Alasdair Taylor
Encyclopedia
Alasdair Grant Taylor was a Scottish
artist
and sculptor.
and trained as an artist at the Glasgow School of Art
, subsequently living in Denmark
and Glasgow
. In 1967 he moved to Portencross
, Ayrshire
, where he lived reclusively with his wife Annelise and their daughters Anna and Jean. In March 2005 he suffered a stroke and had to leave his home. He died in 2007.
group in Denmark
, especially Asger Jorn
, whom his wife knew.
In most of his oil painting
s before the mid-1960s, the paint is thickly applied. After this time, he used oil more thinly. There are extremes of colour from bright to sombre.
His nude drawings and paintings of nudes are mostly of his wife. His collages used photographs and newspaper cuttings combined with brush strokes, influenced by Dadaism and early Cubism
. He made abstract
oil paintings with brush, palette knife
, spray can and other techniques: some of these are intended to be hung in groups and named after the seasons.
Sculptures were created from driftwood
which Taylor collected from the beach
near Portencross
, then carved and partly painted or varnish
ed. He made use of stones similarly.
He filled notebooks with ideas mingled with sketches in pen or watercolour and did ink drawings on the blank pages of art books he had been given.
The Scottish Arts Council
has given a grant to Street Level Photoworks to catalogue and digitise Taylor's work.
and James Kelman
to raise it out of obscurity that they argue is undeserved.
Taylor also featured in Portrait of a painter, "the story of an artist ... who persists in his painting though he remains unrecognized and unrewarded", in Gray's 1985 short story anthology Lean Tales
, co-written with James Kelman and Agnes Owens
.
He was also among those whose profile as visual artists Gray attempted to raise in his collaborative 5 Scottish Artists exhibition in 1986.
The Two Alasdairs was an exhibition which ran at the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Gallery from 22 November 2008 to 10 January 2009. It celebrated the art of Alasdair Gray and Alasdair Taylor, and their long friendship. The exhibition included a television
interview
with Taylor by BBC Scotland
's W. Gordon Smith
(in the arts
TV series "Scope" in 1974).
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and sculptor.
Life
Alasdair Taylor was born in Ross-shireRoss-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
and trained as an artist at the Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
, subsequently living in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. In 1967 he moved to Portencross
Portencross
Portencross is a hamlet near Farland Head in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated about 3 km west of Seamill and about 2 km south of Hunterston B nuclear power station, it is noted for its castle....
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, where he lived reclusively with his wife Annelise and their daughters Anna and Jean. In March 2005 he suffered a stroke and had to leave his home. He died in 2007.
Work
Taylor's formative influences included the COBRACOBRA (avant-garde movement)
COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen , Brussels , Amsterdam .-History:...
group in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, especially Asger Jorn
Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International...
, whom his wife knew.
In most of his oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
s before the mid-1960s, the paint is thickly applied. After this time, he used oil more thinly. There are extremes of colour from bright to sombre.
His nude drawings and paintings of nudes are mostly of his wife. His collages used photographs and newspaper cuttings combined with brush strokes, influenced by Dadaism and early Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. He made abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
oil paintings with brush, palette knife
Palette knife
A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for mixing paint colors, paste, etc., or for marbling, decorative endpapers, etc...
, spray can and other techniques: some of these are intended to be hung in groups and named after the seasons.
Sculptures were created from driftwood
Driftwood
Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea or river by the action of winds, tides, waves or man. It is a form of marine debris or tidewrack....
which Taylor collected from the beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
near Portencross
Portencross
Portencross is a hamlet near Farland Head in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated about 3 km west of Seamill and about 2 km south of Hunterston B nuclear power station, it is noted for its castle....
, then carved and partly painted or varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
ed. He made use of stones similarly.
He filled notebooks with ideas mingled with sketches in pen or watercolour and did ink drawings on the blank pages of art books he had been given.
The Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
has given a grant to Street Level Photoworks to catalogue and digitise Taylor's work.
Alasdair Gray and James Kelman
Taylor's work is the subject of an ongoing promotion by his friends Alasdair GrayAlasdair Gray
Alasdair Gray is a Scottish writer and artist. His most acclaimed work is his first novel Lanark, published in 1981 and written over a period of almost 30 years...
and James Kelman
James Kelman
James Kelman is an influential writer of novels, short stories, plays and political essays. His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989...
to raise it out of obscurity that they argue is undeserved.
Taylor also featured in Portrait of a painter, "the story of an artist ... who persists in his painting though he remains unrecognized and unrewarded", in Gray's 1985 short story anthology Lean Tales
Lean Tales
Lean Tales is an anthology of short stories written by Scottish authors Alasdair Gray, Agnes Owens and James Kelman, with author illustrations by Alasdair Gray. Contractually obligated to Jonathan Cape to provide a new book, Gray claimed to find himself without new material or ideas, and so...
, co-written with James Kelman and Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens is a Scottish author.She was born in Milngavie and spent most of her life on the west coast of Scotland. She has been married twice and raised seven children, also working as a cleaner, typist and factory worker....
.
He was also among those whose profile as visual artists Gray attempted to raise in his collaborative 5 Scottish Artists exhibition in 1986.
The Two Alasdairs was an exhibition which ran at the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Gallery from 22 November 2008 to 10 January 2009. It celebrated the art of Alasdair Gray and Alasdair Taylor, and their long friendship. The exhibition included a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
with Taylor by BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
's W. Gordon Smith
W. Gordon Smith
W. Gordon Smith was born in Edinburgh and lived most of his life there. He wrote many plays including the one man show, Jock, made famous by Russell Hunter. He also wrote the lyrics, Come By The Hills, set to the tune of the traditional Irish song, Buachaill o'n Éirne Mé...
(in the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
TV series "Scope" in 1974).
Exhibitions
- 5 Scottish Artists' Retrospective Show - McLellan Art Galleries, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and Talbot Rice Art Centre, EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, 1986 - Alasdair Taylor, a Retrospective - Harbour Arts Centre, IrvineIrvine, North AyrshireIrvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
, 2007 - The Two Alasdairs: Alasdair Gray & Alasdair Taylor - Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow School of ArtGlasgow School of ArtGlasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
, November 2008 to January 2009
External links
- Alasdair Gray's blog
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_/ai_n31053938Review of The Two Alasdairs by Barry Didcock in the Sunday HeraldSunday HeraldThe Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
, 30 Nov 2008] - http://living.scotsman.com/visual-arts/Art-review-Echo-and-Transcend.4807922.jpReview of The Two Alasdairs by Duncan Macmillan in The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, 19 Dec 2008]