11 Facts About Bryan Charnley

Bryan Charnley was an English artist who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and explored its effects in his work.

Bryan John Charnley was born on 20 September 1949 in Stockton-on-Tees.

In 1969, Bryan Charnley gained a place at the Central School of Art and Design in Holborn, London, but was unable to complete the course due to another breakdown that was later diagnosed as acute schizophrenia.

However, Bryan Charnley was interested in the work of fellow British artist Bridget Riley, in whose work he saw a 'cool discipline' combined with a strong emotional charge.

In 1982, Bryan Charnley painted a double portrait of himself and his partner Pam, in what has been called "the high point of Bryan Charnley's photorealistic early period".

Bryan Charnley's trauma is explored in his painting of the same year, Leaving by the Window.

Bryan Charnley had been exploring his inner life through painting since at least 1982, particularly addressing the experience of schizophrenia.

Bryan Charnley had a solo exhibition at the Dryden Street Gallery, Covent Garden in London 1989, and exhibited two paintings at the Visions exhibition at the Royal College of Art in 1990, curated by Aiden Shingler.

Bryan Charnley was frustrated by his apparent lack of success in the art market, and what recognition he received was outweighed by the day to day problems of his illness and the heavy medication he was prescribed to counter it.

The journalist and CEO of SANE, Marjorie Wallace, encouraged Bryan Charnley to keep a diary of his progress.

Bryan Charnley made the diary an integral part of the portraits using the text to explain the imagery he was using and to describe his existential state.