Comedian turned artist Joe Lycett: ‘If it’s too earnest a painting, it’s a failure’

The standup is building on his success at the Royal Academy summer exhibition with a book of his work, Art Hole. So has he gone all highbrow? The art reveals all …

Despite being best known as a self-proclaimed “incredibly rightwing” comedian, Birmingham’s Joe Lycett is also a& prolific artist. Although some of his painting is already well regarded – Guardian critic& Jonathan Jones singled out his portrait of Gary Lineker for praise during last year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition – the new book Joe& Lycett’s Art Hole marks the first time that his work will be unleashed en masse on the public.

“I did a book years ago called Parsnips, Buttered, which had illustrations in it,” says Lycett from Alabama, where he is concluding a tour of all the American Birminghams. “I& really enjoyed doing it, but the one thing that I was frustrated about was& the quality of the finished thing. The publishers printed it on very standard paper. It made me realise that I really wanted to make a lovely& object.”