About the artist

In 1981 Anthony Pilley arrived in Barcelona to visit Gaudí’s Temple of the Sagrada Familia and to discover the city which had patronised such an exotic construction. So very different from the small, austere churches of protestant Scotland, the Sagrada Familia seemed outrageously exuberant!

Between 1984 and 1986 he carried out a series of twelve paintings in locations around Barcelona. These included representations of two of the city's most emblematic landmarks: the temple of Sagrada Familia and the monument to Christopher Columbus.

In 1995, having lived next to Barcelona’s main pedestrian street, the Ramblas, for over ten years, he began the meticulous process of creating an image of it. Theatre and fantasy meet with architectural precision. The resultant painting is called “The Ramblas and its living statues” and was finally finished in February 2002.

Anthony has exhibited paintings in Britain, Spain, France and the USA. Aside from painting, he has worked as a musician, singer and composer of music for film and television. In his native Edinburgh, he ran Barclay Towers recording studios for an eight-year period and hosted a music programme on Radio Forth. He has also worked as an actor in theatre and film.