The Art of PR proves we’re a multi-talented bunch

Creative Moment talks to the brains behind a project celebrating creativity within the PR industry.

Adrian Lee, senior creative at Boldspace, is the man behind The Art of PR, the first exhibition to collectively present the work of established and emerging artists from the UK public relations sector.

The exhibition, which culminated last November, featured former PRs who have gone on to launch successful professional art careers including ROSL 2024 Rising Star and Venice Biennale Fellow Tonye Ekine and portraitist Stella Tooth, who has been commissioned via the RP and is resident artist at the Half Moon Putney and David Emmanuel Noel, an interdisciplinary artist and advocate for cross-disciplinary collaboration, whose artwork has been featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Kennedy Center Washington DC, and Affair of the Arts, Culver City.

The Art of PR also presented talented artists currently working within PR including Sky Arts’ Portrait of the Year quarter-finalist Nadia Padayachy, Joe Thomas, Ruby Quince, Emily Rose Halladay, Justine Bower, Francesca Hales, Ade Lee, Alexandra Heybourne and Simon Moore.

The ethos of the exhibition was to shine a light on PR’s creativity. Whilst the advertising industry has a long-established association with art and artists, its younger sibling, PR and communications, has never previously celebrated its artists.

We spoke to Adrian Lee about the exhibition’s MO and impact…

What inspired the project?

Despite being a creative sector, the PR industry didn’t seem to have any outwardly facing celebration of its creativity. 

There are lots of competitive awards events that pit agency against agency but nothing that collectively showcases the industry’s creativity to the outside world.

Also, I really admire people who make art, and they often do it on top of a full-time job. I have total respect for anyone who dedicates their personal time to follow creative passions and produce beautiful things. It takes commitment and often for little or no external reward or recognition. I wanted to create a platform to support and celebrate some of these brilliant people.

I believe making art should be supported wherever possible as it is beneficial in so many ways. Good for personal development and mental health, good for professional performance, good for society. Having an open industry arts platform might encourage people to get painting or even be a springboard to a professional career as an artist.

What were the results?

12 talented artists came together for a week-long exhibition - nine emerging artists currently working in PR and three who used to work in PR but have now become successful full-time artists.

We attracted high-quality sponsors Boldspace, Swanaford Wines and Britvic. The private view event was attended by more than 500 visitors who came through the gallery door. Lots of artworks were sold, in some instances this was the first time an artist had ever sold a piece of their work, which was great.

What did you learn from the experience?

So much. I make my own art (film photography) but am not usually organising large exhibitions. I bluffed my way largely on everything from gallery hire to curating to sponsors.

I learnt that if you have a genuinely good idea, if you put it out there and go for it then you can make it happen and build something new.

What’s next?

Feedback from artists, attendees, industry and media has been incredibly positive and The Art of PR will be back in 2025. Last year I had to find artists, sponsors and get media attention from a standing start. Now the concept is proven, we can take it to the next level.

Artist images supplied courtesy of Adrian Lee, The Art of PR.

Artwork Credits

The lead image artworks are: 
Stella Tooth (Ex BBC & Sky PR) 'John Humphries'
Joe Thomas (Clarion) 'Where to go'
Ade Lee (Boldspace) 'Figures over the hill'
Nadia Padayachy (Grayling) 'Dreamy Tangle'

Tonye Ekine, a former corporate comms executive and MikeWorldWide staffer, graduated in Fine Art from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and also gained an MA in Fine Art (drawing) from Camberwell Art College. Named an ROSL Rising Star, he has exhibited at several shows and is now a full-time artist. Tonye’s oil paintings explore the concept of identity through masks, shedding light on the way we interact and hide our true intentions behind masks in our everyday lives.

David Emmanuel Noel MCIPR has managed a variety of public-facing campaigns for UK Government departments, multinational companies, and institutes including the Department of Education, NHS Estates, Royal Institute of British Architects and Responsible Finance (formerly the CDFA). He is co-founder of Occhi Arts and Entertainment, a New York and London-based consultancy supporting emerging artists, fringe film festivals, and international art fairs. An interdisciplinary artist and advocate for cross-disciplinary collaboration, his artwork has been featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Kennedy Center Washington DC, and Affair of the Arts, Culver City, to name a few.

Stella Tooth, a former senior PR at Sky News and BBC News, is a London-based portrait artist with over 10 years’ experience in traditional oil painting. Stella studied at The Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea, undertakes private commissions including for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and is resident artist at the Half Moon Putney.

Nadia Padayachy has worked with PR firms for 13 years and is marketing manager at PR firm Grayling. A quarterfinalist in Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year 2024, Nadia has previously exhibited in the Rising Tides Exhibition at The Gallery at the Playroom in Archway, London, and contributed to the NABS Art Auction, supporting mental health for professionals in marketing, media and advertising. Nadia’s acrylic paintings delve into the raw, unfiltered experiences of motherhood, capturing the authentic beauty of everyday life.

Joe Thomas has worked as an award-winning creative and corporate comms leader in agency and in-house environments for brands including Virgin Media, Google, itsu and Aldi. Alongside leading Creative Direction for Clarion Communications, Joe advises a number of brands, organisations and PR agencies. Joe will be exhibiting his latest studio work inspired by a love of cartography which explore perceptions of psychological and geographic place as well as hosting a series of live portraiture sittings throughout the exhibition.

Justine Bower’s career includes over 20 years in broadcast publicity at Channel 4, CNN, Sky News, UKTV, a BBC Studios company, and she is currently communications director at media giant Global. Having previously exhibited in New York, Justine creates digital portraits and abstract paintings with a signature vibrant colour base.

Ruby Quince is a creative director at Burson, the PR agency created by the union of Hill & Knowlton and Burson Coln & Wolfe in 2024. Ruby’s work is formed of collections of similar image types that emerge from cyclical habits and hobbies, created using Procreate and an iPad.

Simon Moore has held various creative director roles including at Cake, Mischief, Havas and Porter Novelli and freelances for various agencies. Simon studied Fine Art in Newcastle upon Tyne and has exhibited his work at various times including participation in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery.

Francesca Hales is an account executive at Clarion Communications. Having studied Art at university, she specialises in print design and has since been named in Artfinder’s top 20 UK/US artists. Francesca creates ‘organically articulated’ travel prints using Adobe Illustrator.

Emily Rose Halladay is a creative at entertainment agency Stellar. Emily studied advertising at Central Saint Martins and paints impasto oil landscapes and abstract artworks.

Alexandra Heybourne has spent over 20 years working for media companies in-house and at agencies, is presently a director at a major agency, alongside being a founding mum for PR Mums and on the board of the Greater London CIPR committee. She is a specialist in entertainment, media and arts PR and has worked with some of the world’s most recognised photographers. Her photography passion started as a teenager with her going on to study photography at school. Post university she was a photo-journalist for a Birmingham ezine, progressing to a freelance editorial photographer before entering the world of PR when her pictures became a hobby. During her career she has photographed a range of faces from football legend Geoff Hirst for Sheengate Publishing to Alan Davey, former controller of Radio 3, for the Guardian. As a hobbyist her photos explore the art of the every day, from brutalist buildings looked at from a different perspective to human connection observed from the crowd. For this exhibition she is teaming up with Teddington Photographic for the print work.

Ade Lee has worked at various PR agencies, is a former director of publicity at Sky, and senior creative at Boldspace. A film photographer who studied darkroom techniques at Greenwich Community College, Ade works exclusively with vintage Rolleiflex cameras and black and white film, developing and printing in his darkroom in Charlton, London.