Hendrix mosaic portrait on show

A unique mosaic of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix made from more than 5,000 plectrums is on display at London’s Abbey Road Studios.

The portrait consisting entirely of Fender plectrums was created by Manchester-based artist Ed Chapman to raise money for Cancer Research UK. It is on the display ahead of the charity’s Sound & Vision music heritage auction tonight where it has a guide price of between £12,000 and £16,000.

Mr Chapman has previously created tile mosaics of footballers Eric Cantona and George Best and two huge pieces of art made out of coins of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Fulham boss Mark Hughes.

The Hendrix mosaic took the 39-year-old artist several days of solid work at his studio and measures 120cm x 100cm.

He said: “Jimi Hendrix is a guitar maestro and nobody played a Fender guitar like him.

“I decided to use plectrums to create a portrait of him because I like experimenting with different materials and textures and I think it is a fitting tribute to the musician.

“There’s no better place for it to go on sale than at a legendary home of music and I hope it raises as much as possible for charity.”