George Wylie 1921 - 2012
May. 20th, 2012 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anteros_lmcLast week, George Wylie, one of Scotland's most creative and irreverent artists died at the age of 90. Wylie famously described himself as a scul?tor, as he said the question mark was too important to be let until the end. Wylie had a typical working class Glasgow upbringing and followed a variety of professions before turning to art. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and was posted to Hiroshima shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped. This event affected him profoundly and was said to influence his work throughout his life.
There are several of his Wylie's sculptures dotted all over Glasgow, but he is perhaps best remembered for two works which commented on the decline of heavy industry on the Clyde, the Paper Boat and the Straw Locomotive.
The Straw Locomotive was built at the former Springburn locomotive works in 1988 to coincide with the Glasgow International Garden Festival. The full size locomotive was suspended from the Finniston Crane on the banks of the Clyde until the end of the festival when it was returned to the Springburn yard and burned.
Two years later Wylie build the Paper Boat, an 80 foot seaworthy replica of a paper boat which opened to reveal a question mark. The boat was launched on the Clyde before sailing to New York where it docked at World Financial Centre. I remember seeing the Paper Boat on the Clyde when I was a student and it looked absolutely beautiful when it was lit up at night.
Wylie's first, and highly acclaimed, solo exhibition took place at the art gallery at the university where I work. Recently Wylie repaid the gallery for their continued support by donating his archive to the university. I am ashamed to say that the university has shown its appreciation of the arts by shutting down the gallery. It's deeply sad but very fitting that the gallery's final exhibition this April, was a retrospective of Wylie's work. The image below is taken from the final entry on the gallery's web page.
There are several of his Wylie's sculptures dotted all over Glasgow, but he is perhaps best remembered for two works which commented on the decline of heavy industry on the Clyde, the Paper Boat and the Straw Locomotive.
The Straw Locomotive was built at the former Springburn locomotive works in 1988 to coincide with the Glasgow International Garden Festival. The full size locomotive was suspended from the Finniston Crane on the banks of the Clyde until the end of the festival when it was returned to the Springburn yard and burned.
Two years later Wylie build the Paper Boat, an 80 foot seaworthy replica of a paper boat which opened to reveal a question mark. The boat was launched on the Clyde before sailing to New York where it docked at World Financial Centre. I remember seeing the Paper Boat on the Clyde when I was a student and it looked absolutely beautiful when it was lit up at night.
Wylie's first, and highly acclaimed, solo exhibition took place at the art gallery at the university where I work. Recently Wylie repaid the gallery for their continued support by donating his archive to the university. I am ashamed to say that the university has shown its appreciation of the arts by shutting down the gallery. It's deeply sad but very fitting that the gallery's final exhibition this April, was a retrospective of Wylie's work. The image below is taken from the final entry on the gallery's web page.
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