John Goudie Lynch was born in Glasgow in 1946. He studied in Glasgow, at the Glasgow School of Art (1964-1968) and then taught art at the International School in Amsterdam before moving to France to live and create. His trajectory is representative of the cultural richness of the European project.
At first glance, Lynch’s work could be characterised as simplistically descriptive portraiture of contemporary figures and times. However, on closer inspection, the spectator notices the slightly distorted postures, the uneven proportions, the characters’ strong and sometimes strange expressions and the surreal situations in which they find themselves. Some of them even meet the viewer’s gaze, rupturing the fourth illusionary wall of painting, and interact with the now involved spectator.
This effect is a direct result of Lynch’s methodological approach. In the artist’s eyes, the painting process is not a rigidly mapped-out affair. On the contrary, he never uses preparatory drawings or sketches in order to avoid all preconceived ideas of an end result. Opting for a freedom reminiscent of automatic writing, Lynch draws spontaneously, witnessing the process in a ‘semi-subliminal state’ that places him as a part-artist, part-spectator. Armed with a tool to erase and modify as he goes, all directions and possibilities remain constantly in play throughout the process – which can last for hours, days or even weeks. Through trial and error, the artist progressively gains control over the painting and gives it direction. The result, as the artist calls it, is akin to a daydream.
Through this exploratory process, intimate, ironic and oneiric aspects of the artist and the spectators’ personalities are uncovered.
