THROUGHOUT art history, the line between genius and madness has often been thin.

Some of the most serene works of art belie extreme trauma - Starry Night is blissful, yet Vincent Van Gogh was famously so distressed that he cut off his own ear.

But an up-and-coming Manchester artist used art to recover from his own brush with addiction and illness.

More – a nightmarish vision of addiction and disintegration - is the highly personal show by Altrincham-based artist, Lou, 46. The show reveals the insatiable desires of modern society as well as the vivid journey into the mind of an addict.

In fact, it was while recovering in Hazelden residential treatment centre, Minnealpolis, in 2003, that the father-of-four rediscovered painting.

He said: “As a kid I had been really interested in art until I was about 12, when I went off the rails and was more interested in not doing anything. I started drinking at 12.”

Alcoholic

Lou was an alcoholic by the age of 17, yet set up his own successful company at 27. But in 2000 Lou, then a drug addict, sold the company and uprooted his family to the Caribbean, where he and his wife divorced.

After returning to Manchester in May, 2002 Lou collapsed on the street with a burst ulcer and was rushed to hospital. Within 24 hours of being there he had MRSA and was in intensive care. By September he had Pneumonia.

He said: “I was nil by mouth and on assisted breathing for 11 days and I think the verdict was that I was going to die.

“I came out six stones lighter and I lasted five days and was taking cocaine and drinking again. I just had a death wish.”

When Lou’s life in Manchester began to unravel he fled to the Caribbean, where drug workers intervened and sent him to Hazelden in January.

Recovery

When he finally returned to England at Christmas, Lou said art helped him rebuild his life: “I think painting was a massive part of my recovery because in the second year of my recovery I lived in the country and any time I wasn’t with my kids or going to 12 Step meetings I was painting.

“I painted for two years without any thought of where it could lead.”

The resulting exhibition, at Richard Goodall Gallery, is lively, playful and insightful, with echoes of Jean Michael Basquiat as well as legendary self-taught artist, Francis Bacon. The work is also reminiscent of Surrealism, though Lou paints purely from instinct.

He said: “Even as a tiny boy apparently when I used to draw stick figures I always put taps on their knees, I always had quite a vivid imagination.

“When I look at the paintings they just feel like part of my story. The show is called More and I guess it’s about doing things obsessively – drink, drugs, shopping, lap bars.

“I think human nature is that people strive for happiness through things and, of course, it won’t make you happy.”

The More exhibition will run at Richard Goodall Gallery, High Street, from January 24 – February 23. For more information go to richardgoodallgallery.com.

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