About
It was always going to be about making. Grease-glazed, half submerged in a mechanic’s pit in the garage of his family home, some new camera rig, or a partially built sports car suspended above, those early days had a profound effect. Neatly stored tools in ordered rows, backboards with sprayed silhouettes of wrenches and spanners, this treasure trove of arcane devices for bending, cleaving and manipulating is reflected, years later, in an ordered workshop in Southwark.
Dyson Art is the natural culmination of a life spent creating. After a successful career in music spanning decades, with a string of studio albums and music documentaries for major artists to his name, a chance encounter led Gary Dyson to the purchase of a small framer’s tools. In 2000, just a few years after downloads turned the music industry upside down, prospects for musicians seemed bleak and the possibility of an abrupt volte-face in career held a profound appeal. Making something, striving for perfection, was an opportunity for both a livelihood and personal development.
With dedication and patience the skill to create beautiful frames came quickly, but years spent in the creative industry had engendered a maverick streak. Gary wanted to be more than your work-a-day picture framer, developing not just a slew of new frame types now widely seen in the world’s best institutions, but an unmistakable style. Gary has never been one to shy away from a challenge, with the huge, custom built frames for Damian Hirst’s “Mandala” exhibition providing a potent recent memory. Hearts in mouths, watching as a 12 foot sheet of glass, brittle as spun sugar and the length of two king size beds, slowly ascends in a lift at London’s White Cube. Months of work, expertly balanced on the twin tines of a pair of forklifts; irreplaceable, precious and bombastic, just Gary’s style.
Doing business ethically has never been so important. Our world is running out of time and those who can must do their part to save it. Gary recognises the importance of preserving wild spaces here in Britain and both the Broadleaf Foundation and the ArtLeaf initiative are part of a real commitment to change our future, together. By acting now, we can save our incredible natural world, both for ourselves and future generations.