John Lyons | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 1933 (age 91) |
| Nationality | Trinidadian |
| Education | Goldsmiths' College, School of Art; University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, poet, educator, curator |
| Website | www |
John Lyons (born October 1933) is a Trinidad-born poet, painter, illustrator, educator and curator. [1] He has worked as a theatre designer, exhibition adviser and as a teacher both of visual art and creative writing. [2] As an art critic, he has written essays for catalogues, notably for Denzil Forrester's major touring exhibition Dub Transition, for Jouvert Print Exhibition and Tony Phillips' Jazz and The Twentieth Century. [3]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was part of the Caribbean Artists Movement, which promoted Caribbean cultural expression in Britain. [4] Lyons is also known for his contributions to children's literature; the Center for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award shortlisted his collection Dancing in the Rain (2016) [5] Carnivalesque, a significant retrospective of his career, was shown in Plymouth in 2024 at The Box and the Whitworth Art Gallery. [6]
Public collections that hold artwork by John Lyons include Rochdale Art Gallery, Huddersfield Art Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum's Word & Image Print Collection and the Arts Council National Collection. [7] [8]
His collections of poetry have been described both as being focused on "describing the texture of the Caribbean landscape and the vividness of its peoples" [9] and contributing "to the enrichment of the West Indian British voice". [10]
John Lyons was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. His mother died when he was nine years old, and he and his three siblings moved to live with their grandmother in rural Tobago. [11] He returned to Trinidad in 1948 to live with his father and stepmother. This period was formative, immersing him in the rich oral traditions, folklore, and Carnival culture of the Caribbean—elements that would later permeate his artistic and literary work. [12] Lyons had an enthusiasm for painting from an early age and frequently drew on his home's walls and in the margins of his school books. By the time he was twelve, he was instructing local kids in drawing in his community close to Scarborough, Tobago. [13]
He eventually moved to London, England, and from 1959 to 1964 studied at Goldsmiths' College, School of Art, graduating with a National Diploma of Design, after which he gained an Art Teachers' Diploma at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1965–65) [11] to teach art as a specialist subject. [14] While studying without a grant, he supported himself through part-time jobs that included being an early morning factory cleaner, evening waiter, postman and shift-work hospital porter. [15]
His first job was at South Shields Grammar Technical School for Boys, and in 1967 he moved to Manchester, where he worked in secondary schools for nine years, before becoming an Art and Design Lecturer in South Trafford College. While teaching there for 17 years, he continued painting and writing. [14] He was a part-time creative writing lecturer at the then Bolton Institute of Higher Education (now the University of Bolton), between 1991 and 1998, and has been an Arvon Foundation tutor at various times since 1991. [16] [17]
Vibrant colors and dramatic compositions that capture the spirit and vitality of Caribbean culture are hallmarks of Lyons' artistic approach. Themes of self-respect, survival, and the intricacies of cultural identity are frequently explored in his work, specially in relation to the African diaspora. As a method of self-expression and resistance for Africans who were enslaved and their descendants, he has pointed to Carnival's rebellious attitude as a major influence.
Lyons has been exhibiting his paintings since the 1960s, [3] and describes his approach to picture making by saying: "I enter into a playful dialogue with the work in which line, shape, texture and vibrant colour are brought together to inhabit a theme usually based on Caribbean folklore and mythology." [18] [19] He was a participant in the recent exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at the Guildhall Art Gallery (10 July 2015 to 24 January 2016), which took inspiration from the radical lives of Guyanese activists Eric and Jessica Huntley and the publishing company they founded, Bogle-L'Ouverture. [20] [21]
Lyons' first book, Lure of the Cascadura was published by Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications in 1989, [22] since when his writing has appeared in many publications, including anthologies for children, and several full collections of poetry. [23] [24] His recent book for younger readers, Dancing in the Rain (2015), illustrated by the author himself, was shortlisted for the 2016 Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award (CliPPA), the only award for published poetry for children. [19] [25] Described by the judges as "a breath of fresh air", [26] the collection draws inspiration from Lyons' childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, drawing inspiration from the traditions of Carnival and calypso. [27]
Also an accomplished cook, he combined recipes, verse and illustrations in Cook-up in a Trini Kitchen (Peepal Tree Press, 2009), "a highly original cookbook that can be read in the way you’d read a collection of short stories. It’s peppered with anecdotes, and the colourful illustrations are a joy to behold. Lyons describes the book as an 'explosion' of his three passions [art, poetry and food]." [28]
As a poet, Lyons has read his work widely, appearing at festivals within the UK and abroad, [29] and has made a number of broadcasts on radio and television, as well as featuring in audio archives. [30] He has participated in many conferences and workshops, nationally and internationally, and over the years has received won many honours and accolades, [17] including in 2003 the Windrush Arts Achiever Award. [15] [31]
Among several essays he has written for exhibition catalogues, he contributed a much quoted text, "Denzil Forrester's Art in Context" to accompany the 1990–91 Denzil Forrester exhibition Dub Transition: A Decade of Paintings 1980 - 1990. [1] [32]
John Lyons co-founded (with writer Jean Rees, to whom he is married) [33] and was a trustee of the Hebden Bridge community arts charity Hourglass Educational Arts Development Services (HEADS), 2000–2010, for which he ran weekly art classes at the Hourglass Studio Gallery as resident artist. [17] [34] [35] [36]
Lyons also had an influence on the curation and guidance of important shows that emphasized Caribbean and Black British art. Notably, from November 1986 to January 1987, he was part of "Double Vision: An Exhibition of Contemporary Afro-Caribbean Art," which took place in Bradford's Cartwright Hall. This exhibition was crucial in demonstrating the range of Afro-Caribbean artistic expression in the UK in the 1980s and included a broad collection of artists. [37] Lyons added an essay titled "Denzil Forrester's Art in Context" to the catalog of "Dub Transition," a significant traveling exhibition of Forrester's work, further showcasing his dedication to supporting Caribbean artists. The show, which was organized by Preston's Harris Museum and Art Gallery, took place from September to November 1990 before going on tour. Lyons' essay placed Forrester's work amid larger cultural movements and offered important insights into the development of Black British Art. [38]
The work of John Lyons has received recognition for its vibrant exploration of Carnival Customs, Caribbean folklore, and modernist aesthetics. The Guardian called Lyon's paintings "Vibrant evocations of Trinidadian mythology, brimming with bright colors and dreamlike symbolism" in a 2025 review of his Carnivalesque show at The Box. [39] Lyon's ability to combine European modernist techniques with mythical features like jumbie birds and soucouyants has been praised by critics as a way to create a unique visual language that crosses culture boundaries. [40]
Beyond his specific creations, Lyons is regarded as a pioneer who contributed to the development of a unique Caribbean British aesthetic. His visual art and poetry, which span generations of diasporic artists, provide, provide a reflection on identity, migration, and culture memory. His reputation was further cemented by exhibitions like Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso (Kettle's Yard, 2022-2023), which highlighted his contribution to the promotion of Carnival customs and Caribbean visual storytelling in Britain (Kettle's Yard, 2022).
This is the first retrospective of British-born Trinidadian artist, poet, and educator John Lyons, which was on at The Box in Plymouth from 8 February 8 to 5 May 2025. The exhibition, which was curated in collaboration with the University of Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery, covers more than 60 years of Lyon's career and showcases his visual language, which has its roots in carnival customs, diasporic memory, and Caribbean folklore. [41] With more than 40 pieces of art—including paintings, drawings, sketchbooks, and poetry—the exhibition delves into themes that appear frequently in Lyon's work, including myth, ritual, metamorphosis, and the spiritual. It places particular focus on Caribbean masquerade figures, such as the jumbie bird, which is a representation of magical realism and ancestral presence. The term "Carnivalesque" refers to the concept's broader cultural critique and inversion, which Mikhail Bakhtin first hypothesized, as well as its literal inspiration from Trinidadian Carnival. The exhibition features excepts of Lyon's poetry in addition to visual pieces, highlighting the connections between his literary and artistic creations and providing a glimpse into his multi-layered storytelling technique. Through his art, Lyons considers identity, colonial histories, and postcolonial presence in Britain in addition to celebrating Caribbean roots. His approach combines vibrant color, organic shapes, and symbolic patterns to create a visual language that is both intuitive and intentional. [42] His contributions to the Caribbean Artists Movement in Britain throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as well as his work as a cultural theorist and educator, are also highlighted in the exhibition, in addition to highlighting Lyon's career, the retrospective situates his work within ongoing conversations about diaspora, creativity, and cultural hybridity.
John Lyons Carnivalesque (2024), The Whitworth, ISBN 978-0-903261-82-1