Having unsuccessfully tried painting, he found his medium after taking a welding course at a local college in the mid-1960s. Inspired by what he called the ‘semi-engineering’ of an Arte Povera exhibition he saw at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Wyllie built a workshop under his house and installed a welding plant.
At the age of 45, he began to create what he called ‘crusty things’ out of old bits of metal.
Jan Patience writes about George’s life and work for Art UK. See the full article at this link:
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/a-seriously-playful-artist-100-years-of-george-wyllie
