Moray Art Centre, Findhorn, until 2 August 2008

Self Portrait in a Flowered Jacket, 1972, Oil on Blockboard (147cm x 91cm) Scottish National Portrait Gallery © John Byrne

MORAY Art Centre’s first public exhibition, an “intimate retrospective” of the work of John Byrne, is an excellent introduction to the art of one of Scotland’s finest artists. An impressive selection of works spanning forty years has been brought together in an exhibition of national significance. Works on loan from private and public collections including Paisley Museum and Galleries, Glasgow Museums and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery establish the centre as an exciting new space, raising expectations of access to art of the highest quality in the region.

It is a pleasure to view works in the new central gallery space, distinctive for its warmth and contemplative atmosphere. Work is not presented in a white cube but able to live and breathe in a way that encourages personal engagement with the work. Currently the only venue in Moray able to display work from National collections to the required museum standard, this inaugural show sets a high benchmark for the presentation and promotion of Visual Arts in the North.

John Byrne is perhaps most popularly known as a writer, director and designer for stage and screen productions such as The Slab Boys (1978), Scotch and Wry (1986), Tutti Frutti (1987) and Your Cheatin’ Heart. A keenly observed sense of character, humour and irony pervade his work both as a playwright and visual artist. This quality is well represented by portraits and self portraits in the exhibition.

Byrne attended the Glasgow School of Art from 1958 to 1963 and his work can be seen as part of a strong figurative tradition in Scottish painting. Coming from an art school education where life drawing, painting and still life were still part of learning the craft, Byrne’s fine draughtsmanship permeates every work in the show. His ‘Portrait of Jane Stuart” (Mixed Media 2006) is sensitive and assured, with freshness and energy in every line of graphite and pastel. The artist’s first response to the human subject is beautifully drawn. We can immediately feel the presence of the sitter, defined in red and orange shadows which cloak her deep set eyes.

Byrne’s large scale ‘Portrait of the Artist Steven Campbell’ (2005, Oil on Canvas) presents a statuesque and unflinching vision where the modelling of the body, hands and feet contrast with the fine details of his face. You feel the presence of a tank-like shell of a man in tones of grey and black, whose uncompromising stare is balanced by the vulnerable details of his aged face. The palette in his hand is empty and the delicacy of the brushes against the scale of his hands strangely poignant. The progression of images throughout this show gives a sense of Byrne’s lifelong exploration of the human subject, which continues to evolve.

Well known iconic works such as his ‘Portrait of Billy Connolly’ (2005, Oil on Canvas) are shown with previously unseen work from private collections, including drawings which give insight into the label “Faux- Naif” often applied to his large scale works. The innocent simplicity or naïve rendering (particularly of the figure) in paintings such as ‘American Boy’ (1975, Oil on Plywood) are finely detailed and technically sophisticated.

Byrne played with the idea of the artist’s persona, signing his work “Patrick” during this period and denying his art school training. The idea of the “primitive” in his work is extremely interesting when seen in context of his evolution as an artist. Byrne’s scholarship took him to Italy where Duccio, Cimabue and Giotto strongly influenced his work in a way that is anything but naive.

Use of symbol and personal iconography is a fascinating aspect of paintings such as ‘Peaceable Kingdom’, an enigmatic and exquisitely detailed watercolour on board. There is a sense of monumentality and gravitas in the robust forms of the main figure group of a lion, lamb and child. While the style (particularly in relation to the animal figures) is reminiscent of Rousseau or naive folk art, it is expertly composed and drafted. Bound by a banner of biblical text, the figures are framed by a flowing seascape in the background that curls around them like an embrace. Movement in the water and sky contrast with the sculptural stillness of the animals and child painted in the finest lines and cross hatching in watercolour.

A previously unseen work, ‘Joie de Vivre – Portrait of Honor and Xavier’ (2005, Oil on board) fills the entire frame with the youthful energy of Byrne’s two children and reveals a different kind of energy. The brushwork is loose and textural and the figures, in contrast to larger scale works in the show, are simplified in form. Although the hair hides their faces, the dance like gesture of his daughter and stance of his son still reveal an essence of their being in blocks of umber, black and sienna. The way that the white and flesh coloured ground dominates the composition and overlaps with the boy’s figure gives the sense of them occupying the whole space, filling it with life.

‘Self Portrait in a Flowered Jacket’ (Oil on Board, 1972) presents a fully frontal image of the artist as creator and has extraordinary presence. The rich floral decoration of Byrne’s jacket is mirrored in the fluid bloom like paint that adorns his palette held like a garden in his hand. The box on which the artist sits is decorated with children’s drawings and signed by the artist’s alter ego, “Patrick”.

These details set up an interesting dialogue between the overall creative statement and the multilayered nature of the artist’s vision of himself. It is impossible not to return to this deeply meditative work; initially because of the authoritative way it automatically draws your gaze, but ultimately because of its quiet contradictions. This confident and commanding image is sharply contrasted with the artist’s self portrait ‘Flak’ (2006, Oil on canvas), which is full of struggle and irony.

Here the artist depicts himself in camouflage dress, ashen face half hidden with a paintbrush piercing his chest. The artist’s palette is hung around his neck and a serpent-like vine coils around Byrne’s arm. The composition is claustrophobic, surrounded by dream-like smoke and thorns which pierce the artist’s skin. The whole image suggests an internal war of attrition, the real battle in creative terms of being compelled to make sense of the world. To me this is a challenging piece of work which raises important questions about how we perceive artistic identity, creative process and what this means to the individual.

The model of a public space at Moray Art Centre is one that planners of a proposed new gallery in the Highland capital should take heed of. The ethos of the centre to contextualise each exhibition within a programme of hands on creative activity, cross-disciplinary events, art criticism and debate is inspired. It addresses fully the issue of access to visual arts in the area in a truly visionary and inclusive way.

The idea of a creative community is at the centre of the project. A programme of events for all ages including workshops in “Self Portraiture”, “Illustration & Caricature”, a talk by the artist, a seminar on “Self Portraits Through History” and “Tutti Frutti Night” showing Byrne’s acclaimed television programme are to accompany the opening exhibition. This is an important show in terms of appreciation of John Byrne’s extraordinary work as a visual artist and as an impressive benchmark for future programmes .

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

Links

• Moray Art Centre