Kendo Nagasaki back on canvas

Ever since Sir Peter Blake painted masked wrestling legend Kendo Nagasaki’s portrait for the BBC “Masters of the Canvas” Arena television documentary, the Samurai Warrior has been looking for another artist to create a further interpretation of his mysterious image, and this commission has found its way to Burslem-based artist Rob Pointon.

Trained at The Prince's Drawing School in London and with work in the private collection of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Devonshire, Rob has painted charity portraits of local stars such as Gordon Banks, Nick Hancock and Sam Plank as part of a 48-hour portrait marathon. It was at this event in December 2007, while Rob was painting 90-minute portraits of local people back to back for 2 days and nights, that his work was seen by Atlantis Chronos Goth, Kendo Nagasaki’s mysterious occult priestess, and she felt it merited being brought to the attention of Kendo Nagasaki.

Rob describes himself as “a figurative artist”, and in partnership with Karen Sayle of Big Red Studio (also of Burslem), Rob has developed a technique of animating oil paintings so that they move and evolve on-screen. After Kendo Nagasaki had seen this work, it was agreed that a moving oil-painted portrait of the wrestling star would be produced, and that it would be done at Nagasaki’s remote abandoned country mansion. The mansion’s cellar walls now tell a new story – a unique wall-painted animation of the life-story of Kendo Nagasaki, after which the oil-painted portrait itself comes to life!

The movie of the animation will have its first screening at the the Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke On Trent on Saturday 20th September 2008 as part of the LDN wrestling event which will be televised for Sky TV’s Fight Channel (427). The main event of a packed bill of international wrestling will be Kendo Nagasaki’s long awaited return to the Victoria Hall ring in a tag match which will see Nagasaki and his partner take on LDN Champion Yorghos and Nagasaki’s old enemy from the days of ITV Wrestling, Liverpool’s Robbie Brookside, in a special ladder match.

Tickets are priced at £10 adult (£8 concessions) and can be purchased by calling 0870 060 6649.