David Cook | Change, Ripeness and Decay by The Scottish Gallery

Change, Ripeness and Decay

DAVID COOK

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ+44 (0) 131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk | www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

DAVID COOK

Change, Ripeness and Decay 2 — 23 December 2017

Isolation at Seagreens From his home and studio at Seagreens on the Kincardineshire coast, David Cook looks out across the North Sea, east towards Scandinavia. The sea is a constant presence as it crashes on the rocks and pulls against the pebbles just metres from his front door. It brings with it flotsam and jetsam and the occasional lobster pot which now lie bleached by the sun in his foreshore garden. Cook is completely immersed within the landscape around him, and as the seasons change so too does Cook’s subject matter. His isolation at Seagreens means that Cook is completely immersed within the landscape around him, and as the seasons change so too does Cook’s subject matter. In the high summer the hum of insects and the heady scent of wild flowers drive Cook to paint until last light. On a short February day spur the rage of sea and wind gives urgency to the artist’s creative impulse.

His huge canvases are weighed down against the gusts, as Eardley’s were half a century before; it is the same northerly swell that hits Catterline Bay ten miles up the coast. A number of these seascapes are illustrated at the end of this catalogue. For this exhibition, the product of two years' hard work, Cook has chosen to focus his energies on two specific subjects. The first is the wild and colourful garden surrounding his studio, the paintings convey his inner conversation with nature and reflect a direct emotional response to what he is seeing. Flowers, trees and grasses are captured with deft movements of his knife or brush, the high colour never exaggerated but based on direct observation of his subject. His second theme is the now demolished papermill and scrapyard at Inverkeithing (a once familiar sight to those travelling north on the train from Edinburgh). These paintings, completed in a restricted palette akin to LS Lowry’s, are based on the artist’s recordings of the area in the 1980s and 90s. Cook feels the history of Angus and Fife keenly, but these paintings are

neither sentimental nor nostalgic but instead capture the modern forms of crane and chimney with the same painterly means with which he tackles the natural world. Flowers, trees and grasses are captured with deft movements of his knife or brush. Dunfermline District Museum bought a previous example from his last exhibition. We thank the artist for his insightful text to accompany his paintings and look forward to the next focus of this prodigious talent. Tommy Zyw, October 2017

Garden Paintings I wanted to slow my process down, to become something slow burning. David Cook, September 2017

Change, Ripeness and Decay Whilst working towards this exhibition a series of events and changes collided. I switched brand of paint and started working on a heavy linen. I went through a revaluation in my work and my working methods (I wanted to slow my process down, to become something slow-burning). The subjects which I chose to focus on are all close to my heart. The industrial landscape, my garden at Seagreens, the sea and the rain. I moved a bed into the studio and slept there for six weeks. During that time, I stretched canvas on the largest wall which was to become Cattle in the Garden. My original thought for the painting, as often happens, developed into something else, something unexpected.

I tried and see more deeply the elements working their magic, to forge and create the way the garden grows.

There was a period when the cattle where breaking out of the field and would wander onto the beach and into my garden. One morning when I opened the door the large bull was standing outside the front door, head facing me. I had to

climb out the bedroom window to get out. With three hours gentle persuasion I managed to get him back in the field and phoned the farmer. He said he had five bulls and that one was number one.

The garden seemed to pour

into the studio, it became the epicentre of my work.

He was quite taken that I risked myself in order to return the bull to the field. They don’t seem to mind me, and I don’t mind them being in the garden. The fruits of this is Cattle in the Garden painting which measures 180 × 500 cms. As the garden seemed to pour into the studio, it became the epicentre of my work for the following year. I immersed myself fully in and became as close as possible to the elemental force of nature. I tried and see more deeply the elements working their magic, to forge and create the way the garden grows. Dead plants from the past year, like dried bones thrust through the young plants emerging the following spring. The yearly cycle of change, ripeness and decay. David Cook, September 2017

Image right: David Cook’s garden at Seagreens, August 2017

N˚ 1

Apple Blossom — Oil on canvas — 81 × 102 cms

N˚ 2

Path from Studio, Past Red Cliff to Yellow Field — Oil on canvas — 140 × 140 cms

N˚ 3

Poppy — Oil on board — 61 × 71 cms

Oil on board — 23 × 16 cms —

Tiny Poppy Study

N˚4

N˚ 5

Iris Study — Oil on board — 46 × 36 cms

Oil on board — 108 × 122 cms —

Study of Dead and Dying Flowers

N˚6

N˚ 7

Falling Apple — Oil on herringbone linen — 100 × 120 cms

N˚ 8

Cattle in the Garden — Oil on canvas — 180 × 500 cms

Oil on board — 122 × 122 cms —

Church Steeple, St Cyrus N˚

Industrial Landscapes iles of shredded coloured P paper, red chimneys belching smoke and the scrapyard with its cranes and rusting boats and ships. David Cook, September 2017

Black Chimneys and Red Cranes In stark contrast to the garden paintings, I produced a large body of work, on a subject which has always set my mind in motion, the paper factory by Inverkeithing. What caught my eye first about this subject was the huge rolls of coloured paper neatly stacked outside the factory, the piles of shredded coloured paper, red chimneys belching smoke and the scrapyard with its cranes and rusting boats and ships. The word ‘comfort’ on the carpet store. All this set by the water’s edge.

A page from one of my ancestor’s diaries, 1776: Lochgelly has long been known as a mining village. I am myself among the oldest miners in it and, belong to the oldest race of miners born in the Earl of Mintes estate. There generations of us were all born lived and died in a little row of houses called Launchenhead. It was among that all the mining operations were carried out but mining in the old days was on a very small scale at the time I am writing.

The palette I chose was: Ivory black, cadmium red, prussian blue, yellow ochre and titanium white and

Piles of shredded coloured paper, red chimneys belching smoke and the scrapyard with its cranes and rusting boats …

After my return from South Africa in 1997 I had heard that Carol Lowry was wanting to meet me. We met and she bought some paintings. After that we kept in touch. Carol opened a Gallery in Pittenweem in 1999. I had one solo show of paintings from Turkey after my 6th visit to the country. Later, I was greatly honoured to have an exhibition alongside LS Lowry. Carol was the heiress to Lowry’s Estate and security guards slept in the gallery overnight. She spoke to me about this titan of a painter and for the industrial paintings I decided to use a similar palette to Lowry, who used: Ivory black, vermillion, prussian blue, yellow ochre, flake white and no medium.

David Cook, September 2017

From Inverkeithing you look over to Lochgelly, a once thriving mining town. Coal ships brought coal into Seagreens, Milton and Johnshaven. The main sea-borne trade of Johnshaven was the importation of coal for domestic use from Sunderland and the Forth, also occasional cargoes of lime for agricultural use. This would be around 1760. So it is warming to think that once the coal my ancestors cut, was delivered here to Seagreens.

no medium. The industrial paintings helped me to construct the garden paintings. The limited palette helped to simplify and perhaps rest from the bombardment of colour. Working on the two subjects over the past year has kept me on my toes.

Image right: Inverkeithing Scrapyard, 1986 by David Cook

N˚ 10

Red Crane with Apple Blossom — Oil on board — 122 × 122 cms

N˚ 11

In the Mist — Oil on board — 31 × 44 cms

Oil on board — 91 × 91 cms —

Black Chimneys

N˚ 12

N˚ 13 N˚ 14

Study 1 — Oil on board — 18 × 23 cms Study 2 — Oil on board — 18 × 23 cms

N˚ 15

Chimney Study 2 — Oil on board — 16 × 20 cms

Oil on board — 61 × 66 cms —

Evening Light Hitting Factory

N˚ 16

N˚ 17

Chimney Study 1 — Oil on board — 20 × 26 cms

N˚ 18

Seen in Green — Oil on board — 31 × 39 cms

Oil on board — 91 × 123 cms —

Rolls of Coloured Paper

N˚ 19

N˚ 20

Study of Heaps of Scrap — Oil on board — 31 × 36 cms

Oil on board — 54 × 64 cms —

White Hoose with Blue Smoke

N˚ 21

N˚ 22

Yellow Digger — Oil on board — 91 × 153 cms

N˚ 23

Scrap Yard Study 1 — Oil on board — 15 × 21 cms

N˚ 24

Factory Study — Oil on board — 21 × 23 cms

Heaps of Scrap Metal

Oil on board — 20 × 31 cms —

N˚ 25

Oil on board — 18 × 23 cms —

Study 3

N˚ 26

N˚ 27

Three Pyramids of Scrap Metal — Monoprint on heavy watercolour paper — 43 × 58 cms

The Place of Much Industry

Monoprint and mixed media on Fabriano paper — 48 × 62 cms —

N˚ 28

N˚ 29

View over Lochgelly — Oil on board — 92 × 96 cms

N˚ 30

Red Crane, Red Chimney — Monoprint on Fabriano paper — 48 × 63 cms

Oil on board — 52 × 58 cms —

Derelict Building, Still Smoking

N˚ 31

N˚ 32

Wind Blowing to the East — Oil on board — 31 × 49 cms

Oil on board — 18 × 23 cms —

Study 4

N˚ 33

Crane Study

Oil on board — 31 × 36 cms —

N˚ 34

N˚ 35

Rain Lashing Down — Black chalk, ink and watercolour — 34 × 50 cms

Oil on board — 51 × 61 cms —

Across the Field to Work

N˚ 36

N˚ 37

Road to Johnshaven — Oil on board — 46 × 61 cms

Oil on board — 46 × 61 cms —

Corner of Johnshaven Harbour

N˚ 38

The Sea I painted the sea devoid of any reference to man. Externally in motion, ever changing, living out its untraveled freedom. David Cook, September 2017

Oil on canvas — 61 × 92 cms —

Thundering Spray Waves

N˚ 39

N˚ 40

Rain Tearing through the Sea — Oil on board — 122 × 153 cms

N˚ 41

Seventh February Foam Waves — Oil on canvas — 140 × 210 cms

DAVID MACKIE COOK Education 1957

Born in Dunfermline

1973–77 Apprenticeship as bricklayer in Kirkcaldy

Lives and works in Angus

1979–84 Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art

Exhibitions

Selected Collections

1982 Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Art in Healthcare

1986 Artspace, Aberdeen

City of Edinburgh Council

1987 Flaxman Gallery, London

Dundee Art Gallery

1999 Queens Gallery, Aberdeen

Dunfermline District Museum

1999 Opening Exhibition, The Weem Gallery, Pittenweem

Glasgow Museums Resource Centre

2000 David Cook and L.S Lowry, The Weem Gallery, Pittenweem

Kirkcaldy Art Museum and Art Gallery

2007 Montrose Art Gallery and Museum

Knysna Fine Art, South Africa

2007 Art Extraordinary, Pittenweem

Scottish Arts Council Collection

2009 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

University of Dundee

2012 Seagreens Recollections, Fraser Gallery, St Andrews

University of Warwick

Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow

Private collections worldwide

2014 Savage Tranquillity, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2017 Change, Ripeness and Decay, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Image right: David Cook in his studio, 2016. Photograph Stuart W. Sutherland

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition:

DAVID COOK Change, Ripeness and Decay 2 — 23 December 2017

Acknowledgements I have to thank all at the Gallery for their help in putting this exhibition together. Special thanks to Tommy Zyw and Christina Jansen. Thank you also to Stuart W. Sutherland for his help photographing documenting work. For his constructive criticism on his visits over the past 30 years. Mike McFarlane of Phoenix Photography, Montrose. For his help in developing photographs, and his humour. Kate Lorimer for her jam and support over the years. David Cook, September 2017

ISBN: 978 1910 267 68 4 Designed by Sigrid Schmeisser Printed by Barr Printers Photography by John McKenzie Cover and Back cover artwork: N˚9 Cattle in the Garden — Oil on canvas — 180 × 500 cms

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ | +44 (0) 131 558 1200 mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk | www.scottish-gallery.co.uk