Conroy Maddox, (December 27 1912-January 14 2005), was a British surrealist painter, collagist, writer and lecturer.

He was born in Ledbury, Herefordshire, and discovered surrealism in 1935, spending the rest of his life exploring its potential through his paintings, collages, photographs, objects and texts. Inspired by artists such as Max Ernst, Oscar Dominguez and Salvador Dalí, he rejected academic painting in favour of techniques that expressed the surrealistic spirit of rebellion. Maddox officially joined 'The Surrealist Group in England' in 1938.

His creations soon began not only to challenge the conventional view of reality, but also to push pictorial expression to the limits of consciousness. He was even implicated in both scandal and controversy when, during World War II, Scotland Yard suspected him of fifth columnist sabotage and mounted a surprise raid to seize works thought to contain coded messages to the enemy.

In 1948 he married Nan Burton. They had a daughter and a son together, but had the marriage dissolved in 1955. He died in London, aged 92.

References

• Silvano Levy, The Scandalous Eye: The Surrealism of Conroy Maddox, Liverpool University Press, 2003, 292 pages, ISBN 0853235597.

External links

• Obituary from the Independent newspaper, 15 January 2005
• Obituary from The Times newspaper, 17 January 2005
• Obituary from the Daily Telegraph newspaper, 21 January 2005