§ ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI (SCOTTISH 1958-)

ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI (SCOTTISH 1958-)
1958-1989
Signed lower right, dated 1985 to gallery label verso, oil on canvas
213.5cm x 244.5cm (84in x 96.25in)
Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London
Adrian Wiszniewski was born in Glasgow in 1958 and trained at Glasgow School of Art from 1979 to 1983. An oblique, poetic exploration of burgeoning adolescent sexuality typifies Wiszniewski’s subject matter, as does a current of melancholia. Akin to his peer and fellow ‘New Glasgow Boy’ Steven Campbell, there is something theatrical and mannered in his works, which again are often painted at a monumental, stage-set scale. He is known for his depictions of ‘languorous youths’; his figures often sharing similar features, usually representing some form of alter-ego for the artist, taking centre stage in dreamlike Arcadian landscapes. His work often feels heavy in symbolism, though the references are obscure. The overall effect is that we’ve somehow stumbled into the artist’s dream.