John Byrne (Scottish artist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Byrne (born January 6, 1940) is a Scottish artist and playwright of international stature.
Born a Catholic in Paisley, Byrne grew up in the Ferguslie Park housing scheme and attended Glasgow School of Art from 1958 to 1963. From 1964 until 1966 he designed jackets for Penguin Books. Following unsuccessful experiences with London galleries, he released a series of works from 1967 under the pseudonym of "Patrick", an alleged self-taught painter of "faux-naif" images. These works began to meet with some success and his painting career commenced.
His work began to reach a wide audience, and he designed record covers for The Beatles, Gerry Rafferty and Billy Connolly. Singer-songwriter Rafferty's song Patrick is written about Byrne (the lyrics begin: "Patrick my primitive painter of art/You will always and ever be near to my heart"), and the pair co-wrote several songs together.
Byrne has written, designed and directed stage and screen productions, including The Slab Boys (1978), Scotch & Wry (1986) and Tutti Frutti (1987), but he remains primarily a visual artist.
Recently, he illustrated Selected Stories by James Kelman, winner of the 1994 Booker Prize. His work is held in major collections in Scotland and abroad. Several of his paintings hang in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, including portraits of Robbie Coltrane, Billy Connolly, his wife, actress Tilda Swinton, and a self-portrait.
In 2004 he was made an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
In 2006 Byrne was presented with an Honorary Doctorate from the Robert Gordon University Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen.
He lives in Nairn with his wife, actress Tilda Swinton, and their two children Xavier and Honor Byrne.
