'I'd love to have a massive smoke with George Michael' – Dawn Mellor's Wham-tastic mural

'I'd love to have a massive smoke with George Michael' – Dawn Mellor's Wham-tastic mural

Linked by scandal … Mellor at work on the George Michael mural. Photograph: Studio Voltaire

Next week sees the unveiling of a huge, nine-metre-high George Michael mural – and it still might not be big enough.

Since the pop star died on Christmas Day 2016, at the age of 53, his legend has only grown, backed up by his catalogue of titanium-plated hits, his evolving image as a gay rights icon, his acts of discreet generosity and, as his cameo on Extras proved, the fact that he seemed a good laugh.

No pressure, then, for the artist who is daubing the whole thing on a wall just off the main street in Kingsbury, the north London suburb where the singer grew up.

“I’m kind of underestimating how popular he was,” says Dawn Mellor, the 50-year-old artist who has taken on the task.

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/09/george-michael-mural-dawn-mellor-wham-tastic-smoke