Interview
Drew Provan
Drew Provan is a practising doctor in London working as a consultant haematologist. Using his scientific and medical knowledge, he has created art around molecules used in clinical medicine and for recreation. Drew brings in aspects of his anatomy training featuring body parts and other dark imagery. The whole mix is called The Art of Science.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I was trained in science then medicine and I work as a practising physician in London. I have been fascinated by molecules since childhood and have been designing molecular artwork for my own textbooks. I love pop art and wondered if I might merge my love of science with pop art - hence all my work pretty much is based on molecular structures. I represent these in an unusual way, ignoring all conventions of traditional chemistry giving my atoms bizarre lurid colours to make them pop. I have created art around painkillers, drugs I use for my patients as well as hard-core recreational molecules. More recently I have started to create darker images featuring anatomy dissection, body parts - all designed to shock the viewer. But at the same time I want them to appreciate the anatomy and see it presented in a fun and artistic manner.”
What inspires you?
“Modern art in general, Warhol, Hockney, Lichtenstein, Damien Hirst - anyone who uses wild colours and subjects. When younger I was heavily into Impressionists but less so now. I love Warhol the most because he takes mundane objects and reimagines them in fairly wild art. In general I love colour and good design - furniture, aesthetics, illustrations, typography but all with the common denominator of clever design.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My work is heavily medical - drugs I prescribe, from simple painkillers to recreational molecules such as LSD, cocaine, poppers and many more. I have also created pop art featuring vitamins, largely because I believe in health and prevention so I want people to see the simplicity and beauty of many of the molecules we talk about but have no concept of what they look like. I had intended to pursue a career in surgery at one point in my training and this features in the images of dissected body parts and other somewhat disturbing imagery.”
How would you describe your work?
“My work is a visual representation of medicines, drugs and other molecules. Pop art treatment of science. Artists have featured some of these in their work but as far as I am aware I am the only working physician who also creates pop art. My work would look great as interior design pieces with zero knowledge of chemistry or medicine or may stir people enough to make them go and look at chemistry again, and explore these incredible molecules. I am truing to get people excited about chemistry and medicine possibly pursuing a career in these subjects.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstein mainly.”
“My work is a visual representation of medicines, drugs and other molecules. Pop art treatment of science.”
What is your creative process like?
“If I am creating a molecule I get the structure from a site called pubchem (large database of all molecules). I import the file into an app and manipulate this to get the best version of the molecule then I grab the image after which I modify heavily in Illustrator and Photoshop adding many layers and effects so that I get the most vivid colours and backgrounds possible. For the anatomy figures I use images of body parts and add these to my main image and colour everything by hand digitally. The same is true of the molecular work - all images are greyscale then I add all of my own colours to get the best image possible. I print on German Etching paper (giclée) or Chromaluxe (aluminium). Sizes vary depending on the client's needs.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist has many roles - to entertain, provide background imagery for interior design, capture history, educate and create drama through their work. Great art should make you think and question the world around you. It should create a desire to learn more about the subject, the artist, the historical events or whatever the subject of the art may be. The evolution of art ultimately will be digital with artificial intelligence playing a large role in art creation. AI is becoming dominant in scientific and other writing, illustration, presentation design, logo design and fine art. The speed of progress is phenomenal and we must embrace this.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“My recent exhibitions include: Parallax Art Fair, Kensington, London, 2022; “Stars”, Brunswick Gallery, London, 2022; Influx “Endless”, Notting Hill, London, 2022. I also had an exhibition late 2023 with Galleria Moderna, and I received the Boomer Art Prize in 2022.”
