Russell Tovey has said it has been “inspiring” to see artists creating during a pandemic - suggesting 2020 will produce powerful new works.
The actor and keen art collector, who hosts the Talk Art podcast with Robert Diament, said people “returned to art” during both national lockdowns because art, television and film were “vital” in times of crisis.
He said works created now will be like a “time capsule” - predicting that because of the pandemic, global politics and the Black Lives Matter movement it will be “the best art we have ever seen.”
Tovey, 38, said: “Everyone has returned to art be it television or film or [visual] art. At every stage throughout history when things have been bad, it is culture that has got people through.
Russell Tovey
Getty Images"Art now will be like a time capsule. It has been really inspiring to see everyone getting creative and responding. The art that is going to come out of Covid, and because of Black Lives Matter and politics - it’s going to be amazing. It will be some of the best art we have ever seen. And that is because it is vital and it is necessary.
"People are still creating and will continue to keep telling stories.”
The star, who is best known for roles in Being Human, The History Boys and Years and Years, is a long-time art collector - and said he was “proud” of how he had turned his passion into a “second career” with his podcast and an upcoming book, Talk Art: Everything you wanted to know about contemporary art but were afraid to ask.
Speaking about working during 2020, he said: “I mean there has been hardly any acting. I am proud of having other passions and enthusiasms and also making something out of them. What has started as me being a massive [art] geek is now a second career.”
Tovey in Sister
Tovey did star in ITV thriller mini-series The Sister, which finished last month and was filmed before lockdown. He said of the show - which also starred Bertie Carvel and Amrita Acharia: “It was really tough, running around crying and screaming in the woods. It was exhausting. But that cast, it was just the dream.”
Tovey was speaking as an ambassador for the Bombay Bramble Ripe For Discovery campaign - which saw three up and coming artists commissioned to create bottles for Bombay Sapphire Bramble gin.
Alfie Kungu, Charlotte McDonald and Rose Electra Harris were selected by the panel, which included Tovey, with their bottles available to buy now from Selfridges.
Tovey said the campaign was a lifeline to young artists. “It is a tough time, especially if you are just establishing yourself. A lot of the time you have to be seen to be noticed and that isn’t going to happen for a while.
"We went for ones [designs] that were visually striking and that you can really see the hand of the artist. They have an energy about them.”
