GLASGOW.- Painter, radical and formative figure of the 60s Glasgow arts scene – John Taylor is marking 55 years as a professional artist with a major retrospective.

Now aged 80 he is showing around 200 paintings and original prints that follow the sweep of his career through changing styles and times from landscapes to abstract works and back to landscapes.

Among them are scenes from Glasgow, his adopted home where he came to study at the school of art in the 50s and has remained most of his life, one exception being a period in Cornwall dealing in scrap metal when he rejected National Service on political grounds.

John Taylor: 55 Years takes place from 3 to 28 October in the huge 1873 Hall of The Briggait, in The Merchant City, the HQ of Wasps Artists’ Studios, an organisation with which he has a long involvement.

John said: “Now I’ve reached 80 I felt the time was probably right for a retrospective. It’s interesting to see earlier work on a wall again and exciting to share it with old and new friends. While at times it has been a struggle it has been an artistic journey I feel privileged to have made.

“There are recent paintings here and ones that haven’t been seen for decades and together they show how my work has come almost full circle with my return to landscapes in recent years.”

The exhibition mixes paintings of high rise flats in Maryhill and the shipyards at Govan, with rural scenes and bold abstract prints. There are also works from his 1987 View From the Bunker exhibition that carry a powerful and haunting anti-war message and reflect his years as a CND activist.

Following his first solo exhibition, which was in Edinburgh in 1961, John recognised the need for Glasgow to have its own contemporary arts gallery. He addressed this by getting together with fellow artist Bet Low to set up the New Charing Cross Gallery in an attic space above what is now Boots on Sauchiehall Street.

In 1984 he was a founder of the Dovehill Studios, in East Campbell Street, which is owned by Wasps and has grown into a flourishing, and largely tenant-run centre housing around 40 artists, which has playing a valuable role in East End regeneration.

Originally from Darvel, where his father was a baker and his grandfather was known for his strong leftist leanings, he was initially overwhelmed when he arrived at Glasgow School of Art in 1954.

John said: “Coming from a small town in Ayrshire it seemed quite an intimidating place at first, but I soon came to love it and couldn’t wait for the summers to end so I could get back there.”

Over the years he has seen a huge amount of change in Glasgow itself: “Back then there was always the smog. You get all these paintings with little red dots for the sun because it was blotted out by the smog – the only time you could really see the place was during the Glasgow Fair when the industry shut down for a while.

“I remember one Christmas ball where it was so bad virtually no one was able to turn up.”

Cleaner air was one improvement but he was deeply concerned by the loss of industry, jobs and prospects for the city.

He said: “Glasgow feels like it’s on its way up again now, but for a long time things were bad and there was a lot of decay. The poverty is still dreadful in some areas, but it definitely feels like things are improving.”

John’s anger about social injustice led to a small gesture of defiance which he wrote about in the Herald in 1987. Taylor encountered Margaret Thatcher and her entourage when she was opening new flats in Bell Street in the Merchant City. Seeing he was carrying a painting, the PM engaged him in conversation and asked to see it. John did not think the content of the painting would be of interest to her, said “no” and carried on to his studio.

He cheerily went on to make it clear that everyone else was more than welcome to come and see the painting.

John Taylor 55 Years has been curated in partnership with artists Tommy Lydon and Jim Pattison. A film of Taylor’s working practice and the making of the exhibition is being made by the artist John Ferry, which is part of the show.

Audrey Carlin, Wasps Senior Executive Director for Business Development, said: “An artist of John’s stature with a career of this length, and quality really deserves a large space for a major retrospective, so we’re delighted to be hosting the exhibition.

“But John’s story is about more than his art – he was very much at the cutting edge of Glasgow’s development as a vibrant centre for contemporary art. He, alongside his partner Jacki Parry have played a significant role in the development of Wasps, especially with the founding of Dovehill Studios, which is one of the jewels in our crown.”

An exhibition opening event takes place on 30 September from 6-8pm at the Briggait.