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Art Gallery > Bryan Charnley

In 1971, whilst a student at the Central School of Art and Design, Bryan Charnley was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. After seven years of varying treatments, bouts of hospitalisation and a number of jobs, he returned to painting. Initially, he did not relate his work to his condition but, in 1982, he began to use what he termed his inner upheavals as a source of inspiration.

"My work" he wrote "springs out of the necessity to make something positive out of the impossible situation I find myself in".

Bryan's ultimate creative act was the series of paintings (shown below) painted between April and July 1991. They represent a deliberate attempt at self-investigation. As he experimented with the dosages of three different drugs controlling his behaviour, he kept a careful record of his medication, state of mind and the effect on the technique, composition and symbolism of his painting.

Sadly, Bryan died in July 1991 but he left us with an incredible insight into his thoughts and feelings. We would like to thank his brother, Terence Charnley, for sharing Bryan's work with us. The copyright for this work is held jointly by SANE and Terence Charnley.