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Alasdair Gray at 80: Seven artworks

23 December 2014

The influential work of Alasdair Gray is being celebrated in a special exhibition at Glasgow School of Art. It is part of a season of events marking the 80th birthday of the Scots artist and writer. Art school Exhibitions Director JENNY BROWNRIGG tells BBC Arts about seven of her favourite Gray pieces.

Cowcaddens Streetscape in the Fifties, 1964

Oil on hardboard, 121.5 x 224cms

Place is very important in Gray’s visual work, in particular Glasgow. Whilst we can recognise the tenements and location from the title, the city is transformed by Gray’s imagination with each street corner and window containing a different story. Gray went on to be employed by The People’s Palace to be a ‘City Recorder’ (1977-78), capturing Glasgow’s changing streets and people.

A Unique Case, 1983

Illustration from ‘A Unique Case’, ‘Unlikely Stories Mostly’

In the slightly macabre short story ‘A Unique Case’, The Reverend Dr Phelim MacLeod has an accident with a glaziers van. A sheet of glass cuts off the side of his head and right ear. His friend visits him in hospital and sees that this accident reveals many rooms inside the Rev’s head. The Alasdair Gray Season could be said to bring together the rooms inside Gray’s head.

Cover Design for the novel ‘A Working Mother’ by Agnes Owens, 1994

Framed, pen, acrylic and watercolour on paper, 57 x 55.5 cm

Gray has often returned to making portraits of couples within his work. This is not a straight forward portrait as it expresses a psychological aspect with the smoke from the cigarette separating the couple.

Lanark: design for the title page, Book 4, 1982

Silkscreen print: ink on paper, 64.5 x 41.3cm

The summer before I became a student at GSA, my brother’s friend gave me a copy of ‘Lanark’ saying, “You have to read this”. I fell into Gray’s strange universes as the narrative boldly defied convention and transported characters (and the reader) between real locations, including Glasgow School of Art and alternative worlds. This illustration deftly brings together images of power, the military, war and education. Gray’s graphic style, almost cartoon-like, is influenced by the book illustrations he saw as a young boy in Riddrie Public Library.

Night and Day (Dawn Firth Series): Oran Mor Test Panel, 2003

Framed, acrylic, enamel and oil on plaster panel, 208.2 x 106.7 cm

Gray studied Mural Design at Glasgow School of Art from 1952-57. He has continued to work on murals throughout his career including at churches, a synagogue, The Ubiquitous Chip restaurant and Oran Mor venue in Glasgow. The Oran Mor mural (2004) is painted on a vaulted ceiling and shows the twelve signs of the zodiac. This panel I have picked was a test piece. The strange perspective, showing outer space at the top of the picture, moving down to sky then earth, reminds me of Salvador Dali’s painting at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, ‘Christ of St John of the Cross’ (1951). Here, Jesus on the cross floats in darkness, suspended over sky and water.

Faust in his Study, 1958

Framed, dyeline print

The original ‘Faust in his Study’ was painted by Rembrandt circa 1652. It shows a scholar transfixed by an orb of light that holds a secret code. In Gray’s version, all the knowledge of life and experience teems through this incredibly detailed work, intertwining symbols of death, love and human endeavour alongside what lies beyond our world.

Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man (Seven Days), 2004

Framed pen, ink, acrylic, tipex and collage on paper, 51 x 46 cm

The title echoes Rembrandt’s self-portrait as an old man. What is Gray trying to capture here? Is it recording a likeness at a particular stage of life? This is a double portrait, illustrating him drawing himself. Perhaps it represents his need to keep on making work and the desire to never finish.

Alasdair Gray at 80

An intimate documentary on Gray, filmed over 15 years, reveals a character who is by turns incisive, chaotic and laugh-out-loud funny. Alasdair Gray at Eighty was on BBC Two Scotland on 27 December 2014 and is available on iPlayer until 26 January 2015.

Glasgow School of Art’s Spheres of Influence II runs until 25 January 2015. It is part of the Alasdair Gray season at venues across Glasgow until May 2015. This includes exhibitions at the city’s GoMA and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

All images featured © Alasdair Gray

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