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Ed Sheeran said that he plans to sell several Pollock-style paintings he created for just over £900, or $1,220, to raise money for his foundation
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The musician, whose parents work in the art world, said he created the paintings on his break between albums and touring
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The Ed Sheeran Foundation will reportedly receive 50% of the funds from the sales and the money will go to support “music education grassroots organizations and state school music departments”
Ed Sheeran’s art may not be “Perfect” — but it’s going to a good cause.
The “Shape of You” singer, 34, revealed in an interview with The Guardian that he plans to sell Pollock-style paintings he created on break between albums and touring to raise money for his foundation, which supports music education.
“I was back and forth on tour last year, and I used a lot of my downtime in the UK to paint. I’d run to a disused car park in Soho each morning, paint, then run home and I’d do that daily until I headed back out on tour again,” Sheeran told The Guardian.
heni/Instagram
Ed Sheeran
Sheeran is teaming up with Heni, the company that represents artist Damien Hirst, to sell his works of art, called the Cosmic Carpark Paintings, which were created using household paint and large canvases.
Photos he shared with The Guardian show him dressed in white coveralls as he used a paint brush to splatter red paint dots and lines — similar to paintings by Jackson Pollack — onto a black canvas. Another snap showed Sheeran covered in paint as he stood in front of one of his creations.
The singer said he plans to sell each of the paintings for just over £900, or $1,220. Those interested in seeing his paintings will be able to do so at an exhibition at the Heni Gallery in central London from July 11 to August 1.
While the paintings are new, his love for art has always been something that has been around. He shared with The Guardian that he “started painting at the end of my Divide Tour in 2019” and “it’s something that I’ve used as a creative outlet ever since.”
He used Hirst’s spinning wheel to create the artwork for his album Divide, according to The Guardian, and created the artwork for other EPs, albums and singles, including for his 2021 single “Afterglow.”
The musician’s artistic passion also appears to be inherited, as he shared: “Growing up, both of my parents worked in the arts, so I’ve always been naturally drawn to it and enjoyed studying it in school.”
heni/Instagram
Ed Sheeran’s paintings
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Now he is using his art to raise money for The Ed Sheeran Foundation, which will reportedly receive 50% of the funds from the sales of his artwork. According to the foundation’s website, the money raised goes to support “music education grassroots organizations and state school music departments to provide inclusive, high-quality music education.”
His foundation also advocates for a focus on music education — something that he and other U.K. musicians have asked the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to do by setting aside a quarter of a million pounds to help fund music education.
This isn’t the first time that the singer has donated artwork in order to raise money for charity. He previously sold a £40k, or $53k, painting for charity, and even did a raffle in 2021 for the Cancer Campaign in Suffolk, bringing in about £50k, or $67k, per The Guardian.
Read the original article on People
