BARBARA
MACFARLANE
Land Marks is a major exhibition of new work by the British landscape-painter, Barbara Macfarlane. It includes atmospheric plein air depictions of the French and English countryside, together with distinctive map-like representations of London, Paris and other great cities of the world, which approach the challenge of landscape from an aerial perspective, blending abstraction with the emotive use of colour.
Uniting the twin strands of Macfarlane’s practice is a commitment to succinct and uninhibited mark-making. It imbues all her pictures with a compelling energy – and a unique voice.
Veroician Valley 2020 watercolour on Khadi paper 35 x 103 cm 13 3/4 x 40 1/2 in
London by night.... coming in to land 2020 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
LAND MARKS ‘My method of working has grown from the technique I first evolved painting in watercolour out in the countryside. I still draw with ink using a stick whether I am painting a landscape or a map. The same calligraphic marks are used to respond to a wild uninhabited place or to the manmade environments represented by the urban maps. I use oil paint in a similar way to watercolour. The marks are fast and immediate. The empty spaces are important; they make air and space allowing the marks to breathe.’
-Barbara Mafarlane
Iceland Map 2 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Spring, Vercoiran 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 38 x 68 cm 15 x 26 3/4 in
Paris Cobalt Violet 2020 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Autumn Valley Vercoiran 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 38 x 68 cm 15 x 26 3/4 in
Ochre Path to Vercoiran 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Blue Hills Vercoiran 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 60 x 148 cm 23 5/8 x 58 1/4 in
Paris Dark Emerald, Prussian Blue 2020 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Up and Over Col d'Oure 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Bow Hill 1 2020 watercolour on Khadi paper 60 x 148 cm 23 5/8 x 58 1/4 in
Bow Hill 2 2020 watercolour on Khadi paper 60 x 148 cm 23 5/8 x 58 1/4 in
Down to the River 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Dark Magenta and Slate Midtown 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 150 x 110 cm 59 1/8 x 43 1/4 in
Macfarlane’s art captures the essence - and the drama - of the land, the contrasting elements of earth, sky and water, how they take the light, how they meet and merge.
Over the course of the last twenty years Macfarlane has achieved an international reputation, exhibiting widely in Europe, North America, and Asia. She has shown regularly at the Royal Academy in London, and recently collaborated with the award-winning American designer, Billy Reid, holding an acclaimed exhibition in his New York flagship store.
Moonlight Path over Col d'Oure 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Morning Mist Vercoiran 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 38 x 68 cm 15 x 26 3/4 in
Apricot Field 2 2020 watercolour on Khadi paper 60 x 148 cm 23 5/8 x 58 1/4 in
Spring Fields Autanne 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 38 x 68 cm 15 x 26 3/4 in
Autumn Afternoon, Autanne Valley 2021 watercolour on Khadi paper 60 x 148 cm 23 5/8 x 58 1/4 in
Iceland Map 1 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
Summer Path Les Baronnies 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 110 x 150 cm 43 1/4 x 59 1/8 in
London Grey Violet, Cobalt Violet 2020 oil and ink on linen 120 x 230 cm 47 1/4 x 90 1/2 in
After graduating from Exeter School of Art in 1981 Barbara spent several years working and travelling in India. During this time she cofounded Khadi Papers, a company specialising in artist’s handmade paper. In 1994 Khadi Papers set up their own paper mill in Karnataka, South India. New papers have been developed here including the Atlas and Great White which Barbara uses in her work.
Night London. Prussian Blue, Terracotta, Gold 2021 oil and ink on Khadi paper 80 x 200 cm 31 1/2 x 78 3/4 in
'Barbara Macfarlane is a landscape painter. Through her work she has always striven to depict – and to reveal – the essence of ‘land’. In large scale paintings on handmade paper -using watercolour, oil paint, ink and mark making – she makes sense of the land’s shape, its boundaries, its character, its history' - Matthew Sturgis
Photography by Christian Doyle
2a Conway Street Fitzroy Square London W1T 6BA info@rebeccahossack.com www.rebeccahossack.com