An early riser, Jim Moir often finds himself at work in the studio before the break of dawn. And somehow, it would be easy to imagine that on most mornings his celebrity alter-ego, the comedian Vic Reeves, casually joins him as he closes the terrace door behind him, crosses the lawn and heads towards the garden studio at his home in Kent; a green rural part of England, south-east of London. What the two are talking about as they embark on the short walk, no-one will likely ever know, but if Reeves’ works are a visual projection of the conversations, it’s a bizarre exchange of discoveries and current affairs, filled with kindhearted and peculiar humour.

Reeves’ absurdity and investigative themes belong in the same sphere as Gary Larson, the American cartoonist behind ‘The Far Side’ who became a household name among readers of newspapers in the eighties. Whereas Larson’s hilarious drawings of ever-pondering what-ifs speak to a universal understanding - what would it have looked like if a young dinosaur were collecting toy figures of humans - the works of the British artist are often closer to the home audience.

With his abstract brush strokes and ink drawings, the hosts from X-Factor, movie stars, royalty and other celebrities become caricatures, historic highlights re-examined in a new context, and interactions between humans and wildlife explored.

On the surface the viewer may at first see curious suggestions, but underneath lies shear brilliance on many levels. In ‘Octobear’, Reeves shows us a blue octopus with its eight arms, one holding a ripe banana, and its head replaced by a bear’s head, which seems to clarify the wordplay in the title. The artist’s long commentary below the image enlightens the reader about evolution of the species and how they feed and reproduce - only to mention at the end that the month of October is named after the ‘beguiling monster’. At this point most viewers sit back with the notion that the idea for this piece most likely did not come from some abnormal Darwinism, but rather from a random misspelling of the month, leaving one question: is the title pronounced ‘Oc-tobear’ or ‘Oc-to-bear’ ?

Undoubtedly, it is through his painting and drawings that we get to know the real “Vic Reeves”, where creative schemes are taken a bit further without him having to roll back the concepts to reach and please a TV-audience demanding quick calories.

A fascination springing from the occasional glances through the windows of his studio - perhaps a diversion from the morning drawings - Reeves has been captivated by birds throughout his practice. A collection of twelve lithographs titled ‘Birds and Their Interactions With Humans’ focuses on real and fictional birds, some of which appear in amusing fabricated situations with celebrities.

“Imitating a ‘smew’ as it passes over his house in the direction of the railway lines” is one piece featuring the Soviet-born ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in an unflattering pose; and in Katherine Hepburn, the portrait of the American actress is accompanied by a commentary : “Following a morning imbibing in several foreign teas, began to see numerous sausages floating around a peregrine falcon” , affectionately referring to the woman of strong convictions.

Other pieces from the series are more minimal. Crested Tit on an interestingly shaped branch with a look-alike Mohican hairstyle; The Goldfinch with its golden feathers and implied capitalistic tendencies by adding ‘$’ and ‘£’ next to its name; and a singular Rook that appears to be marching in a bola hat. In one of the studio drafts of the Rook, Reeves had originally added the text “Birds have developed their front legs, over hundreds of years, into wings. In medieval times, they were, quite simply, pigs.. Each of the eight birds are a splendid caricature of its wildlife species, possessing a scheming human demeanour as it observes the viewer.

Surreal and humorous like his comedy, these works are beautifully crafted and sublimely absurd, and once again prove that he is a serious visual artist who will take you to another dimension with his perplexing imagination.

Although Reeves is predominantly known as a comedian, he has always been primarily an artist, having studied art at Sir John Cass College in Whitechapel in the mid-eighties before moving to New Cross where he started a performance art piece at local pub The Goldsmiths Tavern which he called ‘Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out’. Including three solo exhibitions at Eyestorm, the artist’s works have been exhibited widely in Britain and accepted four times at the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London. The extensive collection of drawings and paintings created over three decades has been published in the books ‘Vast Book of World Knowledge’ (2009) and ‘Vic Reeves Art Book’ (2020).

As part of the exhibition ‘My Family and Other Freaks’ at Eyestorm in London in 2007, a series of lithographic editions were released in an exclusive collaboration with Vic Reeves. Eight of the works show singular birds as observed through the Reevesian comic filter - and four works are portraying illustrious personalities interacting with birds in an unexpected fashion. Each edition of 50 is printed as lithographs and signed and numbered on front.

You can find the collection of twelve lithographic editions, and see them in more details, on Vic Reeves’ artist page here.