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Street Art: John Sheehy’s expressive works have hit Somerset House

The Big Issue’s Street Art page gives talented, marginalised individuals an outlet for creative expression

‘I SHALL ALWAYS BE THERE’

By John Sheehy

It’s been a tough road for Sheehy, but the regular Irish-born contributor to Street Art has seen his expressive works gain much-deserved recognition and acclaim.

After experiencing periods of homelessness and suffering mental health problems, John began to paint in 1999, aged 51, at a creative group run by The Big Issue in Vauxhall, London. His first major exhibition was staged at London’s Studio Voltaire in 2017, and he’s also had pieces displayed at Somerset House and The British Museum. Last year John sold three paintings and gifted two other pieces to The Arts Council Collection, the UK’s largest national loan collection of modern and contemporary art.

Support our street artists over at The Big Issue Shop.

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When most people think about the Big Issue, they think of vendors selling the Big Issue magazines on the streets – and we are immensely proud of this. In 2022 alone, we worked with 10% more vendors and these vendors earned £3.76 million in collective income. There is much more to the work we do at the Big Issue Group, our mission is to create innovative solutions through enterprise to unlock opportunity for the 14million people in the UK living in poverty.

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