john byrne lullaby of broadway - the fine art...
TRANSCRIPT
the fine art society
JOHN BYRNE
Lullaby of Broadway
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JOHN BYRNELullaby of Broadway
11 - 29 September 2017
1 4 8 N E W B O N D S T R E E T · LO N D O N W 1 S 2 J T
+ 44 (0)20 7629 5116 · www.thefineartsociety.com
For sale enquiries, please contact:Cheska Hill-Wood [email protected]
Patrick Duffy [email protected]
The Fine Art SocietySelling art and design since 1876
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JOHN BYRNE In the late 1960s whilst wasting my time as an erstwhile Carpet Designer, I bore a completely accidental but, nevertheless, striking resemblance to one Frank Zappa – a fact pointed out to me by a workmate, Alistair Macrae, who played part-time for the local ice-hockey team, the Paisley Mohawks (formerly ‘Paisley Pirates’), and subscribed to ‘Melody Maker ’, inside of which was a double-page spread of my aforementioned ‘doppelganger ’. Even I could tell that Zappa and I could’ve been taken for identical twins, separated at birth, so it came as no surprise to me when, in 1972, whilst strolling past Schwab’s Drugstore on Sunset Boulevard with a toddler on either side, that I should spot B. B. King, similarly escorted” by a couple of henchmen, sauntering towards us, his face wreathed in smiles and a huge mitt outstretched in greeting. “Hey, man...haven’t set eyes on you since those great sessions in...where was it…Mussel Sholes, yeh?” Now, my hands are not exactly dainty but both of mine disappeared into his one...the warmest handshake I have ever had…or ever will have. I managed to burble out some inanity like. . .”So. . .er ...how’s Lucille?” His many and various guitars were all called ‘Lucille’.“Aw, she’s fine , man…they’re all just fine.“ And with that, he and his companions made their way along the Boulevard. The tots and I slipped into Schwab’s - there, perched at the Soda Fountain, was the renowned and much sought-after session guitarist, Al Kooper. AI did a double-take, then raised a hand in welcome.“Hey, man...”I raised a hand in return.“Sorry...we’ve just went through that malarkey on the sidewalk.”A puzzled look crossed Al’s phissog.I smiled to myself ...who d’you think you are Al? We’ve just had a great blether out there with the Great B. B. King!I caught the Bus Boy’s eye.“Give us two pokey hats and a big glassa Irn Bru…an’ make it snappy, yeh?”
I recently bumped into an acquaintance who bestrides both the world of Art and Popular Music and he told me of how he found himself in Birmingham, Alabama, and had occasion to interview the celebrated Rhythm & Blues singer, James Brown - he asked JB how that particular brand of music had evolved?This is James’ story…‘When I was a little kid, my Mom and Dad used to take us to the local church in Birmingham where a big part of the congregation was made up of white folks whose grandparents and great-grandparents had come to the South from the Scottish Hebrides and they used to sing in Gaelic - the ‘Presenter ’ (the lead guy) would sing the first verse of the hymn and the ‘choir ’ would join him in the-chorus… call & response...and the local folks would take that home with them and make that their own...ergo: Rhythm & Blues.’
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EMILY WALSH
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I start this introduction with the anticipation of discovery, but also with a sinking feeling: John’s a man who prefers his pictures to do the talking. He doesn’t like themed shows either. He prefers a “gallimaufry”. In his usual eclectic fashion, Lullaby of Broadway is just that. Strands we’ve seen in the past re-emerge – the Teddy Boys of Paisley and the self-portraits – but more recent ones develop into a New York state of mind. Recalling his time in 1983 staging The Slab Boys, John pulled together the then rather less well-known Kevin Bacon, Val Kilmer and Sean Penn to talk Paisley patter to baffled New York audiences.
The title of the show is a song known to many. First sung by the Dorsey Brothers in the musical, The Gold Diggers of 1935, the Andrew Sisters took it up a decade later and, in 1951, Doris Day tripped across a stage in golden splendour with Gene Nelson – and the backdrops of John’s pictures recall the stage sets. His subjects, however, are rather different. Just as polished and equally bling, the characters that people John’s work posture and swagger; jewellery and tattoos advertise their status and confidence. It ’s a different slice of New York. John recalls the warmth of New Yorkers, the “gorgeous-ness” they exuded.
John’s self-portraits chart the artist, the playwright, the man confronting his mortality and the man casting back to his youth. The Chancer is, in its own way, autobiographical. The wiry Teddy Boy, sporting a fetching Paisley pattern tie, takes up the challenge to traverse the bridge across the River Cart blind-folded. Behind him is the “Wee Alex” – the town’s cinema and occasional site of pandemonium. Adjacent is the Dobie tobacco factory: a very good smoke, John tells me, but now, like the Alex, consigned to history.
Though it only constitutes one picture out of the whole show perhaps the big-gest statement lies in The Song of the South: a man sits astride a cotton reel, Paisley’s Coats and Clark Thread Mill behind him, while the Mississippi Kite wheels in the air above his head. This touches on Scotland’s uncomfortable historical ties to slavery.
As Tom Devine writes: ‘For a very long time Scots prided themselves on not having had anything to do with slavery. They were in the van of the abolition of the trade and it was the English who had been guilty of growing rich on the wicked business of trading in human beings. This belief is now shown to be complete myth. Numerous Scots owned Caribbean slave plantations and ran slave ships from London and other English ports. As Byrne’s telling image shows, the mills of Paisley and other Scottish towns which made the industrial revolution north of the Border, imported almost all of their raw cotton from the slave planta-tions of the American South before abolition. Economic modernity emerged in Scotland on the labour of black slaves’.
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JOHN BYRNE 1. Downtown Dandy, 2017
oil on board, signed; titled verso
24 x 22 in (61 x 55.8 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 2. Opening Night, 2017
oil on board, signed
48 1/4 x 37 in (122.6 x 94 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 3. Subway Rider, 2016
oil on panel, signed
26 x 22 1/2 in (66 x 57 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 4. On the Waterfront, 2017
watercolour and Caran d’Ache water soluble pastels,
signed
43 1/8 x 23 in (109.6 x 58.5 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 5. Uptown Guy, 2017
oil on board, signed; titled verso
24 x 22 in (61 x 55.8 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 6. Knocking on Heaven’s Door, 2017
oil on panel, signed
30 x 24 in (76 x 61 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 7. Guy in Afghan Coat, 2017
oil on board, signed
24 x 24 in (61 x 61 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 8. The Chancer, 2017
oil on board, signed; titled verso
48 x 26 3/4 in (122 x 68 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 9. E of 8th, 2017
oil on Arches paper, signed
15 x 11 in (38 x 28 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 10. The Southpaw, 2017
oil on panel, signed; titled verso
39 1/4 x 27 1/4 in (100 x 69 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 11. The Egg Hunter, 2017
oil on board, signed
35 x 28 in (89 x 71.1 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 12. Ego, 2017
oil on board, signed
24 x 24 in (61 x 61 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 13. Young Guy With ‘Flat Top’, 2017
oil on board, signed
24 x 22 in (61 x 55.8 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 14. The Loner, 2017
oil on board, initialled
17 x 12 in (43 x 30.5 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 15. The Blind Date, 2017
watercolour and Caran d’Ache water soluble pastels,
signed
43 x 23 in (109.22 x 58.42 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 16. The Gambler, 2017
oil on panel, signed; titled verso
24 x 18 3/4 in (61 x 47.6 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 17. The Song of the South, 2017
oil on board, signed
72 1/4 x 48 1/2 in (183.5 x 123.2 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 18. The Red Bandana, 2017
oil on board, signed
24 x 18 1/4 in (61 x 46.4 cm)
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JOHN BYRNE 19. Armed To The Teeth, 2017
oil on board, signed
30 1/2 x 20 in (77.5 x 50.8 cm)
Published by The Fine Art Society for the exhibition Lullaby of Broadway by John Byrne, held at 148 New Bond Street, London, from 12 to 29 September 2017.
isbn 978-1-907052-90-3
Catalogue © The Fine Art Society London Works © John Byrne Text © the authers All rights reserved
The Fine Art Society is very grateful to Professor Sir Tom Devine for his contribution to the introduction.
Photography by Andy Phillipson/livewireimage.com Designed by Patrick Duffy Printed in Belgium by Albe De Coker
The Fine Art SocietySelling art and design since 1876
1 4 8 N E W B O N D S T R E E T · LO N D O N W 1 S 2 J T+ 44 (0)20 7629 5116 · www.thefineartsociety.com
For sale enquiries, please contact: Cheska Hill-Wood [email protected] Duffy [email protected]
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The Fine Art SocietySelling art and design since 1876