The first-ever feature documentary on acclaimed London-born artist Chris Gollon (1953 – 2017), Life in Paint explores his pioneering use of music to create new imagery; from lyrics by Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Talk Talk, to direct collaborations with musicians such as Yi Yao, Eleanor McEvoy and Thurston Moore, who has hailed Gollon’s “creative and modest genius.”

A sensitive and innovative painter of women, Gollon also expressed a powerful common humanity via his androgynous figures, and there has been a surge of interest in his work since his untimely death just seven years ago. Via found footage and BBC clips, the film shows Gollon disarmingly revealing his creative process and innovative techniques. Moving montages of Gollon’s images, combined with music by artists including The Skids, Gavin Bryars, Sleaford Mods, Yi Yao and Eleanor McEvoy, provide insights into how Gollon fused the two art forms, and how each energized and changed the other.