Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde

  • Dates
    2019 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Topics Portrait, Fine Art, Documentary
  • Location Glasgow

Glasgow resident Frankie Robertson is a man of remarkable individuality. This is a suite of images chronicling my growing friendship with him and the conversations we have had.

Frankie and I first met in the Barras, Glasgow. Since Frankie told me that as soon as he has some money he'll be gone, we decided that it would be a good idea to make some photographs together before he leaves.

An artist, a poet, but above all a mystic and a Cynic philosopher, when we first met, Frankie corrected me when I described him as a shaman, letting it be known that he preferred to be known as a sage.

One of the photographs here was taken after Frankie attested that everything is `now', including the future and the past; after bearing witness to the fact that sainthood preceded buddhahood. All I know is that, like the Mona Lisa, Frankie cannot be bought nor sold.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson corrected me when I described him as a shaman, preferring to be known as a sage.
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Frankie Robertson corrected me when I described him as a shaman, preferring to be known as a sage.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, the Barras, Glasgow, 10 June 2019.
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Frankie Robertson, the Barras, Glasgow, 10 June 2019.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie lives in a world of intense colour and dark shadows.
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Frankie lives in a world of intense colour and dark shadows.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Says: `When I have some money I'll be gone'.
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Frankie Says: `When I have some money I'll be gone'.

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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After attesting that everything is `now', including the future and the past; after bearing witness to the fact that sainthood preceded buddhahood.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie by the Clyde, 17 July 2019
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Frankie by the Clyde, 17 July 2019

© John Perivolaris - Like the Mona Lisa , Frankie cannot be bought nor sold.
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Like the Mona Lisa , Frankie cannot be bought nor sold.

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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When Frankie is on Buchanan Street even Victoria’s Secret offers itself up as the potential site for a revolution, or a revolutionary site of dissolution. F: `Will you buy me some frillies, John?’ J: `I wouldn’t put anything past you, Frank.’

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, 22 July 2019
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Frankie Robertson, 22 July 2019

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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Frankie Robertson, `A Child's Prayer', 11 June 2019. A poem by Frankie Robertson recited by him from memory in Merchant City, Glasgow, in the summer of 2019, may be heard here: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/john-perivolaris/frankie-robertson-a-childs-prayer" rel="noreferrer nofollow">soundcloud.com/john-perivolaris/frankie-robertson-a-child...</a>

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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Frankie Robertson, `A Child's Prayer', 11 July 2019. A poem by Frankie Robertson recited by him from memory in Merchant City, Glasgow, in the summer of 2019, may be heard here: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/john-perivolaris/frankie-robertson-a-childs-prayer" rel="noreferrer nofollow">soundcloud.com/john-perivolaris/frankie-robertson-a-child...</a>

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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`Without sincerity there is no bridge.' Dressed in his millennial coat inherited from the Ancients, Frankie Robertson walks the streets in sandals like the Cynics, talking with rich and poor alike for free. He is the gadfly of Glasgow, when taunted a biting dog.

© John Perivolaris - `It's hard enough being a sage; even harder being a genius.'
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`It's hard enough being a sage; even harder being a genius.'

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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No frame can contain a man like Frankie, because there has never been a man like Frankie, apart from one, perhaps, whom I recognise when Frankie fixes me with his eyes. J: `Has anyone ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to Lee Marvin?' ’F: `Lee Marvin?! No. But my voice timbre is akin to his, I believe.’

© John Perivolaris - Original Painting by Frankie Robertson, 2019. Frankie’s eyes are the same eyes I see emerging from many of his paintings.
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Original Painting by Frankie Robertson, 2019. Frankie’s eyes are the same eyes I see emerging from many of his paintings.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, St Luke's, Calton, Glasgow, 3 August 2019
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Frankie Robertson, St Luke's, Calton, Glasgow, 3 August 2019

© John Perivolaris - Like Diogenes, Frankie wanders the city in search of honest men and women, only to find rascals and scoundrels.
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Like Diogenes, Frankie wanders the city in search of honest men and women, only to find rascals and scoundrels.

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, 6 August 2019
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Frankie Robertson, 6 August 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson at Home, 13 August 2019. `Different colours made of tears.’
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Frankie Robertson at Home, 13 August 2019. `Different colours made of tears.’

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson’s Recommended Reading List for 21st Century Sages
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Frankie Robertson’s Recommended Reading List for 21st Century Sages

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, three storeys up in his eyrie, where the air is clear, 13/8/19
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Frankie Robertson, three storeys up in his eyrie, where the air is clear, 13/8/19

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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Frankie Robertson, World Citizen, Sauchiehall, Glasgow, 20 August 2019. In the cosmopolitan spirit of the Cynical philosopher, Frankie Robertson dresses in a Libyan hat and Scottish piper’s jacket.

© John Perivolaris - Off Blythswood Square with Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 20 August 2019
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Off Blythswood Square with Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 20 August 2019

© John Perivolaris - A photograph to commemorate a dialogue with Frankie Robertson under a Glasgow colonnade, 20 August 2019
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A photograph to commemorate a dialogue with Frankie Robertson under a Glasgow colonnade, 20 August 2019

© John Perivolaris - Defacing the Coinage of Authority: Robertson & Wellington, Glasgow, 4 September 2019
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Defacing the Coinage of Authority: Robertson & Wellington, Glasgow, 4 September 2019

© John Perivolaris - A Sage Among the Columns: Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 4 September 2019
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A Sage Among the Columns: Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 4 September 2019

© John Perivolaris - A Gaze Split Between Earth and Heaven: Frankie Robertson, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, 4 September 2019
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A Gaze Split Between Earth and Heaven: Frankie Robertson, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, 4 September 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, The Barras, Glasgow, 10 September 2019
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Frankie Robertson, The Barras, Glasgow, 10 September 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, The Barras, Glasgow, 10 September 2019
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Frankie Robertson, The Barras, Glasgow, 10 September 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie and I, 226 Gallowgate, Glasgow, 18 September 2019Frankie refers to me as his photographer and biographer.
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Frankie and I, 226 Gallowgate, Glasgow, 18 September 2019 Frankie refers to me as his photographer and biographer.

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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Frankie Robertson's Vocation, The Barras, 18 September 2019 With easel on his back, brushes in his pocket, and a roll of blank canvas at home.

© John Perivolaris - R, Merchant City, Glasgow 3 October 2019
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R, Merchant City, Glasgow 3 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 3 October 2019
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Frankie Robertson, Glasgow, 3 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson at Work in the Studio, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019
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Frankie Robertson at Work in the Studio, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson in His Studio, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019
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Frankie Robertson in His Studio, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019
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Frankie Robertson, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - The Colours of Frankie Robertson, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019
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The Colours of Frankie Robertson, Springburn, Glasgow, 7 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - The Mind of Frankie Robertson (1)
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The Mind of Frankie Robertson (1)

© John Perivolaris - The Mind of Frankie Robertson (2)
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The Mind of Frankie Robertson (2)

© John Perivolaris - The Mind of Frankie Robertson (3)
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The Mind of Frankie Robertson (3)

© John Perivolaris - The Mind of Frankie Robertson (4)
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The Mind of Frankie Robertson (4)

© John Perivolaris - Frankie Robertson & That Millennial Coat, 17 October 2019
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Frankie Robertson & That Millennial Coat, 17 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Sparks of Colour Fly When the Eye of the Sage Meets the Eye of the Camera
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Sparks of Colour Fly When the Eye of the Sage Meets the Eye of the Camera

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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Frankie Shows Me His Finger, Painted Red by a Friend and Photographed in the Afternoon Light of October, Springburn, Glasgow, 28 October 2019

© John Perivolaris - Image from the Frankie Robertson, Sage of the Clyde photography project
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FRANKIE ROBERTSON'S HEAVENLY WAY. For an ever-wakeful Frankie Robertson, emptiness and blindness are the keys that open the door to the dreams and visions that populate his paintings. Chinese calligraphy by Master Ni, Hua - Ching, from his Heavenly Way: The Union of Tao and Universe (Los Angeles: The Shrine of Eternal Breath of Tao and College of Tao and Traditional Chinese Healing [1981], third printing 1989. Gifted to me by Frankie on the 4th of November 2019.

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