In this chapter, Brownrigg examines Alasdair Gray’s visual practice (ranging from printmaking, painting and illustration to mural painting) through a chronology of his exhibitions. Brownrigg moves from the ‘unfinished’, the beginnings and stuff of making and materiality, through to the ‘finished’ artworks with a view to highlighting Gray’s position as an artist, over the decades, in the context of Glasgow, Scotland, UK and abroad.

Alasdair Gray’s artwork was exhibited throughout his career, but only in later life did he receive much recognition in the art world outside Glasgow. This chapter focuses on his exhibition history, during his lifetime and then after the fact. As someone whose regionality has been described in the following ways - ‘Riddrie Romantic’ (Thompson 2007), a ‘Glasgow visionary’ or ‘Clydeside Michaelangelo’ (Campbell 2007), how has his locality affected the reception and recognition of his visual artwork through exhibition-making in the context of Glasgow, Scotland, the UK and beyond? Furthermore, how has his work been placed in a wider frame of reference through curation both by himself in the role of curator and by others? Tracking a chronology of his exhibitions gives us a particular prism to view Gray’s visual art practice through.

This approach draws on writing by Gray himself, from his own exhibition interpretation and correspondence; as well as reviews and other secondary sources by critics including sources including Cordelia Oliver (1923-2009), Susannah Thompson and Clare Henry, and critical anthologies such as The Arts of Alasdair Gray (Crawford and Nairn eds 1991) and Alasdair Gray: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography (Moores ed. 2002); to key figures in commissioning and promoting his work – primarily Sorcha Dallas (firstly his dealer, then custodian of the Alasdair Gray Archive) and Elspeth King (former curator, The People’s Palace, Glasgow); to exhibition catalogues from other exhibitions including his work, such as Campbell’s Soup (2005) and The Two Alasdairs (2008).

The chapter is part of 'The Edinburgh Companion to Alasdair Gray and the Arts' (Edinburgh University Press).