He painted galaxies in a forgotten carpark. Between sold-out arenas and sleepless travel, Ed Sheeran turned concrete floors into canvases—channeling silence, splash, and stardust into his debut art collection. Now, for the first time, fans can collect his original pieces and support music education across the UK. But hidden in one corner of the Soho lot… is a message only a handful of people know how to find.
Ed Sheeran’s Cosmic Carpark Paintings release offers the public a first opportunity to collect original artworks and edition prints by Ed Sheeran, which are being sold to raise funds for the Ed Sheeran Foundation, a UK-wide initiative aimed at providing inclusive, high-quality music education for every child.
Ed Sheeran’s painting journey began in 2019 after his record-breaking Divide Tour ended. Using his spare time to create original artworks, in 2020, he used one of his early creations as the official artwork for his single ‘Afterglow’. Skip forward to 2025, the Cosmic Carpark Paintings release offers the public their first chance of collecting his original artworks and edition prints. Inspired by celestial patterns, and in-keeping with his well-documented, expressionist splash painting style, Sheeran painted his debut collection in a disused carpark in London last year in-between the international leg of his Mathematics Tour.
Sheeran originally created the artworks for his nearest and dearest, and used the process as a creative outlet in-between music releases. However, after catching up with his close friend Damien Hirst, Hirst encouraged Sheeran to put on his own exhibition. Sheeran decided to use it as an opportunity to raise money for his foundation, with both Sheeran and Hirst agreeing that it would be a fun and interesting way of showing how art itself can give back to the arts.
“I started painting at the end of my Divide Tour in 2019 and it’s something that I’ve used as a creative outlet ever since. When I was growing up, both of my parents worked in art, so I’ve naturally always been interested in it, and I always enjoyed studying art at school. I was back and forth on tour last year, and I used a lot of my downtime in the UK to paint. I’d run to a disused carpark in Soho each morning, paint, then run home and I’d do that daily until I headed back out on tour again. I told my good friends Damien Hirst and Joe Hage about the paintings, and they encouraged me to put on my own thing, so I decided I’d use it as a way of raising funds for my Ed Sheeran Foundation, which supports music education in the UK and helps fund grassroot music projects, schools and equipment, so all kids have access to music. I want to thank Damien and Joe for everything they’ve done for me on this exhibition and I’m delighted to be putting it on. Ed x”
