Hang-Up Gallery is delighted to introduce Drawing on History, the enigmatic exhibition from talented London based artist Mark Powell. Using nothing but a simple Biro pen, Powell creates incredibly detailed portraits of the elderly. His chosen canvases are antique documents dating from 1763 onwards. His aim is to portray what can be produced with the most basic tool whilst creating a relationship between the canvas and image.

Powell collects numerous documents on his travels, from love letters sent during the First World War to Parisian newspapers. He then delicately draws on the faces of the elderly from his visual diary of sketchbooks and photographs. Each piece conveys a history and a rich sense of journey. Commenting on the outcome for the show at Hang-Up, Powell says, “I want to make people realise what you can do with the simplest things, and leave a real sense of ambiguity".

Since graduating, Powell’s unique drawings have been in high demand. Exhibiting in the USA, Australia and Europe, his shows have been extremely successful leaving the artist with numerous requests for interviews, commissions and future solo shows worldwide. Mark Romanek, writer and director of the film One Hour Photo is amongst Mark’s growing collection of international admirers, describing his portraits as “Amazing work”, and that he “can’t wait to have one in [his] collection.”