Asking big questions lay at the heart of all George Wyllie's prolific creative output - although often his work intended to provoke thought and discussion rather than provide answers. Describing himself as a "Scul?tor" at his first exhibition in 1976 at the Collins Gallery in Glasgow, Wyllie’s "trademark" question mark is at the heart of the exhibition.

To mark his 75th birthday, his friend, the poet and former Makar, Liz Lochhead, wrote a poem entitled A Wee Multitude of Questions for the artist in 1996. The exhibition takes its title from this very poem.

This new display is exclusively dedicated to Wyllie’s three-dimensional works which could be considered the very core of his practice.

From the basement studio of his home on Tower Hill in Gourock, Wyllie created works such as HMS Discreet which draws attention to the threatening nuclear submarines that had surfaced in his beloved Clyde.

He made playful assemblages inspired by less controversial local subjects like his Para Handy series which drew on the beloved book and TV adaptations of Neil Munro's steamboat stories as well as comment on the pretensions of the art world itself with his joyous Machine for Applauding Paintings(with Critic’s Thumb attachment) (1976).

Amongst other works on display is one of his early sculptures Figures from the Glebe (1968) which draws on the borderline abstract constructions of Anthony Caro or David Smith; the hilarious Portable Palm (1988) which is a 7 foot palm tree made of chrome car bumpers, designed to bring a touch of the exotic to any location as needed.

A highlight of this exhibition is the first time showing in the UK of a large work Wyllie made in the USA circa 1983. “An Incomplete History of Transportation in America” was created while staying with his friend George Rickey in upstate New York, the influence on Wyllie of his residences there are explored further in Gallery 2.

📸 Keith Hunter