Adrian Wiszniewski was born in Glasgow in 1958 and trained at Glasgow School of Art from 1979 to 1983. 

An oblique, poetic exploration of burgeoning adolescent sexuality typifies Wiszniewski’s subject matter, as does a current of melancholia. Akin to his peer and fellow ‘New Glasgow Boy’ Steven Campbell, there is something theatrical and mannered in his works, which again are often painted at a monumental, stage-set scale. 

He is known for his depictions of ‘languorous youths’; his figures often sharing similar features, usually representing some form of alter-ego for the artist, taking centre stage in dreamlike Arcadian landscapes. His work often feels heavy in symbolism, though the references are obscure. The overall effect is that we’ve somehow stumbled into the artist’s dream.

Adrian Wiszniewski, born 1958

Wiszniewski was born in 1958 in Glasgow. From 1979 to 1983, he attended Glasgow School of Art after studying architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. He was a founding member of 'The New Glasgow Boys,' a group of Glasgow-based artists who led a revival of figurative painting in Scottish art during the 1980s. Wiszniewski's early work featured densely patterned picture surfaces that were covered in marks and squiggles. In the early 1980s, he was influenced by New Image painting, which combined figurative art with social commentary. In 1984, he had his first solo shows in London and Glasgow. He later worked in printmaking, sculpture, installations, furniture and interior design, and writing. His work belongs to a poetic and romantic tradition of British figurative art.