Fionnula Boyd (B.1944) studied at Leeds University, and Leslie Evans (B.1945) at Leeds College of Art. They began working together in 1968. In order to disguise their individual ‘handwriting’ in these jointly produced paintings, Boyd and Evans used a spray-gun to deliver highly photo-realist images. They discuss content and image exhaustively before working on a canvas, and are united in their intellectual approach, which has an affinity with surrealism - the juxtaposition of unrelated images forging a new idea. They later introduced freer brushwork, which, through their drawings, has become so alike as to be indistinguishable.

Glossary

  • Canvas

    A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp or cotton fibres. The word has generally come to refer to any piece of firm, loosely woven fabric used to paint on. Its surface is typically prepared for painting by priming with a ground.