Project

Lyle

Lyle is a small smiling monster, and a deliberate break from the rest of my work. I have made over 2,000 of them.

The paintings come out of the news, and the news is mostly elections, money and the climate. Lyle is the antidote, and I needed one. He turned out to work on other people too.

Adopt a Lyle

Backstory

So how did Lyle come to be?

What Actually Happened

In 2015 I made a small smiling monster on a piece of MDF. He lived in our kitchen. He smiled at people and they smiled back, so I made a few more and gave them away. My friend Lee asked what his name was. No idea. Lee said he looked like a Lyle. And that was it.

At the time we were living in Marin County, 20 minutes north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. I had left a few larger Lyles on Tamarancho, our local (legendary) mountain-biking trail. We’re lucky enough to have been living in the epicentre of mountain biking, in the place where the sport was invented. More and more people wanted Lyles so I started making more. A couple of local shops stocked them. People started leaving them on the trails. Lyle started becoming an unofficial mascot of local mountain biking. There’s even a 7ft Lyle in the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame.

Four photographs in a row: a bike leaning on the Tamarancho trailhead sign, a Lyle painted on a board riding a bicycle on a Fairfax street, Ralph and a friend holding a tall Lyle inside the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame, and a small Lyle fixed to a bike's handlebars in the woods. — Tamarancho, downtown Fairfax, The Mountain Biking Hall of Fame, Endor flow-trail

The Norcal kitesurfing community also embraced him. Dillon Beach, Crissy Fields, Sherman Island in the delta, North Shore Maui and even La Ventana in Mexico have had sightings.

Three photographs: a herd of Lyles standing on a beach with the Golden Gate Bridge behind them, a small Lyle among orange California poppies, and a large Lyle standing in a redwood forest. — Lyles in the wild

In 2018 I took a large herd of Lyles down to LA to an art fair in Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar. Without permission I arranged the herd against the hangar’s huge doors. The show organisers thought they were part of the hangar, and the hangar people thought they were part of the show, so the herd remained in place. They were a hit. Everyone smiled, and even the LAPD took selfies.

Four photographs from an art fair: a man walking past a row of tall Lyle boards, two police officers posing between them, a dog sitting in front of a herd, and three women leaning into the herd. — The Other Art Fair LA, Santa Monica Barker Hangar

Six photographs of people posing with Lyle boards at an art fair, faces appearing over and around them, from small children to adults pulling faces. — Lyle selfies at The Other Art Fair LA, Santa Monica

As more and more Lyles were adopted, people took them traveling all over the world and the hashtag #lylesighting became a thing. There have been verified sightings in over 35 countries.

Four travel photographs, each with a small black Lyle held up in the foreground: a cathedral in Bordeaux, a beach in Madagascar, the auditorium of Radio City Music Hall, and a painted boat sign in Brazil. — Bordeaux France, Nosy Be Madagascar, Radio City Music Hall NYC, Jericoacoara Brazil

The Thinking Behind Lyle

While initially just for fun, Lyle’s role became more serious. 2015 saw him roaming the hills of Marin with not a care in the world. But in 2016 things changed. Lyle’s mission changed too. He became a reminder that decency still exists.

Three photographs: a long row of Lyle boards propped along a street wall, and Lyles filling the tall windows of a gallery storefront. — Squeak Carnwath’s Roll Up Project, Oakland 2017

Three photographs: three people posing behind Lyle boards indoors, an office team lined up along a wall with a small Lyle, and two large Lyles standing outside a shopfront. — Lyle making friends in community spaces, offices and shops around California

During covid more and more Lyles got adopted, and now he’s all over the place.

The breeding programme has just moved to London, so the smile-spreading continues!

Ralph, London 2024

Family album

A scrapbook page of overlapping, slightly rotated snapshots of people holding Lyles: police officers, children, families, shopkeepers and friends, all smiling.

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