Details

Name

Alasdair Gray

Brief Biography

1934 - 2019, Scottish

Occupation

Artist, Writer

Description

Alasdair Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish artist and writer. While prolific in his visual art practice until his death, Gray was more known for his writing in Scotland with his most famous novel Lanark published in 1981. His writing was widely published and on his death he was renowned internationally with Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland, 2014 - 23 ) saying ‘Alasdair Gray was one of Scotland’s literary giants, and a decent, principled human being.’ In the latter part of his life his artwork came into greater public awareness with Gray participating in the British Art Show 7 (2010-11) and his work was shown in his home city – Glasgow – with Alasdair Gray: City Recorder (2011-12) at GoMA and the Alasdair Gray Season (2014) – including a retrospective at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum – to mark his 80th birthday.

Alasdair Gray was born in Riddrie in the east of Glasgow in 1934 and attended The Glasgow School of Art in the mid-1950s. From this time onwards Gray was a prolific poet, playwright, novelist, painter and printmaker. His work was and continues to be celebrated in books, exhibitions, conferences and the annual Gray Day (25 February). The Alasdair Gray Archive was established in March 2020 after Gray’s death in December 2019. The Archive “exists to enhance the reputation and understanding of one of Scotland’s most significant cultural polymaths of the 20th century, and through his legacy support others.”

Alasdair Gray studied in the Mural Department while at The Glasgow School of Art and while some his early murals are lost or in private homes, others do exist for example at the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant in Glasgow’s West End, near where Gray lived. His time in this department was important to his thinking about free access to culture through libraries and museums, but also how art is embedded in the landscape and later significant murals were made for Òran Mór arts venue and SPT Hillhead Station. His artworks are held in the following public collections: National Galleries of Scotland, Glasgow Museums’ collection, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Library of Scotland, the Hunterian Museum, the Arts Council of England and the Tate. His work is also in private collections.