Joe Lycett paints viral shop shutter grandmother for Birmingham exhibition

Birmingham comedian and artist Joe Lycett has painted a colourful tribute to Anne Hughes, the Welsh grandmother who went viral after she was caught in a set of shop shutters and lifted into the air, for his exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

The painting is part of Everything Must Go, Lycett's first major solo art exhibition, which is "about things which are no longer with us".

A moment watched by millions

Anne Hughes was left dangling 7ft in the air outside the shop where she worked in Rhondda Cynon Taf, in a moment captured on CCTV that was viewed tens of millions of times on social media. Her interviews with BBC Wales and the footage were viewed at least 58 million times on the BBC News Instagram account alone. She died in 2025.

Lycett, a fan of the video, shared the painting on Instagram. "My painting in tribute to the great Anne Hughes, who brought joy to millions when she was hoisted into the air outside the best-one she worked at in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales," he wrote.

"She took the experience in good spirit, saying in an interview with the BBC, 'my grandchildren ask me why I am holding on to my trolley and I say I just don't know'."

"My nan is in a museum"

Her granddaughter, Lilly Hughes, a midwife who was very close to her grandmother, said the painting meant her nan's legacy had lived on.

"I thought she's back from the dead, she's risen again and now my nan is in a museum," she told the BBC. "It's lovely, I would have it on my wall any day."

"Every time that it's mentioned people laugh about it. And then it just brings a smile to my face because I think 'oh nan, if you were here today'," she said. "It's absolutely hilarious, so it definitely helps with the grieving process."

"I find Joe really funny and the fact that he's now painted my nan is a bit mind-blowing," she added.

Nostalgia, grief and loss

Over the past 12 months, Lycett, 38, has been making works that the museum describes as celebrating "nostalgia, grief and loss". They range from a sculpture of an extinct woolly mammoth to an abstract painting of the TV personality Cilla Black, who died in 2015.

The works, including the Anne Hughes painting, are made in a child-like style in bold, bright colours. Lycett has long combined comedy with art, and the exhibition brings that side of his work home to the city where he grew up.

Visiting the exhibition

Everything Must Go is at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, in the heart of the city centre. The museum's website has opening times and booking details for anyone hoping to see the painting in person.