Scots artist Stuart McAlpine Miller launches paintings featuring 'darker interpretation' of Harry Potter novels

Scottish contemporary artist Stuart McAlpine Miller has launched his latest body of work, comprising 11 paintings based on his fine art interpretation of the Harry Potter novels, and licensed by Warner Brothers.
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The new Revelations: A Portrait of Magic collection depicts characters from JK Rowling’s famous literary series, including Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley as well as Harry Potter himself.

The “unique and complex” artworks have been six years in the making altogether, each taking on average four to six months to complete. The final painting, titled Towards a Powerful Conclusion, was finished in 2020.

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Revelations: A Portrait of Magic is billed as conveying the “powerful and immemorial message of ‘good against evil’, whilst simultaneously challenging whether such a polarised dichotomy can indeed exist”.

Mr McAlpine Miller says the collection focuses on the main personalities of the Harry Potter characters, representing both positive and negative qualities. Picture: contributed.Mr McAlpine Miller says the collection focuses on the main personalities of the Harry Potter characters, representing both positive and negative qualities. Picture: contributed.
Mr McAlpine Miller says the collection focuses on the main personalities of the Harry Potter characters, representing both positive and negative qualities. Picture: contributed.
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The works have been created in the Ayrshire-born artist’s “signature abstract style, [and] the art harnesses the power of bold colours and multi-layered imagery to deliver a narrative as compelling as that which inspired the original works”.

Additionally, the paintings – with titles also including A Complex Nature and Hypnotic Reveal – are said to represent popular Harry Potter characters in a new, darker light, and representing visual interpretations of the stories at their finest.

The original oils-on-canvas paintings, which measure 46 by 50 inches, recently debuted at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre, and are on sale, with price on application. A percentage of every purchase is being donated to Lumos Foundation, a charity that fights for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world.

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A series of framed, limited-edition prints and hand-embellished authentics of each original are also now on sale, with a collection of merchandise set to follow over the coming year.

Mr McAlpine Miller said: “I’ve long admired JK Rowling’s work as a cultural phenomenon – iconic and inspiring for so many generations – so it was an easy decision to collaborate on this collection with Warner Brothers.”

Adaptation

He added that his most recent work, Lost Lives//Split Personalities, draws on the “complex” behavioural changes induced by music. “Human behaviours change as we learn to adapt to new situations, and we often take on a different persona by way of a coping mechanism.

"Revelations draws a parallel in a sense with this ethos by focusing on each of the main personalities of the Harry Potter characters, drawing out their two sides. Both good versus evil is represented, with the more complex layers of their characters suggested on canvas. Each one is a portrait of the Harry Potter collective featuring a prominent character, if you look closely behind the characters, the body of Harry Potter is reflected in the layers.

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“I’m really proud of this work, it’s a new way for an adult audience to access and experience a darker interpretation of the Harry Potter works which will appeal to many age groups.”

Mr McAlpine Miller, who has been compared to Andy Warhol, is also currently exhibiting with new editions to his Lost Lives//Split Personalities collection at the Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel in Edinburgh, before it tours other hotels. His career includes serving as artist-in-residence at The Savoy Hotel, London, collaborating with Pele to create a series of paintings to celebrate the legendary footballer’s 75th birthday, and exhibiting at prestigious galleries around the world, in, say, Hong Kong and New York.

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