Art of the abstract
A GROUP of abstract paintings by some of the most exciting names in British abstract painting from the beginning of this century and the end of the last will be on show at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery from Saturday.
The exhibition has been specially created by guest curator Professor Jim Mooney who explains: "The artists selected for this exhibition have demonstrated, through distinguished national and international careers, an unflinching belief in the practice of painting as painting."
Artists include Jon Thompson, who taught both Damien Hirst and artist and film-maker Steve McQueen, while he was head of Goldsmiths art college inthe 80s. Also, painter and art historian John Golding - who staged important Picasso and Matisse exhibitions at Tate Modern in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Other artists featured include Kenneth Dingwall, Andrew Graves, Jane Harris, Yvonne Hindle, Vanessa Jackson and Rosa Lee.
Of her inspiration, Rosa said: "I might just as easily be seduced by an immaculately-carved ancient piece of jade in the British Museum … or the awesome sight of those prehistoric mountains on a summer’s journey through the Highlands of Scotland."
Apart from Ken Dingwall, none of them has exhibited widely in Scotland before.
Professor James Mooney, who divides his time between Portgower and London, holds Visiting Professorships in Art at Birmingham City University and Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Art. He is delighted to have the chance to show the work of these important artists in Inverness.John Golding was a world-renowned art historian and curator who organised ground-breaking exhibitions on Matisse and Picasso for the Tate Modern, Hayward Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In spite of these achievements he considered painting as his main occupation.
Professor Mooney said: "The work of these artists does not rely on modes of expression perhaps more suited to other disciplines such as narration. Rather, the works are notable for their intelligent and dedicated exploration of the formal and expressive concerns that properly belong to, and are particular to, the visuality of painting.
"Their work is testimony to painting’s capacity to be both a vehicle and repository of being and experience. They subtly and passionately reveal to us the precarious and provisional nature of what it is to be human.
"The focus on the language of abstraction allows these works to enter into critical dialogue with other practices such as philosophy, music, geometry and the history of painting itself.
"So, painting practices that initially appear to have a narrow focus, when scrutinised and meditated upon, open a door onto other worlds, expanding both these worlds and painting itself in the process."
The show opens at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery on Saturday and runs until October 10.
