21 April – 8 May 2017
The Night Gardener, Adrian Wiszniewski RSA
Adrian Wiszniewski RSA, Lovers Consumed, mixed media on board, 200 x 164 cm
This exhibition, entitled The Night Gardener, centres on paintings populated with contemplative figures set in vividly coloured Arcadian landscapes. Exotic flora and fauna are incorporated into the paintings, and subject to the same stylisation as the figures. Often working on a heroic scale with energy and fluidity, Wiszniewski’s paintings offer instant sensual gratification but employ a wide visual language. Within an environment of huge, threatening plants painted in liquid, luminous colours of red, orange and yellow, the world appears out of kilter and in a state of decay. Interlacing both classical and contemporary iconography, the exhibition presents a garden of unearthly delights, full of theatrical moments and private discourses.
Adrian Wiszniewski RSA, Dance of the Maidens, gouache on paper, 197 x 143 cm
Carefully rendering outlines and using abundant hatching, Wiszniewski creates characters that seem to exist within a counter reality, in which narratives are dictated by both comedy and tragedy. Speaking about this new body of work, Wiszniewski has said: ‘In the way that an archaeologist scratches and brushes in the hope of revealing a hidden treasure I scratch and brush in the hope of revealing a hidden truth. This is how I generally work. On occasion I will muster my skills in articulating a particular set of ideas.’ Seeking to reveal such hidden truths, Wiszniewski’s work is often esoteric whilst being compellingly narrative.
Wiszniewski was born in Castlemilk, Glasgow, in 1958 and trained in architecture before deciding to study fine art at Glasgow School of Art (1979-1983). Along with Ken Currie, Peter Howson and Steven Campbell, he was a leading figure in a revival of figurative painting in Scottish art. This group became known as the New Glasgow Boys after they were selected for a show entitled A Vigorous Imagination at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art. Wiszniewski was awarded the Lord Provost’s Medal from the City of Glasgow in 1999 and his work can be found in many international collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Setagaya Museum, Tokyo; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Tate Britain, London; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He lives with his wife and children in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire.
Invasions and Excavations, Robbie Bushe
Robbie Bushe, The Space Utilisation Manager and the Chasm of Doom, oil on panel, 46 x 60 cm
Robbie Bushe’s first exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery, titled Invasions and Excavations, comprises of a series of compact oil paintings portraying the artist’s visual meanderings with civic structures, institutional barriers and personal loss, with the occasional reference to his childhood obsessions of sci-fi and adventure comics. Frequently set within expansive architectonic constructions, the scenes show huddles of characters who are contained, locked in or shut out; some willing victims, others fighting injustices. All have been derived from a three or four year period of intensive drawing and emerge from a combination of direct observation, visual daydreaming and pictorial mischief-making. The use of the ‘proscenium arch’ or dolls house as a pictorial and theatrical device allows Bushe to stage multiple stories within each composition. The artist’s loss, in 2016, of his mother, who herself was a performer, writer, poet and maker, has informed and fuelled many of these works. Bushe considers the series a tribute to her vitality, creativity and enthusiasm.
Bushe has exhibited his narrative paintings since 1990. Inspired by the characters and the places he has lived and worked, his work has won several national awards including most recently the inaugural W. Gordon Smith Painting Prize at the Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh. Born in Liverpool in 1964, Bushe grew up in Aberdeenshire, before undertaking a degree in fine art at Edinburgh College of Art in 1990. Having simultaneously undertaken a career as artist and art lecturer, he taught painting at Grays School of Art, Aberdeen; was Head of Fine Art at the University of Chichester; and lectured at Kent Institute of Art and Design and Oxford Brookes University. Bushe returned to Scotland in 2007 to become the Coordinator of Short Courses at Edinburgh College of Art, now part of the University of Edinburgh.
Fish Tales, Donald Provan
Donald Provan, Powder Blue, oil on panel, 56 x 80 cm
This exhibition of new paintings by Donald Provan looks to the shadowy world beneath the waves, rendering the textures and colours of marine life with skilled draftsmanship. Provan’s preferred medium is oil which he often applies to metallic surfaces to create irredescent sheens, reminiscent of fish scales. Exploiting his subtle aptitude for tone and colour, Provan often uses a limited palette of blues and greys. The exhibition includes large scale paintings on metal panel as well as intimately sized studies created from reused objects like paint tubes, flasks and waste metal.
Provan undertook both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (1987) at the Edinburgh College of Art. He has won the David Cargill Award and the Cuthbert Award from the Royal Glasgow Institute. He has also received grants from the Scottish Art Council and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Canada. His work is held in private and public collections including the Royal Bank of Scotland, the University of St Andrews and Edinburgh College of Art. He lives and works in Edinburgh.
All works are available for purchase and a prices can be viewed at www.openeyegallery.co.uk
Open Eye Gallery
34 Abercromby Place
Edinburgh
EH3 6QE
(0)131 557 1020
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