Andrew Tift: The Faith Project

This exhibition brings together a series of commissioned portrait drawings by Walsall-based artist Andrew Tift, depicting people from Birmingham of different faiths, beliefs and generations. Through his remarkable attention to detail, Tift offers a powerful reflection on the city’s rich cultural and religious diversity.

As the artist explains, “One Tuesday morning in 2018, as I had just dropped my daughter off at school, the idea suddenly and “divinely” dropped, fully formed from nowhere.  Portraits of people with a religious faith in Birmingham. I let the idea ferment for a few years and it still felt like a perfect, simple and clear idea and I had a huge appetite to make it happen. I set about visiting churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, halls and homes in the city with a plan to make intimate and contemplative portrait drawings of people through chance encounters. Humanising  Faith through portraiture on a grass roots level. Realistic portraits of real people, made by an agnostic - bringing together the rich and diverse faith communities in the city, all under one roof and so it began”.

A figurative realist artist for nearly 30 years, Tift is known for his intensely detailed portraits, often spending hundreds of hours on a single drawing or painting. His commissions have included Tony Benn, Glenys and Neil Kinnock, Eric Sykes, Noddy Holder and Cormac McCarthy. He won First Prize in the BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery for his portrait of Kitty, Lucian Freud’s first wife.

Kindly supported by Westhill Endowment. With thanks to players of the Postcode Lottery and Arts Council England. 

© Edna, 2025, Andrew Tift. 

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