After self-imposed exile in Italy, artist Stephen Campbell is back, in
celebratory mood, and helping Scotland's youth, as Clare Henry discovers
IN 1993 the famous Scottish painter, Steven Campbell, opted out and
took his family to Italy, threatening never to return. He was angry,
angry about the state of the nation, pessimistic about the future,
despairing of British society in general. Moreover, after a decade at
the top of the art-world tree as an international name, he still felt
isolated.
Now he's back and -- man of extremes -- has gone from isolation to
collaboration in a big way, embracing his local community with vim and
vigour, applying his energy to a vast range of projects and people --
huge landscape murals for Glasgow Airport, a portrait of film-maker Bill
Forsyth, an exhibition of 90 inter-related pictures, lectures in Glasgow
and Orkney, a jazz opera with Tommy Smith and Stuart Hepburn, a big
(permanent) picture for Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and more.
For Campbell has -- literally -- moved down from the mountain to live
right beside the village cross. ''This has been a lucky house for us.
Really lucky. We haven't done a thing to it since we moved in, so it's
rather like living in a B&B -- no responsibilities for the decor or the
wallpaper!''
From this small but convivial Stirlingshire base, with his three kids
at the local school, he orchestrates his life on a celebratory note. It
still takes in trips to New York (in September he exhibited at the
prestigious Marborough Gallery) and Dublin (for his 42nd birthday in
March), but also allows time for family, friends, fishing, and evenings
teaching teenagers in a local hall.
I visited one of his self-initiated night classes. ''There may be
urban deprivation but there's rural deprivation too. These kids have
nothing to do, nowhere to go. They just hang around the streets. I want
to change that.''
It was a far cry from the Campbell I knew in New York in the early
1980s -- or indeed the Campbell of pre-Italy. The village hall was in
darkness apart from a sea of candles stuck to rough pieces of card
scrawled with words such as love, peace, brother, sister, friendship,
poetry, silence. A group of teenagers perched on chairs. Campbell sat on
the floor, talking passionately about St Francis and Fra Angelico while
Gregorian chants played in the background.
He was accompanied by Father Declan, a Franciscan friar. ''I adore St
Francis. His chapel is near Lucca where we stay in Italy. His chapel is
so beautiful, so moving.''
How did he get hold of a friar?
''I looked in the Yellow Pages, phoned them up and said I needed a
friar for next Wednesday. No problem. Who did I want? I said someone
young, tall, dark, and handsome.'' And he was. Good with the kids too,
though I think the Gregorian chants threw him at first.''
After the life of St Francis, we had music from four of the students
(''One was a real pain but we knocked him into shape'') followed by an
Indian carryout delivered all the way from Stirling. When the janitor
came to close up, the kids had to be levered out of the door. Parallel
classes on film, writing, and poetry included contributions by Forsyth;
actor/script writer Stuart Hepburn; poet Edward Morgan; David Punter,
Professor of English at Stirling; and Elvis impersonator Jesse Garron.
''Everyone did it for free,'' recounts Campbell. It was art education
by the back door. If you care about the arts it's easy to make a small
commitment. But you should see my phone bill!''
Campbell's current project, painting a 30ftX8ft long mural for the
international hall of Glasgow Airport, is again celebratory. ''It's
called The Golden City and shows Glasgow in a vast, glorious, romantic
golden glow bordered by nature,'' he explains, gesticulating towards two
immense panels propped against the wall of a chilly Perthshire mill, the
size of an aircraft hanger and scattered with boats, machinery, lathes,
and industrial-type clutter.
I first saw the 14 sketches for it on his dining-room table amid the
Christmas clutter; different sweeping compositions of a verdant panorama
starting with a wonderful waterfall crashing down rocks and through
woods before winding through pastureland to the city. The foreground
includes giant-size purple fritillaries, a deliberate reference to
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous flowers.
Driving to and fro from this new studio I began to see things through
Campbell's eyes. The Carse of Stirling provides splendid vistas;
villages laid out at your feet in rich, fertile, open countryside amid
the Fintry Hills. Campbell's vision for the airport mural is inspired by
the view as you approach the city from the north. Cupped by dark woods,
ploughed fields and flowers, it will feature birds, leaping salmon, wild
animals, and butterflies; an idealised and idyllic Glasgow, but one
bound to please travellers.
''I've got to get the balance between nature and the city; the Dear
Green Place idea. It's tempting to add something dramatic, but it would
be the wrong thing to do for the location. It's not the place to be dark
and moody. No way! I want people to be uplifted; invigorated. I love
Glasgow,'' avers Campbell.
Campbell is a man of intensity. He loves his wife of 20 years with a
passion, he adores his three children -- and his close friend and
fishing companion Bill Forsyth whose unusual portrait he has just
completed as a commission from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
''They said they wanted a Campbell, not just a straight portrait, so
I've tried to do that, and also show the many facets of Bill's
personality. He's a very complex person, a dark mysterious creature. I
put Bill between town and country, by a great sweep of a motorway
flyover. He often uses the Kingston Bridge at night in his films. His
long arm echoes its shape and also protects his kids. It's curious and
odd.''
There are in fact four different images of Forsyth in the picture; one
held by himself, others by his two children. Campbell also includes
himself as a shadowy figure, the artist reaching round a tree with his
brush to put the finishing touch.
Forsyth approves of the portrait. ''Steven didn't consult me, but then
he's known me for years. Artists are kidding themselves if they think
they can mine someone's soul in three or four sittings. The portrait is
entirely his version of me and obviously I can't take an objective view,
but there are some things there I recognise in myself, some of the
tensions and dynamics. I like his composition; the notion of including
several faces. It's more honest to acknowledge that you're not going to
find a person in one go. Sure, we've had a lot of fun over the years --
the truth of that is there on the canvas.''
The Campbell/Forsyth portrait goes on show next week at Edinburgh's
Portrait Gallery where it will be displayed together with other Campbell
oils and several stills from Being Human, Forsyth's last film.
James Holloway, curator at the Portrait Gallery, is keen to up the
gallery's profile in contemporary art and to extend the audience. The
director, Duncan Thomson, anxious to get away from the dusty dead,
historical image, introduced the commissioning of recent portraits about
10 years ago and is building up a fine collection of famous living
Scots.
Says Holloway: ''We have been adventurous in our commissioning, from
footballers like Danny McGrain to musicians such as Sir Alex Gibson and
Peter Maxwell Davis -- plus Mick McGahey, Molly Hunter, R D Laing,
Michael Clark, even politicians such as Jo Grimmond painted in a fairly
controversial style. The Forsyth is a welcome addition. We are thrilled
with Steven's interpretation.''
Campbell is currently in post-Leverhume euphoria, having just received
a grant to go back to Italy to paint. But this time the trip is a mere
three-month affair, for there is much to do on the Glasgow Royal Concert
Hall picture which will have a musical theme (one of a quartet by
Howson, Currie, and Wiszniewski) while his latest idea, Three Ways to
Die, a contemporary opera (production design by Campbell, story by
Hepburn of Taggart fame, music by saxophonist Tommy Smith, and directed
by Stuart Laing of the Citizens' Theatre) is scheduled for next Mayfest.
It recounts an event of random violence in three acts, where the killer,
confessor, and witness all tell their side of the story, ending with a
final convulsive struggle ''which leads to the death of the witness --
or not'' explains Campbell mysteriously.
Now in his forties, Campbell is well aware of the need to be strong,
of the irony of life which can kill indiscriminately, of the unfairness
of it all. His last lecture, Three Ways to Murder an Artist, dwelt on
the ironic deaths of heroes Warhol, Giacometti, and Egon Schiele.
Death with an ironic twist has always fascinated Campbell. ''Life and
death, that's all there is. But you have to do your best, aim high, but
see yourself as a piece of rubbish. What the hell!''
As Forsyth says: ''It's good to see Steve committed to Scotland and
even better to see him looking the world in the eye.''
The Golden
shows
Glasgow in a
vast, glorious,
romantic golden
glow bordered
by nature
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article