AN exhibition featuring never before art by the late Scottish artist George Wyllie is to open in Paisley later this week.

The Why?sman show at Paisley Museum, opening on Friday, also looks at Wyllie's most famous works including A Day Down a Goldmine, The Straw Locomotive, The Paper Boat and Spires.

Wyllie died in 2012 and was known for his large scale conceptual work, often inspired by politics or social issues as well as the playful and surreal, which frequently attempted to engage with the wider world.

Wyllie described his own art as scul?ture because he said the question mark should be at the centre of everything.

Herald arts writer, Jan Patience, a trustee of the George Wyllie Foundation and co-author of a forthcoming biography of the artist, called The Making of George Wyllie, said: "George grew up just a stone's throw from Paisley in Cardonald and he would have been delighted that this exhibition was taking place at Paisley Museum, which he knew well.

"With George Wyllie's work, there is always a question and I would urge visitors of all ages - from eight to 80 - to take some time out this summer and take in his art in all its playfully serious glory."

Councillor Jim Harte, chair of Renfrewshire Leisure, said: "With its combination of serious and humorous art, and activities for children, this exhibition will appeal to visitors of all ages."

The Why?sman exhibition is curated by Lynne Mackenzie and is the result of collaboration between Renfrewshire Leisure Ltd, the Wyllie Family and The George Wyllie Foundation.

It includes large scale sculptures, paintings, film and photographs.

Wyllie launched the huge Paper Boat on the Clyde as a statement about the decline of Scotland's shipbuilding industry.

The 80ft-long Paper Boat was exhibited at The Tramway in Glasgow and at other sites, including a placement on the Hudson River in New York, for which it carried quotations from Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

The artist spent time in the Royal Navy before embarking on a career as a Customs and Excise officer.

He moved to Inverclyde in the late 1950s and while keeping watch for ships coming into the docks in Greenock from his house overlooking the Firth of Clyde, he "made time for art"

The exhibition runs until September 13 at Paisley Museum and is free of charge.