Conroy Maddox: Surrealist artist in Varna Road

Amongst our most distinctive residents over the years is the surrealist artist Conroy Maddox (1912 – 2005). He was born in Ledbury but by 1933 had moved to Erdington. His interest in modern art had been awakened in 1927 when he read Wilenski’s “The Modern Movement In Art”. Maddox left behind the still lives and landscapes he had formerly produced and instead focused on, what was to him, a stimulating new form of art. He met two of the foremost exponents of modern art in Birmingham, John and Robert Melville. Through their introductions and contacts the Birmingham surrealist group was formed which also included Desmond Morris amongst their members. In 1936 he entered paintings for the International Surrealist Exhibition in London. While there he met Max Ersnt and Salvador Dali who provided Maddox with connections to the established Left Bank surrealist world in Paris. Maddox visited many times but never got to grips with the language; it is said one debate was instead settled by a duel with umbrellas!

The Sinking (of The Lusitania) 1952

Maddox joined the British Surrealist Movement in 1938 – an organisation which embodied what he loved about surrealism, which he called the spirit or rebellion. Due to established links between the members and communism they also attracted investigation from Scotland Yard. This resulted in Maddox being raided and his paintings investigated for coded messages! There was no subsequent charge however. Maddox had strong anti-war convictions and escaped military service because he had a reserved occupation as a draughtsman for aircraft parts, with Turner Brothers, in Birmingham. Maddox later recalled two air-raids on Birmingham:
"Henry Reed, the poet, was in Birmingham at that time and I remember being with him once, we were walking near Aston, and suddenly we heard bombs falling around, the alarm had already gone off, so we went down to a public lavatory. And of course women did as well, it seemed a fairly safe place. But it was a bit embarrassing for the women, you know. But, we just sat on the books we had. And I always remember the book I had, which was Nicolas Calas's "Confound the Wise" and I remember sitting on that on these cold slabs, you know, for hours on end until the alarm, the all-clear went off. Henry Reed and I once sheltered in the Town Hall under the arches, but we decided not to stay with the crowd but went up on the balcony and sat there. It wasn't until the light came that we realised it was a glass skylight, which wasn't very safe".
As for not enlisting he opined that:
"I don't really want to be in the Army, all this walking the soldiers do. Flying I didn't believe in, you know, and as for the Navy, well you know, they still had that idea of women and children first. I wasn't in favour of any of these things".


The Strange Country 1940

Following the war came his most active period when he set up home in Varna Road, Balsall Heath. As well as Varna Road the surrealist group also met at the Kardomah Café on New Street and The Trocadero on Temple Street. His house was a shrine to surrealism filled with his art which included a typewriter with upturned drawing pins for keys and countless paintings and photographs. He had an irreverance for religion which he often expressed in his work. Many included Maddox in the company of “nuns”; the most controversial being of a “crucified” Maddox next to a “nun” drinking a bottle of M &B’s finest! For years he ran a series of surrealist operations from there including some infamous house parties. Guests including local children, poets, communist intellectuals, postwar Caribbean immigrants, and women in gypsy dress… or as nuns! Maddox’s interest in nuns saw him attempt to mount a series of displays in Birmingham but his proposals were discouraged by the City Council.
His time in Varna Road came to an end with the demolitions and clearances in the area in the 1950’s. He moved to Willesden Green, London in 1955 where he continued to make a living from his work.
“Surrealism,” he said, “is a difficult outlook to propose, but it offers a way out of the type of society in which we live.Society will change one day and we will escape from our incessant monotony, from this kind of life where we don’t link our dreams to reality”.
Maddox died on January 14th 2005. He had just turned 92 years old. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on Friday 21st and George Melly, a long-time friend, delivered the eulogy. His work is on view in the Tate Gallery, London and Birmingham Art Gallery.