
Hermès perfume Un Jardin à Cythère is a cinematic exploration of a Greek garden
With Un Jardin à Cythère, Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel recreates the sensations of crunchy grass, watery pistachios, and windswept olive trees
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Exploration, travel, adventure: the lowdown on Herno’s S/S 2023 collection
A closer look at Herno’s latest collection, which riffs on the brand’s heritage with a new fashion-focused lens
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Constance Guisset makes her Fuorisalone debut with a scenographic design party
Salone del Mobile 2023: ‘Surprise Party! Carte Blanche à Constance Guisset Studio’ (17 April – 13May 2023) is the first Milanese solo show of the French designer
By Maria Cristina Didero • Published
-
Adam Pendleton and Venus Williams unite to preserve Nina Simone’s childhood home in New York auction
Major contemporary artists will auction works in May 2023, with funds supporting the preservation of Nina Simone’s childhood home
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
‘George Club: Twenty Years in Mayfair’ offers art by David Hockney, Tracey Emin and more
Christie’s hosts an online charity auction of original artworks from the soon-to-reopen George in Mount Street, London, in support of the Caring Family Foundation
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Buckhorn Sculpture Park: inside the art paradise dreamt up by collectors Sherry and Joel Mallin
As legendary art collectors Sherry and Joel Mallin prepare to sell their upstate New York home – and the star-studded collection occupying Buckhorn, its onsite sculpture park – we go behind the scenes of this art treasure trove, and the extraordinary life, work and spirit of the Mallins
By MZ Adnan • Published
-
New York photography show sees cultural icons – from David Hockney to Maya Angelou – in unguarded moments
‘Face to Face’ at New York’s International Center of Photography (27 January – 1 May 2023) sees cultural icons shot by Tacita Dean, Brigitte Lacombe and Catherine Opie
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
Outside the box: Tracey Emin and Frank Bowling join artists in Bonhams’ charity sale for Cure Parkinson’s
Bonhams’ Cure3 selling exhibition includes NFTs and 2D works alongside signature Perspex cubes, from Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare, Frank Bowling, Random International and more, on display 13-17 January 2023, London
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
Inez & Vinoodh on 35 years of radical photography, being ‘two brains, one person', and judging our Design Awards
Dutch photography duo and Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023 judges Inez & Vinoodh discuss image manipulation, design aspirations, and capturing the legendary Julianne Moore
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
A poignant exploration of the lives of transgender and gender non-conforming older people
To celebrate Pride Month 2022, we revisit photographer Jess T Dugan’s series of intimate portraits of transgender adults over 50, first explored by Wallpaper* in this 2020 article on the occasion of an exhibition at Minneapolis Institute of Art
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
Chris Levine on creating his iconic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II: ‘I was the wild card’
For the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, we spoke to artist Chris Levine about the making of his iconic hologram portraits of Her Majesty. He reflects on two years of preparation, that fateful day in Buckingham Palace, and Lightness of Being, the outtake that almost outshone the original
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Last updated