Fish schizophrene.

  • Charnley, Bryan, 1949-1991
Date:
[1986]
Reference:
3049667i
Part of:
Bondage paintings.
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Contains: 2 images

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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

Fish schizophrene. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Online resources

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About this work

Description

Outline of female head in profile, bound tightly in a headscarf and filled with imagery, including a fish, streets and houses, a mug, tobacco, faces, eyes, and a woman in a green dress falling head first.

Publication/Creation

[1986]

Physical description

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 81 x 91.2 cm

Series

Contributors

Biographical note

Bryan Charnley (1949-1991) was a British artist whose work illustrates his experiences of schizophrenia. In 1969 he enrolled on a BA in sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, but left due to a breakdown. He started painting in 1978, and from the late 1980s he began to get recognition for his work, with Bethlem Royal Hospital purchasing four of his paintings. From 1987 to his death he kept a dream diary as a way of understanding his own mind. In March 1991 he decided to experiment with his medication and embarked on a series of self-portraits, a series which exposed his mental illness. The series was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1995. He took his own life in July 1991.

Reference

Bryan Charnley. 1986. Fish schizophrene. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection 3049667i

References note

Charnley, J. (2018). Bryan Charnley: art and adversity, pages 116-117.
Bethlem Museum of the Mind. (2015). Bryan Charnley: the art of schizophrenia, pages 22-24.

Notes

Title provided by the Estate of Bryan Charnley.
The paintings of bound heads are described by James Charnley as 'the bondage paintings'.
Signed BJC bottom right of picture.

Ownership note

Purchased by Wellcome Collection in 2018 from the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

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