Fish Schizophrene
Oil on Canvas, 32 x 36 ins. circa 1986
The Fish Schizophrene of the tile is a reference to the term “”like a fish out of water” The drowning fish and the drowning man are shown where the mouth of the schizophrene would be. In order to more fully describe his mental state Bryan Charnley employed the device of depicting a bondage head in a landscape, invariably that around the River Ouse in in Bedford. Against this ordinary, even mundane, landscape the “Schizophrene” series of paintings display all the richness and horror of his inner life. Packed with complex , powerfully descriptive, imagery the painting allows the viewer to go beneath the covering shroud and into the mind of the artist. In this respect the image of a woman throwing herself from a building is a nightmare reworking of Charnley’s earlier paintings of Pam Jones. Yet it is but one of many images of distress and alienation to be endured, the cigarettes and cups of tea portrayed offering some relief during each difficult day.
