A GREENOCK-born artist is celebrating after his work was selected to appear in a high profile overseas exhibition.
Alex Allardyce's Block 3 - a colourful acrylic monoprint on board - is now on display at the 2022 Bermuda Biennial.
Alex, who has been living in Bermuda since 2017, is one of 32 artists and 11 poets chosen to feature in 'A New Vocabulary: Past. Present. Future.'
As Alex has Bermudian residency, he was able to submit five pieces of work to the judging panel and was thrilled when one of his striking creations was chosen.
Exhibition organisers asked artists to reflect on the past two years and to imagine what the future might hold.
The architect-turned-artist says he tried to come up with a strong image which represents Bermuda and makes reference to life on the archipelago during lockdown.
Alex, 65, added: "I'm absolutely over the moon to be selected.
"There are a lot of decorative concrete blocks all over the place here, which appeared during the building boom in the 1970s, and they've become a sort of symbol of Bermuda.
"The roofs are all white and there are pastel colours everywhere.
"During lockdown, I spent a lot of time looking at the shifting sunlight on the blocks and the abstract shadows they cast on the floor.
"Like a sundial, they marked the passing of the days which had become indistinguishable from each other.
"The blocks became a metaphor for isolation in Bermuda during the lockdown."
Alex was born in West Stewart Street and moved to Wren Road.
He was a pupil at Greenock High School before going on to study architecture at Edinburgh School of Art and ultimately Glasgow School of Art.
After he met his partner, who is Bermudian, he spent a lot of time travelling back and forward while running an architecture practice.
When he moved out Bermuda and married his partner in 2017, he was able to concentrate solely on his art.
Alex works across various media including painting, print-making, sculpture and architecture, and also produces acrylic paint on canvas and linocut prints.
He said he has always seen architecture as a form of art and draws on his skills in his new career.
Alex remembers his time in Greenock fondly and says Inverclyde has had an impact on his work.
He added: "Greenock has its problems but I love it.
"I've not been inspired by Inverclyde in a visual sense, but definitely by its sense of character."
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