John Lyons (poet)

John Lyons (born 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]

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.[4]

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"[5] and contributing "to the enrichment of the West Indian British voice".[6]

Biography

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.[7] He returned to Trinidad in 1948 to live with his father and stepmother.

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 in 1965.[7] 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.[8]

Painting

He 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."[9] Most recently, he is a participant in the exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at the Guildhall Art Gallery (10 July 2015 to 24 January 2016), which takes inspiration from the radical lives of Guyanese activists Eric and Jessica Huntley and the publishing company they founded, Bogle-L'Ouverture.[10][11] Lyons' first book, Lure of the Cascadura was published by Bogle in 1989.

Writing

As a poet, Lyons has read his work widely, appearing at festivals within the UK and abroad, and has made a number of broadcasts on radio and television. His writing has appeared in many publications, including anthologies for children, and he is the author of several collections of poetry.[12][13] 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]."[14]

He has participated in many conferences and workshops, nationally and internationally, and over the years has received won many honours and accolades,[15] including in 2003 the Windrush Arts Achiever Award.[8]

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][16]

Community work

John Lyons co-founded (with writer Jean Rees, to whom he is married)[17] 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.[15][18][19][20]

Selected exhibitions

Solo
Mixed / group

Selected bibliography

Poetry

Awards and accolades

References

  1. 1 2 "John Lyons", Diaspora Artists.
  2. ↑ Paul O'Kane, "John Lyons", in Alison Donnell (ed.), Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture, Routledge, 2002, p. 186.
  3. 1 2 "Visual CV", John Lyons website.
  4. ↑ "John Lyons", Atelier Contemporary Art.
  5. ↑ David Dabydeen, cover notes to Behind the Carnival, 1994.
  6. ↑ Ian Dieffenthaller, Snow on Sugarcane: The Evolution of West Indian Poetry in Britain, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009, p. 243.
  7. 1 2 "About John Lyons", The Poetry Archive.
  8. 1 2 John Lyons Profile, Moving Manchester – Writers' Gallery.
  9. ↑ "Artist statement", John Lyons website.
  10. ↑ "No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960 -1990", Huntleys Online website.
  11. ↑ "Littleport’s Own John Lyons In National Exhibition!", Littleport Life, Issue 38, Autumn (September/October/November) 2015, p. 46.
  12. ↑ "Publications", John Lyons website.
  13. ↑ John Lyons Author page at Amazon.
  14. ↑ Franka Philip, "Caribbean cooking: doing it by the book", Caribbean Beat, Issue 114 (March/April 2012).
  15. 1 2 "Literary CV", John Lyons website.
  16. ↑ Eddie Chambers, "Chapter Seven: The 'Black Art' Generation and the 1980s" in Black Artists in British Art: A History Since the 1950s, I.B. Tauris, 2014, pp. 105–106.
  17. ↑ Jean Rees-Lyons biography.
  18. ↑ "Parade is set to continue despite community arts group's closure", Hebden Bridge Times, 13 January 2010.
  19. ↑ "Interviews and Storytelling: Jude Wadley", Wild Rose Heritage and Arts.
  20. ↑ "Ambitions for the arts in Yorkshire", Arts Council England, 2003, p. 5.

External links

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