Felix & Spear is delighted to present John Lyons: The Language of Painting, an exhibition celebrating the work of the renowned painter and poet John Lyons (b. 1933).
Born in Trinidad and based in the United Kingdom since the 1950s, Lyons has built a career that bridges the worlds of visual art and literature. Deeply influenced by Caribbean folklore and mythology, his paintings are infused with narrative depth, memory, and imagination. As both a poet and painter, Lyons offers a unique artistic voice, creating works where visual imagery and written language harmoniously intersect.
The exhibition brings together works from across Lyons’ extensive career, showcasing the diversity and richness of his artistic expression. His pieces, defined by bold use of colour, symbolic imagery, and lyrical undertones, reveal a poetic understanding of the visual arts that has remained consistent throughout his practice.
Every work demonstrates Lyons’ rare ability to translate the rhythms and cadences of poetry into painting, providing audiences with an intimate glimpse into the imaginative landscapes that have shaped his creativity for more than six decades.
Lyons’ art has been exhibited widely in both the UK and internationally, with his work held in numerous public and private collections. John Lyons: The Language of Painting offers visitors an opportunity to engage with the vision of an artist whose influence on British and Caribbean cultural life is profound and whose creativity continues to inspire with remarkable clarity and inventiveness.
The exhibition runs at Felix & Spear from 11 September to 2 November 2025.
About John Lyons
John Lyons (b. 1933, Port of Spain, Trinidad), lives and works in Cambridgeshire, England. Lyons moved to England in 1959 to study at Goldsmiths College, later earning an Art Teachers’ Diploma from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Over a 27-year teaching career, he maintained a prolific artistic and literary practice, exhibiting widely and publishing seven poetry collections. His work has featured in major exhibitions including Life Between Islands: British Caribbean Art 1950s- Now (Tate Britain, 2021–22) and No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action (Guildhall Gallery, 2016). Solo exhibitions include Carnivalesque (2024-25, The Whitworth and The Box), Mythopoeia (1997) and Behind the Carnival (1992–94). Lyons has served on national arts panels, adjudicated major awards, and co-founded the Hourglass Studio Gallery and HEADS to promote community arts. In 2003 he received the Windrush Arts Achievement Award. His children’s poetry collection Dancing in the Rain was shortlisted for the 2016 CLiPPA Award and in 2025 won the Cholmondeley Award from The Society of Authors.
