Mystery artist back with new library exhibition

A mystery artist whose identity has remained unknown for a number of years is back with a new special exhibition.

The artist, known only as 'The Hat', gained notoriety during the Covid-19 pandemic when various coronavirus-inspired works were left at locations across Suffolk.

The elusive artist previously described themselves as a 62-year-old man with a "love and talent for art" on their website.

Framlingham Library has now launched an exhibition of The Hat's artwork, but manager Vivica Bamford said she still did not know The Hat's identity.

Ms Bamford said the library had been receiving works from The Hat "for quite a while".

"We had those over a period of time and we've auctioned them either to raise money for our individual library or for Suffolk Libraries, the charity," she explained.

"After we sold the last one, we suddenly had an email saying, would we take 30 pictures?

"A bit later came the message that it might be slightly more than 30, 'do you think you could still fit them in?'"

The library launched an exhibition with 40 of The Hat's pieces on 1 July.

"We are so thrilled because what we've got here is not just recent work that has been done specifically with this exhibition in mind, we've got some works that go further back," Ms Bamford continued.

"It's always interesting to look at the dates, the timings, the subject matters, the titles and imagine what might have been going on in The Hat's life at that time."

The exhibition runs until 9 August in the library's Courthouse Gallery and includes a new painting featuring four hedgehogs that has been donated to the library.

The library will sell the painting to raise money for future improvements.

As well as this, the library will receive 35% of the sales of the other paintings.

Ms Bamford stressed she did not know the identity of The Hat.

"I've not met The Hat... I converse with an Instagram account and an email account, both are in the name of 'Who Is The Hat'," she said.

In 2020, many people debated whether The Hat was actually local superstar Ed Sheeran due to similarities in style with the singer's own artwork.

However, no confirmation of this has ever been announced by either.

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