wed 04/12/2024

The return of Edwyn Collins - the artist | reviews, news & interviews

The return of Edwyn Collins - the artist

The return of Edwyn Collins - the artist

Grey Heron (2009) by Edwyn Collins: “When I’m drawing, I’m relaxed. I feel good about myself. It’s just me – there’s nobody telling me what to do”
When musician Edwyn Collins, who had a massive hit both sides of the Atlantic with "A Girl Like You", and was also the front-man of Eighties band Orange Juice, suffered a double brain haemorrhage in 2005, he was initially unable to speak, read or write. So the extent of his recovery – he is now performing and writing music again - without wishing to resort to triumph-over-tragedy mawkishness, seems nothing short of miraculous. Of course, there were no miracles, just six long years of arduous, on-going rehabilitation – not to mention unswerving support from his wife and manager, Grace Maxwell, and their son William - much of which Collins, who studied commercial art, has spent drawing. And now a substantial number of these drawings can now be seen in a new exhibition, Edwyn Collins: Nature Punk.
When musician Edwyn Collins, who had a massive hit both sides of the Atlantic with "A Girl Like You", and was also the front-man of Eighties band Orange Juice, suffered a double brain haemorrhage in 2005, he was initially unable to speak, read or write. So the extent of his recovery – he is now performing and writing music again - without wishing to resort to triumph-over-tragedy mawkishness, seems nothing short of miraculous. Of course, there were no miracles, just six long years of arduous, on-going rehabilitation – not to mention unswerving support from his wife and manager, Grace Maxwell, and their son William - much of which Collins, who studied commercial art, has spent drawing. And now a substantial number of these drawings can now be seen in a new exhibition, Edwyn Collins: Nature Punk.

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