Charlie Price
Charlie Price lived in Brentry Hospital and also attended the Portway Centre in Shirehampton. It was here that he attended the centre’s Art Group that later would become Artists First. Charlie was a small and slight man, whose quiet presence within the group was very easy to overlook.
Charlie’s beautiful single line drawings had a quiet, still beauty to them, similar to the man himself. Although Charlie was non-verbal his work nearly always contained text.
Uniquely, this text was ‘phonetically’ spelt and ran alongside his artwork. Often, this meant he drew subjects such as flowers, animals and everyday objects in list form.
I had the pleasure of knowing Charlie during my nurse training at Baden Powell (Brentry Hospital) , where he lived. At that time Charlie would make small drawings which he’d place in matchboxes and ‘hide’ or place all around the hospital.
Living within that large institution made his art even more remarkable and his time with Artists First even more significant as his creativity wasn’t encouraged or even recognised at Brentry Hospital.
Andy Harris, Artists First Coordinator
Examples of Charlie’s work are to be held in the Glenside Hospital Museum in Bristol and the National Disability Art Collection and Archive in Surrey : a fitting tribute to a such a wonderful and distinct artist.
Selected exhibition history:
1990 Outside Door Gallery Bristol
1993 King Street Gallery Bristol
1993 Mivart Road Open Studios Bristol
2018 An evening with Artists First Arnolfini Bristol
