
British artist Josie McCoy paints famous actresses and characters from film and television. Working from film stills, McCoy’s portraits beautifully capture fleeting moments and present contemporary icons in a vulnerable, unfamiliar light. Her unique approach entails applying numerous successive layers of oil paint in pastel colours, lending her subjects an ethereal glow reminiscent of TV screen.
She has painted numerous characters and celebrities including Leeloo of The Fifth Element and Jane Smith of Mr and Mrs Smith, as well as creating studies of the cast of Desperate Housewives. Increasingly acclaimed, the BBC commissioned portraits of the cast of Eastenders in 2007, from which McCoy’s Cindy Beale featured as major plot device in a Friday night episode of the show.
McCoy is a graduate of Central St Martins, London. She took part in the Castellon Painting Prize 2005 at Municipal Art Centre of Alcorcon, Madrid and exhibited in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, London. She has exhibited widely, having shown in London, Paris and Milan.
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Charlotte, 2004
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Letal, 2007
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Gloria, 2007
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Zahara, 2007
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Leeloo IV, 2004
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Gabrielle Solis II,
2006
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Galadriel, 2005
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Mandy Lawrence III,
2005
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Josie Packard, 2006
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Lynette Scavo, 2006
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Suzie, 2004
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Satine, 2005
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Leeloo XII, 2008
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Satine III, 2004
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Satine I, 2004
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Bree Van De Kamp, 2006
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 McCoy, Josie ◊
Satine II, 2004
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