Shane MacGowan was in good spirits as he partied with Kate Moss at the launch of his new art exhibition at the Andipa art gallery in London’s Knightsbridge on Tuesday.
The iconic Pogues singer, 64, instructed fans to ‘bring lots of money’ to the the exhibit where his works are set to sell for up to £32,000.
Acclaimed musician Shane, who has suffered physically from years of binge drinking and drug abuse, could be seen sitting in his wheelchair at the exhibition – named The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold – as supermodel Kate, 48, posed next to him.
He puffed on a vape and sipped on a glass of bubbly, although it is not known if the drink was alcoholic or not.
Glitterati: Shane MacGowan, 64, was in good spirits as he partied with Kate Moss, 48, at the launch of his new art exhibition at the Andipa art gallery in London’s Knightsbridge on Tuesday
Shane was dressed in a smart blue suit for the evening which he teamed with a crisp white shirt and black shoes.
He shielded his eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses as he sat in his wheelchair as fashion icon Kate and his wife Victoria Mary Clarke stood behind him.
Kate looked chic in a black mini dress and played with her hair while resting her leg on the arm of Shane’s wheelchair, while chatting to journalist Victoria.
Out on the town: Acclaimed musician Shane, who has suffered physically from years of binge drinking and drug abuse, could be seen sitting in his wheelchair at the event
Night out: Shane was dressed in a smart blue suit for the evening which he teamed with a crisp white shirt and black shoes
Victoria, who previously claimed in 2016 that Shane was sober for the ‘first time in several years’, opted for a unique look for the evening, wearing a spikes gold glittered headpiece to go with her silver-grey metallic dress with puff sleeves.
Kate looked delighted to see Shane and Victoria as she arrived at the exhibition, with the fashionista hugging them before waving her hands in the air as she danced in front of Victoria.
Victoria was seen smiling with her mouth open wide as she danced in the street with Kate while holding a bottle in her hand.
Out on the town: Shane has suffered physically from years of binge drinking and would often perform on stage drunk but is now sober
Raucous: Kate looked delighted to see Shane and Victoria as she arrived at the exhibition, with the fashionista hugging them before waving her hands in the air as she danced in front of Victoria
See no evil, hear no evil: Kate could not help but laugh as Victoria wore her crown down over eyes as the pair larked about outside the gallery
In style: Kate wore a stylish black and gold patterned coat with a long black and white scarf while she carried a handbag with her
Fashion focus: She opted for a make-up palette of natural hues to highlight her pretty features and accessorised with a pair of gold earrings
Kate wore a stylish black and gold patterned coat with a long black and white scarf from Shane’s wife Victoria’s Angels collection. The Metatron Cashmere scarf in collaboration with Frenckenberger and costs £950.
She opted for a make-up palette of natural hues to highlight her pretty features and accessorised with a pair of gold earrings.
The trio was joined by a number of other stars, including singer Bob Geldof who cut a casual figure in a blue and black jacket and a brown hat.
Laugh-a-minute: Kate and Victoria could be seen laughing and joking about as they stood behind Shane at the bash
All smiles: Shane could be seen grinning as he sat in his wheelchair as Kate and Victoria stood behind him
Snap happy: The trio were happy to pose for pictures at the event, which runs from Wednesday 12 October until Saturday 29 October
Relaxed: Shane was seen puffing on a vape while clutching a glass of bubbly as Kate stood behind him
Good pals: Kate and Victoria were deep in conversation as the launch party got into full swing, with the pair taking themselves off to the side
Bob was joined by fashion designer Pam Hogg who showcased her quirky sense of style for the evening.
She wore a navy blue Adidas tracksuit with a print of brown autumnal leaves which she teamed with a black pinstripe waistcoat.
Pam wore a bright green shirt and a pair of grey suede boots, and her bright yellow hair was on display while she wore a pair of sunglasses.
Shane MacGowan: From decades of drink and drugs to his quiet life in a Dublin flat
MacGowan (second from right) performing with the Pogues in 1985
MacGowan was born to Irish parents in Kent and grew up in the south-east of England.
He went to the prestigious private school Westminster School but was expelled in his second year.
The star began drinking at the age of five, when his family gave him Guinness to help him sleep, and his father frequently took him to the local pub while he drank with his friends.
His first spell in rehab when he was just 17, after he became addicted to valium.
In 1999, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor reported him to the police for snorting heroin.
MacGowan later said the move was a wake-up call that helped him to stop using the drug.
The singer would also often perform drunk on stage and was pictured on several occasions looking worse for wear after drinking.
MacGowan spent nine years as the lead singer and songwriter for the hugely popular Pogues between 1982 and 1991 and then also fronted the band on and off between 2001 and 2014.
The Irishman and his band famously collaborated with Kirsty MacColl for their 1987 single Fairytale of New York, which reached number two in the UK charts and remains one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time.
MacGowan continued performing despite years of trouble with alcohol and drugs that saw him lose all his teeth, until he received new implants in 2015.
The star is now wheelchair-bound after breaking his pelvis in a fall in 2015 and lives in a Dublin flat with his wife Victoria Clarke.
MacGowan and Clarke have been together for 35 years, with the journalist supporting him through his drink and drug battles.
After his 2015 fall, he took a tumble a second time and broke his knee. Clarke said MacGowan finally became sober in 2106 after a lengthy stay in hospital. He then opted to stay away from alcohol when he came home.
The star has said he now sleeps in a ‘sumptuous’ hospital bed and needs daily help from carers due to his mobility issues.
Since his accident he has struggled to write, record or perform and has now turned his attention to art.
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Friends in high places: The trio was joined by a number of other stars, including singer Bob Geldof who cut a casual figure in a blue and black jacket and a brown hat
Fashion set: Bob was joined by fashion designer Pam Hogg who showcased her quirky sense of style for the evening
Stand-out style: She wore a navy blue Adidas tracksuit with a print of brown autumnal leaves which she teamed with a black pinstripe waistcoat
Looking good: Pam wore a bright green shirt and a pair of grey suede boots, and her bright yellow hair was on display while she wore a pair of sunglasses
Affection: Pam was seen planting a kiss on the cheek of Shane as she greeted him at the party
Red carpet arrival: Irish model Jasmine Guinness looked stylish in an animal print top which she teamed with a hot pink skirt and a red jacket
Before heading out for the evening, Shane was filmed for an Instagram video by his long-term partner Victoria Mary Clarke, with the star opening the clip by singing a line from the 1969 song Come And Get It by Bandfinger.
He warbled: ‘Here it is come and get it, but you’d better hurry because it’s going fast,’ adding that the track would be played on the launch night of the exhibition.
Shane went on to express his gratitude for wife Victoria for helping him with the art display, before telling his social media followers to ‘bring some money, lots of money’.
All black: Scottish musician Bobby Gillespie wore a black suit for the evening which he wore with a red checked scarf
Celebration: Shane could be seen surrounded by his loved ones as they celebrated the launch of his exhibition
Meeting and greeting: The star stopped to sign autographs for fans gathered outside the London party
Party people: Shane’s wife looked delighted to be celebrating her partner as they posed with Pam Hogg
He added of his art pieces: ‘They won’t get cheaper,’ before Victoria joked: ‘They’ll be like Picasso before you know it.’
The artworks have been brought together in a 502-page, limited edition monograph which includes a critical essay written by the Sunday Times’ art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, along with contributions by Victoria, actor Johnny Depp and Shane himself.
The monograph will also feature unpublished lyrics by the singer and photographs and essays by Shane written while he was a schoolboy.
Hollywood star Johnny said of Shane’s work: ‘Shane’s visions will speak for themselves. Sometimes they will invoke wonder, sometimes they might appear decidedly threatening, but, regardless of medium, his work will always be full of poetry.’
Creative: Shane instructed fans to ‘bring some money’ ahead of the launch of his new art exhibition on Tuesday evening
Big bucks: Woman with Bottle (The Measure of My Dreams), created in 1999, is a double-sided work in pen and ink on paper, on sale for £32,000
Works: Bono Drinking Guinness (left), created in 2017, is selling for £8,000, and The Boxers (right), created in 1990, is selling for £12,000
Devoted: Shane’s partner, journalist Victoria Mary Clarke, has helped wheelchair-bound put the exhibition together
Colour: Thai Teeny Bopper (left) was created in 1990 and is on sale for £13,000, while Hell’s Ditch (right), also created in 1990, is being shown at the exhibition
Interpretation: Mixed media on paper piece, entitled The Sunset, which was created in 1993, is selling for £5,000
Portrait: So Long Yankee, a piece created using felt tip marker, watercolour and crayon on paper in 1990, is selling for £12,000
Tome: The artworks have been brought together in a 502-page, limited edition monograph which includes a contribution from Hollywood actor Johnny Depp
Johnny is a close friend of Shane and his wife Victoria, with Johnny having produced the 2020 film Crock of Gold, which looks back the musician’s eventful life – from his childhood in Ireland with big dreams of pursuing a career in music, to moving to when he was 13 before becoming an icon.
The gallery said in a statement: ‘Andipa is delighted to present The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold, an exhibition by the acclaimed singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan.
‘His work, which has been described by the art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, as possessing a “demented, wild, fascinating, scabrous kind of energy”, will be represented by twenty small-scale drawings mostly dating from the 1980s.’
Debauched: The star has suffered physically from years of binge drinking and would often perform on stage drunk
The pieces of abstract art are on sale for a variety of prices ranging from £5,000 + VAT to £32,000 + VAT.
Meanwhile Shane said of his work: I was always into drawing and painting, and I used to do all sorts of things, hurlers, IRA men, teenage punks hanging around in cafes, you name it…
‘When I was about 11 or 12 I got heavily into studying history of art and looking at old paintings and modern paintings, I knew a lot about art. It’s one of the only O Levels I got, was in art.’
Shane has suffered physically from years of binge drinking and would often perform on stage drunk.
He began drinking at the tender age of five, when his family gave him Guinness to help him sleep, and his father frequently took him to the local pub while he drank with his friends.
Wife Victoria announced in 2016 that Shane was sober for the ‘first time in several years’ and explained how his drinking problem stemmed from years of ‘singing in bars and clubs where people go to drink and have fun’.
She claimed his spiral into alcohol addiction happened due to the introduction of hard drugs, such as heroin.
Journalist Victoria said the singer became sober after a length stay in hospital when he was suffering from pneumonia and a hip injury, and Shane continued his sobriety journey when he returned home.
During a lengthy career he is perhaps best known for 1987 Christmas single Fairytale Of New York, a collaboration with the late Kirsty MacColl.
Old times: During a lengthy career he is perhaps best known for 1987 Christmas single Fairytale Of New York, a collaboration with the late Kirsty MacColl (pictured)
Source: | This article originally belongs to Daily Mail
