FLORA DEPICTA
FLORA DEPICTA 6—30 July 2016
Julie Blyfield Philip Braham Michael Brennand-Wood David Cook Bob Crooks Victoria Crowe Pat Douthwaite Andrea Geile Derrick Guild The Earl Haig Susan Hipgrave John Houston Angie Lewin Kirsty Lorenz Josef Marek Denis Peploe Claudia Rankin Paul Scott Naoko Shibuya Christine Wylie
www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/floradepicta 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ tel 0131 558 1200 | email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk Cover: Detail from After Eden No. 3, 2015, by Derrick Guild, oil on linen, 62 x 47 cms (cat. 21) Left: Detail from Giverny, 2016, by Bob Crooks, hand blown glass incorporating hand pulled canes, 2016, H41 x W42 x D17 cms (cat. 9)
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Flora Depicta This July the whole Gallery is devoted to the subject of Flora Depicta, exploring the still life genre and artist’s continuing fascination for flowers. Over two floors we are combining objects and pictures, artists past and present, senior, mid career and new, from Scotland as well as a number of international artists from our wider world of the applied arts. The exhibition also extends outside to our Gallery garden which over the winter and spring season has quietly been replanted by artist and gardener Alex Knubley. Still life painting emerged as a distinct genre in Western painting in the late 16th century and has remained significant since then. Early still-life paintings, particularly before 1700, often contained religious symbolism and complex allegory relating to the objects depicted. Derrick Guild for example, acknowledges the Flemish painters of the 16th and 17th centuries and uses this familiarity to explore man’s desire for beauty and the manipulation of beauty. Victoria Crowe’s still life subjects of trees and botanical subjects often act as a conduit for emotion, a journey to another place both personal and universal. The Scottish Gallery has had an association with the sculptor Andrea Geile for over ten years and we are delighted to have her bold work both inside and outside the gallery which will enable us to see her work in a new context. We welcome several new artists to the gallery; Naoko Shibuya is an Edinburgh College of Art graduate and her beautiful, detailed decorated paintings and round panels are taken from observational drawings at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Kirsty Lorenz who works from her railway station studio in Fife, has made flowers her central subject and has documented posies of wild flowers from around Scotland. Christine Wylie who is currently working in the medium of photogravure images, offers us an unusual insight onto the herbarium, whilst Claudia Rankin from Northumberland has created a ceramic group inspired by early 19th century botanical illustrations. Objects make up a significant part of the unique identity of The Scottish Gallery. We have two artists from Australia: Julie Blyfield’s jewellery is inspired by the botanical landscape of Australia whilst Susan Hipgrave follows in the footsteps of Victorian ornithologists and botanists with her super realist hand painted plates. Bob Crooks from Devon has created a special body of hand blown glass vessels, some of which are inspired by the garden of the impressionist painter Monet. The Czech glass artist Josef Marek’s Wind is included as a monumental sculpture celebrating the beauty of the natural world. Christina Jansen The Scottish Gallery
Right: Detail from Psalm, 2016, by Philip Braham, oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cms (cat. 4)
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Julie Blyfield (b.1957) Julie Blyfield makes jewellery, small-scale vessels and sculptural objects in her covetable wisteria-clad studio nestling in the garden of her home in Adelaide, South Australia. The setting of her studio reveals much about her. A passionate gardener, her love of plants is apparently embedded in her DNA. Her exploration of her family history revealed several earlier generations of gardeners including a great-grandfather who worked for Suttons Seeds, the revered seedsmen and suppliers of plants, bulbs and fruit bushes; a company founded in Reading, England in 1806. Blyfield’s studio overlooks a flourishing garden of fruit trees and vegetables, as well as native and exotic plants (carefully maintained with waste water through the years of water restrictions). There could hardly be a more desirable workplace for a maker whose work is so deeply connected to the natural world. “My work is inspired by the botanical landscape in Australia, which Julie Blyfield, 2015. Photograph: Grant Hancock
I interpret in my metal work using the technique of ‘metal raising’ and ‘chasing’. I enjoy exploring and collecting plant specimens from rich and diverse environments such as the Simpson Desert in the north of South Australia and further south around the coast of Kangaroo Island. Working with both pure silver and sterling silver as my preferred choice of material, I texture the surface to create individual pieces in the form of vessels and also more sculptural pieces. During the making process, I enjoy the way the metal ‘moves and shifts’ in almost unpredictable ways to create the organic forms which shimmer with the silver textures or colours derived from nature.” Julie Blyfield, 2015 Public Collections include: Victoria & Albert Museum, London National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Art Gallery of South Australia Musée des Arts Decoratifs, France National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria, Australia The Powerhouse Museum, Australia Queensland Art Gallery, Australia South Australian Museum
1. Silky Oak Neckpiece, 2015, oxidised precious white metal, silk thread, wax, L48 cms 2. Silky Oak Brooches, 2015, precious white metal and oxidised precious white metal, largest H5 x W8 x D2.5 cms
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Philip Braham (b.1959) A graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Philip Braham first came to prominence in the 1980’s with the rise of figurative painting in Scotland, which culminated in The Vigorous Imagination exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1987. His career includes 22 solo exhibitions to date; in addition to numerous group shows both nationally and internationally. Among the awards received are the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy Guthrie Award for painting and the Royal Scottish Academy Morton Award for lens-based work. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Raab Gallery Berlin, The Scottish Gallery and at the Royal Scottish Academy for the Edinburgh International Festival contribution in 2010. A longstanding interest in continental aesthetics informs his pedagogical role as Course Director for Art, Philosophy and Contemporary Practices at the University of Dundee. Braham works in both painting and photography, which are informed from the Northern European engagement with landscape as a Philip Braham, 2016
metaphor for the human condition. Recent projects reflect on the temporal nature of our existence through personal recollection and collective history, set within the slowly evolving landscape that bears us forward. Fidelity to experience is fundamental to his practice, and this brings a poetic grace to his technical mastery of oil painting and silver-based photography. Public Collections include: Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums McManus Art Gallery, Dundee The Fleming Wyfold Collection, London Sunderland Art Gallery City Art Centre, Edinburgh BBC London Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Contemporary Art Society, London Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
3. Copper Beech, 2016, oil on canvas, 46 x 61 cms
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Psalm by Paul Celan (translated by M.Hamburger) No one moulds us again out of earth and clay, no one conjures our dust. No one. Praised be your name, no one. For your sake we shall flower. Towards you. A nothing we were, are, shall remain, flowering: the nothing, the no one’s rose. With our pistil soul-bright, with our stamen heaven-ravaged, our corolla red with the crimson word which we sang over, O over the thorn.
4. Psalm, 2016, oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cms
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Michael Brennand-Wood (b.1952) Michael Brennand-Wood is internationally regarded as one of the most innovative and inspiring fine artists working in textiles. Today he occupies a central position in the research, origination and advocacy of Contemporary International Art Textiles. A defining characteristic of his work has been a sustained commitment to the conceptual synthesis of contemporary and historical sources, in particular the exploration of three-dimensional line, structure and pattern. He has persistently worked within contested areas of textile practice: embroidery, pattern, lace and recently floral imagery. Sites, which offer unbroken traditions, cross cultural interventions and a freedom to work outside the mainstream. He believes that the most innovative contemporary textiles emanate from an assured understanding of both textile technique and history. “Flower Head – Narcissistic Butterfly, conceptually references the implied relationship between the floral and human head. Each individual embroidered flower has at its centre a human face, preserved at the end of a flexible wire. A bunch, cast, of political and media characters. Sculpturally the form refers to the exotic, tiered pincushions into which hatpins were once stored. The embroidered flower is a 20th century snapshot, analogous to a preserved butterfly, in a museum case, a reflection of someone who has ceased to exist. I was also interested in the term ‘Pinhead’ a derogatory critique of certain Michael Brennand-Wood outside the Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, 2015. Photograph: Samantha Rhodes
people in society, in this context; Pinhead is deliberately ambiguous referring to both people and the preservation of insects. Our leaders, those people who represent us have an unfortunate sense of their own self-importance and a desire to be seen and constantly photographed at their best, the mirror is a literal reflection of their narcissism and our fascination with other people’s media lives.” Michael Brennand-Wood, 2013 Michael Brennand-Wood’s work is represented in numerous international public collections.
5. Flower Head Narcissistic Butterfly, 2005, machine embroidered blooms, mirror, wire, photographs, beads, fabric, thread and acrylic on wood panel, H40 x W40 x D60 cms. Photograph: Peter Mennim
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David Cook (b.1957) David Cook was born in Dunfermline and attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1979–84. He received the first prize at the annual student show at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1983 followed by a travel award which took him to Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium and Cyprus. He was awarded the Guthrie Award at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1985 and was given Scottish Arts Council Awards in 1985, 1988 and 1989. He lives and works in Angus. David Cook will be the subject of a major solo exhibition at The Gallery in December 2017, as part of our 175 celebrations. “When it comes down to painting flowers, it is the visual effect that fascinates me; using them as an experimental laboratory in which I can explore form, colour and the relationship between the surface and the subject. Recently I have adopted a close up view of plants and flowers, as in the painting Patch of Daffodils, giving my attention to the natural and thus beautiful appearance of flowers in their usual habitat. Flowers hold for me, a pure beauty, fragrant, silent in a variety of colours and shapes. There is energy, a vibration of colour there. The flower is short lived but burns bright; soon to wither until it blooms the following spring. I now live in Seagreens on the east coast of Scotland and there has always been an abundance of wild flowers growing in my garden, and the surrounding land. Ragged robin, bluebells, daffodils, poppies, roses and mint are but a few. The embankment behind my house is covered in a blanket of primroses David Cook is his studio, 2016. Photograph: Stuart W. Sutherland
every spring. Looking at this every day is so powerful; I just want to paint it.” David Cook, 2016 Public Collections include: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection Kirkcaldy Galleries Knysna Fine Art, South Africa Mars Gallery, Moscow New Trtyakov Gallery, Moscow Pushkin Museum, Moscow Scottish Arts Council Collection
6. Patch of Daffodils, 2015, oil on board, 85 x 61 cms
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7. Apple Blossom, 2015, oil on canvas, 77 x 62 cms
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8. A Vase of Joy, 2015, oil on board, 71 x 62 cms
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Bob Crooks (b.1965) Bob Crooks is one of Britain’s leading glass artists. He has established a strong reputation for his exceptional blown glasswork with sophisticated use of colour and technique. Each piece is unique and Bob uses a variety of hot and cold working processes. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in numerous public collections. For Flora Depicta Bob Crooks has created a specific body of work, some of which has been inspired by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s garden. The Scottish Gallery will be hosting a major exhibition of Bob Crooks in December 2017, as part of our 175 celebrations. “Bob Crooks works in a highly disciplined daily routine from early till late. The studio must be kept immaculate, the furnace at the right temperature and filled with glass, all the machinery and tools in ship shape. Only then can the excitement of glass blowing begin. Part of the time is devoted to blowing, part to cold working and part to working things out in one’s head. Ideas happen all the time with this way of making. Even mistakes can be inspirational and lead to new departures. Athleticism and quick decision making are essential in hot glass blowing. This appeals greatly to Bob Crooks’ somewhat impatient nature. The storm and stress of a hot glass workshop are what gets his creative juices flowing, the agitated process in and around the furnace. There is more time for reflection and refinement in the cold working studio. The whole process, with a magic all its own, combines the excitement and danger of heat with the cooler activities of cutting and polishing.” © Dan Klein, 2006 Bob Crooks in his studio, 2014. Photograph: Ian Jackson
Public Collections include: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh Victoria & Albert Museum, London Bristol Museum & Art Gallery European Museum of Modern Glass, Germany The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Mobile Museum of Art, Alabama Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Museums Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge Manchester Metropolitan University The Sainsbury Collection, Norwich Standard Life Art Collection, Edinburgh British Council Collection, London
9. Giverny, 2016, hand blown glass incorporating hand pulled canes, H41 x W42 x D17 cms. Photograph: Ian Jackson
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10. Top left: Slate on Slate with Citrus, 2016, handblown glass on slate, part of the Chery Blossom Flower Bomb Collection, L35 cms 11. Bottom right: Slate on Slate with Lemon, 2016, hand blown glass on slate, part of Cherry Blossom Flower Bomb Collection, L30 cms 12. Right: Mono, 2016, hand blown glass incorporating hand pulled canes, H42 x W46 x D24 cms All photographs: Ian Jackson
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13. Left: Ruby, 2016, hand blown glass incorporating hand pulled canes, H55 x W32 x D19 cms. Photograph: Ian Jackson Above: Detail from Ruby, 2016. Photograph: Ian Jackson
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Victoria Crowe
14. Very Common on Rocks, Malta, 2006–07, watercolour, 48.5 x 39 cms
OBE, DHC, FRSE, MA (RCA), RSA, RSW (b.1945) Victoria Crowe studied at Kingston School of Art from 1961–65 and then at the Royal College of Art, London, from 1965–68. At her postgraduate show she was invited by Sir Robin Philipson to teach at Edinburgh College of Art. For 30 years she worked as a part-time lecturer in the School of Drawing and Painting while developing her own artistic practice. She is a member of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW). She has shown widely throughout the UK and in particular with The Scottish Gallery since 1970. She has undertaken many important portrait commissions and beyond this her work is held in numerous public and private collections worldwide. In 2000 her exhibition A Shepherd’s Life, consisting of work collected from the 1970s and 80s, was one of the National Galleries of Scotland’s Millennium exhibitions. It received great critical acclaim. The exhibition was subsequently regathered in 2009 for a three month showing at Victoria Crowe drawing After and Before (Lily), 2012. Photograph: Ken Gray
the Fleming Collection, London. Victoria was awarded an OBE for Services to Art in 2004 and from 2004–07 was a senior visiting scholar at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. The resulting body of work, Plant Memory, was exhibited at the RSA in 2007 and subsequently toured Scotland. In 2009 she received an Honorary Degree from The University of Aberdeen and in 2010 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Dovecot Studios wove a large-scale tapestry of Large Tree Group in 2013 from the Shepherd’s Life series, which was acquired for the National Museums Scotland and became part of a national touring exhibition. A group of works by the artist were acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2015. Victoria is involved in a major, large-scale, private tapestry commission which will be woven at Dovecot Studios for completion in London in 2017. Victoria Crowe is currently working on a new series of prints and works on paper for her solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in October 2016.
15. Iris Arenaria and Iris Sisyrinchium 2006–07, watercolour, 34.5 x 50 cms
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16. Numinous Tree, 2010, oil on panel, 71 x 76 cms Exhibited: Victoria Crowe – Reflection, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2010, cat.16 Provenance: Private Collection, London
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17. After and Before (Lily), 2012, oil on paper, 72 x 54 cms Exhibited: Victoria Crowe – Real and Reflected, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2014, cat.16
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Pat Douthwaite (1934—2002) In later years, as the artist struggled to find settled studio space, she relied on watercolour and a smaller format. She also introduced letterset, often as a deliberate poetic device. The tiny striped cat, linked to the title by a feint drawn arrow, plays with our idea of scale while the charming still life is as happy a union of jug and flowers as might grace any country kitchen. Guy Peploe’s recently published monograph on Pat Douthwaite is available to purchase from The Gallery. Public Collections Include: Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Leeds Education Authority, Leeds Victoria & Albert Museum, London Pat Douthwaite, c.1977
Paisley Museum and Art Gallery University of Stirling University of St. Andrews Wakefield Museum Museum of Contemporary Art, Warsaw
18. Tiger Puss, c.1995, watercolour on irregular edged sketch book paper, 28 x 19 cms
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Andrea Geile (b.1961) Edinburgh based German artist Andrea Geile trained in print making before studying Visual Art/Sculpture in Hanover. She has been working from her Scottish studio since 1996. Her outdoor sculptures are made from everlasting Corten steel, also called weathering steel, often grouped with real plants and relating directly to the site environment. In her work Geile explores how we have shaped and utilised landscapes for our political, economic and immaterial needs. They are subtle interventions, merging into the landscape and are often only visible on closer inspection. Andrea aims to create a contemporary version of ‘Gartenkunst’, which challenges existing notions of ‘garden art’ and ‘land sculpture’. She is interested in exploring the interconnection between the landscape, architecture and living plants. The material of oxidised steel is used for its many qualities, providing a soft surface and interacting with the landscape. Her work shows a great understanding of form and nature and her sculptures are elegant and durable. Andrea exhibits internationally and her sculptures are in numerous private and public collections. “For the piece A Wild Land, the leaves are ivy, the everlasting and ever-growing, a historical synonym for life and a recurring theme in my work. This ivy is also known as Lovestone for its habit of hugging stone. The idea for creating the body of work Level the Field came about during the late summer last year, when I looked at the hay bales and the way that they were scattered throughout the Scottish landscape during harvest time.” Andrea Geile, 2016 Andrea Geile in her Edinburgh studio, May 2016
Public Collections include: City of Edinburgh Council The Great Steward of Scotland Dumfries House Trust Collection The University of Edinburgh The University of Stirling Art Collection City of Albany Art Collection, Australia NHS Tayside
19. A Wild Land #2, 2015, corten steel, D90 cms
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20. Level the Field No. 8–12, 2016, corten steel, (left – right) D62 cms, D150 cms, D110 cms, D85 cms, D120 cms
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Derrick Guild RSA (b.1963) Born in 1963 in Perth, Scotland, Derrick Guild has been
Follower (overleaf p40–41)
the recipient of many awards for his unique work. Guild’s
“The group of paintings titled Follower are part of an
paintings and objects reference European still life of the
ongoing series of paintings, performance and photography
15th to 19th centuries. The drama, allegory and naturalism
that refer to what is often called the first financial bubble,
inherent in this period of painting speak to Guild of
the tulip mania of the Netherlands in the 17th century.
ever-present dilemmas in the human condition. His works
The most sought after and rare tulip of the time was the
are classical, formal and at the same time contemporary
Semper Augustus. There were in fact only twelve flowering
in their sense of dislocation and ambiguity.
examples. Whilst looking at paintings of tulips from the period, I noticed that the same tulips occurred several times
“For me, flower painting is not only a process of trying to
in different paintings by different artists: hundreds of
capture the fleeting beauty of the plant, it is also about
painted examples exist. Often the artists who made these
connecting and adding to the cultural history of flowers.
paintings are not known and are referred to as a follower
Throughout history flowers have played an important role
of one of the better known painters of the period. The ten
as vehicles for scientific experiment, signifiers of wealth,
paintings from my Follower series are direct references to
status and colonial expansion. A rich and complicated
paintings of the time. They are framed under oval mounts
visual and verbal language has grown up around flowers.
symbolizing the financial bubble of tulip mania. I exhibited
There is a perfect correlation of short term beauty and at
these paintings at the Royal Scottish Academy in May
times rarity, which has for centuries created deep seated
2016 where they set the context and were the reference
passions in the flower aware, and, in the case of tulip mania
for a performance. Over a number of weeks, I painted the
in the Netherlands in the 17th Century, the first financial
Semper Augustus stripes on real tulips. The painting Fever
bubble.
Bulb also relates to tulip mania and is a poetic visualisation, that is part sign and part botanical illustration.”
“I find the general degradation of old botanical paintings
Derrick Guild, 2016
particularly interesting. It is almost as if nature is forcing its unruly mark back onto what is often a scientifically correct and for me quite soulless rendering of a flower. The foxed
Public Collections include:
and stained illusionistic paper that I paint has become a
Alan Stone Collection, New York
theatre, or space that my flowers can inhabit. I was lucky
Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection
enough to spend two years on Ascension Island in the
University of Dundee
South Atlantic where I had first hand experience of tropical
Perth Museum and Art Gallery
and sub tropical plants. What really struck me about these
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
wonderful flowers was their powerful, sticky and relentless
The Fleming Wyfold Collection, London
fecundity. The less than pure paper that I render in paint is
The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh
a manifestation of that fecundity.” Derrick Guild, 2016 Derrick Guild will be the subject of a major solo exhibition at The Gallery in October 2017, as part of The Gallery’s 175 celebrations.
21. After Eden No. 3, 2015, oil on linen, 62 x 47 cms Exhibited: Derrick Guild – Mother Figures, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2015, cat.2
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22. Follower, 2015–16. 10 individual works, oil on canvas, 29 x 23.5 cms
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23. Fever Bulb, 2014–15, oil on linen, 153 x 132 cms Exhibited: Derrick Guild – Mother Figures, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2015, cat.4
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“I am fascinated by artists such as Franz Bauer and his 1818 publication Strelitzia Depicta. Bauer’s exquisite folio of lithographs of strelitzia have long had me enthralled: they signify an exotic beauty, so much so that their more common name is The Bird Of Paradise Flower. They speak to my northern European imagination of a lush other world. In my painting Paradise Depicta I have painted a trompe-l’oeil fiction, where I am trying to tap into notions of beauty forced to new levels for the human eye. I have painted a bird of paradise plant that would not be possible in nature: it has far too many flowers growing out of an individual stem and the flower root is a complete invention. The fact that the bird of paradise flower is also the official flower of Los Angeles also sparked my imagination. I like the idea of forcing more beauty from an already perfectly beautiful flower, an analogy for gilding the lily.” Derrick Guild, 2016
24. Paradise Depicta, 2011–2015, oil on linen, 157.5 x 122 cms
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The Earl Haig OBE, DL, MA, RSA (1918—2009) Earl Haig’s relationship with The Scottish Gallery began in 1945, when we held his first solo exhibition consisting of many works made during his time as a prisoner of war in Europe. Since then 17 solo exhibitions have been held at The Gallery, including his memorial exhibition in 2011 where this painting was exhibited. Haig is perhaps best known for his lyrical, abstracted views of the Borders landscape and northern Italy. In this painting we see Haig tackle a still life subject with the same robust approach that characterises his work in landscape. Formal relationships of petal, stem and vase are flattened and simplified to create pattern, line and movement. The result is a grand picture, traditional in subject but modern in outlook. “I seize hold of equations of form and rhythmical relationships in my drawings and allow feeling to expand them in terms of colour and tonal relationships – a method more akin to expressionism than impressionism.” Earl Haig Earl Haig at 75, courtesy of the artist’s estate
The Scottish Gallery is holding a centenary exhibition on The Earl Haig in 2018 which will also explore the influence of WWI on Scottish painting. Public Collections include: HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh Arts Council of Great Britain, London Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh Imperial War Museum, London University of Edinburgh
25. Tulips in a Green Vase, c.1965, oil on canvas, 91 x 70 cms Exhibited: Earl Haig Memorial Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 2011 Provenance, The Artist’s Estate; Private Collection
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Susan Hipgrave (b.1955) Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and with two decades of art direction in advertising behind her, Sydney based artist Susan Hipgrave has discovered a true passion, that of painting on porcelain – her preferred ‘canvas’. “Victorian ornithologists and botanists would have heartily commended Susan Hipgrave’s remarkable series of hand-painted plates. The meticulous execution (each extra-fine brushstrokes adding an important detail), the resulting life-like renditions and the consistent format (monochromatic black on white; identical one-size ceramic plates) adhere to the ethos of scientific study. Susan’s ability to focus is well matched by her possession of a steady hand. However, it soon becomes clear that all is not quite as it seems. Susan departs from a straightforward replication of flora and fauna by concocting strange hybrids or by exaggerating features, such as piercing eyes to convey the extreme visual acuity of an eagle. For spectators, an interactive experience awaits: birds, caught in the moment, watch us, ready to strike or to fly away; clusters of twisted vines and treacherous spikes draw us inside. ‘As my work with natural subjects becomes more detailed, so my subjects become more assertive,’ the artist states. ‘When I’m contemplating a new piece, I start by going through my collection of natural history books until I find something that “speaks” to me. I work with it in terms of size and placement, and then begins the slow and meditative practice of putting paint to porcelain. I obsess about how fine a line I can do; ultimately, I love seeing all the little black lines that I’ve painted come together to create an image.’ Whilst Susan has worked with earthenware as well as porcelain, her medium has always been the plate. ‘My art is contained, so I can pack Susan Hipgrave working in her studio, 2014. Photograph: Craig Wall
it up and travel easily.’ ” Olivier Dupon, p.216, Encore! The New Artisans, Thames & Hudson, 2015
Left to right, from top: 26. Araceae, Colocasia Odorata, 2014 27. Cactaceae Cactus 2, 2014 28. Asclepiad, 2010 29. Caltha Palustris Flore Simplici, 2014 30. Cactaceae Cactus 1, 2014 31. Carpinus Betulus, The Hornbeam, 2012 Hand-painted, black underglaze on porcelain, D28 cms Photography: Craig Wall
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John Houston OBE, RSA, RSW (1930—2008) John Houston was born in Buckhaven, Fife, and studied painting and drawing at Edinburgh College of Art. He taught at Edinburgh College of Art between 1955 and 1989 and became synonymous with the Edinburgh School of post war painters. He was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1972 and received an Honourary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2004. A retrospective exhibition celebrating his work to date was held at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2005. During his painting career at The Scottish Gallery, John Houston was ten times a solo exhibitor at The Edinburgh International Festival Exhibition between 1961 and his last show in 2008. He was an expressionist who could also evoke the subtle, particular character of place, but as with The Festival his vision and ambition always looked outward. Still life was an important subject throughout Houston’s career, John Houston, c.1965. Photograph: Elizabeth Blackadder
the best qualities of which are demonstrated in this painting: a boldness of form, richness of colour and expressionist, energetic handling of his medium. The Scottish Gallery is hosting an exhibition celebrating the life and work of John Houston in June 2017, as part The Gallery’s 175 celebrations.
32. Poppies and Fruit, 1996, oil on canvas, 112 x 86.5 cms
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Angie Lewin RWS, RE (b.1963) Sketchbook drawings made whilst walking in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, or scouring the coastline of north Norfolk are the starting point for many of Angie’s limited edition prints and watercolours. Often returning to the same remote corners of the British Isles, she depicts these contrasting environments and their native flora. A watercolour sketch evokes memories of sitting by the River Spey on a chill autumn day. A pencil drawing with scribbled colour notes was made swiftly as a reminder of the native plants growing by a windswept hill track. Attracted to the relationships between plant communities on an intimate level, she sits on the ground to draw, concentrating on a small patch of earth crammed with interlocking, intricately detailed plant forms through which can be glimpsed the landscape beyond. Certain plants are symbolic of the landscapes in which they are found; birch trees by the River Spey, plantain and thrift on a Uist beach, alexanders on an exposed Norfolk cliff top. Angie focuses on seemingly insignificant plants, often those growing in adverse conditions, as their forms are dictated by the elements. She doesn’t aim for botanical accuracy, but aims to capture a plant’s distinctive characteristics. In her Edinburgh studio, Angie Lewin surrounds herself with her sketches and seedpods, grass stalks, dried seaweed and feathers. Gathered on her walking and sketching trips, they are a starting point for a print or a watercolour. Still life compositions often incorporate a cracked tea bowl, plate or a Ravilious coronation mug from her eclectic collection of ceramics. The decoration on a mug often flows beyond its form and mingles with the patterns derived from the seed heads and grasses contained within it. The painting opposite Wooden Dish Angie Lewin in her studio. Photograph: Alun Callender
with Uist Pebbles was exhibited by the Royal Watercolour Society in 2016. In addition to the watercolours, there will be a special print room contained within Flora Depicta of Angie Lewin’s screenprints, lithographs, linocuts and wood engravings. Angie Lewin’s next solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery is in May 2018.
33. Wooden Dish with Uist Pebbles, 2016, watercolour, 57 x 77 cms
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35. Coronation Mug, Edinburgh, 2015, lithograph, 29 x 37 cms, edition of 30
36. Honesty Blue, 2015, screenprint, 37 x 58 cms, edition of 150
A room will be dedicated to Angie Lewin’s prints during the exhibition. 34. Ramsons with Thistle Pot, 2016, watercolour, 53 x 64.5 cms
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To view them online please visit www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/angielewinprints 55
Kirsty Lorenz (b.1969) Kirsty Lorenz is a visual artist for whom flowers are a central subject,
Votive Offerings 1—50
depicting them in different ways and contexts through painting, drawing, mixed media and installation.
Since 2013 Lorenz has been making posies of wild flowers around Scotland, which she usually ties with a clover stem
‘Deep in their roots all flowers hold the light’ Theodore Roethke
or grass. She has documented the posies photographically and then left them to be discovered; on rocks, walls, corners
Over the years her incorporation of flowers into her artwork has grown
and beneath trees. She has then painted these posies true
from straight portraiture to more complex compositions and ideas.
to scale in her studio.
The ‘Votive Offerings’ project is an ongoing series of portrayals of wild flower posies. She is making and leaving these posies around
The act of making these posies and documenting them
Scotland. In this the work becomes as much about the act of making
began as a way of collecting and engaging with the wild
and leaving the posies in different environments, and the motif of
flowers and their exquisite detail, abundance, diversity and
the posy as gift, as it is a celebration of the form of the flowers and
beauty but also quickly took on a sense of ritual. Leaving
plants portrayed.
them and painting them took on a sense of ‘gift’. Over the centuries posies have been used as gifts to the living,
Lorenz works from her unusual studio on Platform 2, Ladybank Railway
to the dead, and to the gods. They have also been used
Station in Fife. Ladybank Station is a still functioning station on the
for sending messages using the ‘Language of Flowers’.
line from Edinburgh to Dundee. Built c.1850 her studio rooms used to
Engaging with the flowers offers a connection to Nature in
be the old station restaurant which she renovated to create the studio
the Romantic sense, inspiring a kind of ecstasy. The posies
in 2009.
also touch on the pathos and tragedy of life through their
37. No.1 Clover & Buttercup, 2015, watercolour on paper, 39 x 29 cms
transience and fragility, and the ‘violence’ of their being Kirsty Lorenz, 2016
Lorenz studied at Goldsmiths College, London 1989–92, and then was
picked. Drawing and painting them becomes a meditation
Hospital Arts Co-ordinator for Artlink-Edinburgh until 2001 when she
upon them as well as a celebration and trying to capture
returned to making her own artwork.
their essence.
Lorenz was awarded the ‘Next Steps’ award by Fife Contemporary Arts
These are the first 50 paintings of posies. The flowers are
and Crafts (FCAC) in 2015. This provided her with a sum of money
all summer flowers found on the islands and mainland
to invest in the development of her research and practice. She was
Scotland in July.
also given a mentor to support her growth as an artists and the ability to bring in other artists for critical input. This injection of resources has
This piece was first exhibited as a large installation of
been fundamental to Kirsty’s recent progression and she is grateful
posies pinned to the wall, shown at the 2015 SSA Open
to FCAC for their generosity.
Exhibition at The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, where it was awarded The Meffan Gallery and Museum Solo Exhibition Prize.
38. No.2 Rose & Forget me not, 2015, watercolour on paper, 41 x 32 cms
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Top left: 39. No.3 Buttercup & Clover, 2015, watercolour on paper, 41 x 30 cms Top right: 40. No.14 Grasses, 2015, watercolour on paper, 53 x 30 cms Bottom Left: 41. No.16 Grass and Dandelion, 2015, watercolour on paper, 42 x 39 cms
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42. No.24 Flag iris, 2015, watercolour on paper, 69 x 62 cms
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Top left: 43. No.25 Bramble, 2015, pencil on paper, watercolour on paper, 43 x 35 cms Top right: 44. No.31 Purple Orchid, 2015, watercolour on paper, 40 x 31.5 cms Bottom left: 45. No.40 Monkey Flower, 2015, watercolour on paper, 32 x 30 cms Bottom right: 46. No.49 Plantain, 2015, watercolour on paper, 37 x 28 cms
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47. Votive Offerings – Pink, 2015, watercolour and pencil on paper, box framed size 100 x 80 cms Includes: No.13 Pink Campion, No.20 Pink Rose, No.30 Cinquefoil, No.32 Ragged Robin, No.33 Sea Pink (pencil), No.34 Heather and Eyebright, No.35 Pink Orchid, No.36 Pink Clover, No.47 Parnassus
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Josef Marek (b.1963) Josef Marek was born in the Czech Republic. He studied at both the Secondary School of Glass Making in Kamenicky Senov (1978–82) and the Academy of Applied Arts and Architecture in Prague (1990–96), before spending a year at the Alfred University in New York, USA between 1994 and 1995. Josef worked for several years as a Professor at the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Japan before setting up his current studio in the Czech Republic. Josef is a master glass artist who specialises in kiln-formed glass. His work is characterised by using bold geometric formsl, which are illusive and enigmatic. The technique of using textured and or chipped surfaces capture and transform the natural light inside the glass mass. Wind references the natural world by using abstracted leaf patterns, which captures a subtle sense of movement. “I am often inspired from the feeling I get from different places: the natural and urban landscape, or different cultures.” Josef Marek, 2016 Josef Marek in his studio, 2016
Public Collections include: Toyama Museum of Glass, Japan Glasmuseum; Ernsting Stiftung, Coesfeld, Germany
48. Wind, 2015, moulded and cast glass polished and chipped, H100 cms. Photograph: Jiri Koudelka
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Denis Peploe RSA (1914—1993) A classic Post-War artist, Denis Peploe was the younger son of Samuel John Peploe. These subtle and refined oil paintings and life drawings are a reminder to many and an introduction to more of the brilliance of the second, lesser known Peploe. A Still Life of Roses is painted with thick impasto and strong, directional marks, Peploe’s and has echoes of the Parisian work of his father, made in 1910. As with those few, Parisian works Denis Peploe makes no attempt to describe a conventional picture space instead emphasising rich surface pattern and deploying brilliant colour for direct expressionist effect. Roses might well have been made in Bellapais, Cyprus, where his friends John and Vivian Guthrie lived in the fifties and where the artist used a similar approach to depict the rugged, mountainous landscape. Public Collections include: City Art Centre, Edinburgh Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow Denis Peploe, c.1940, courtesy of the artist’s family
Kirkcaldy Galleries McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock Perth Art Gallery The Fleming Wyfold Collection, London Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Edinburgh Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
49. A Still Life of Roses, c.1953, oil on canvas, 44 x 60 cms Exhibited: Denis Peploe, RSA, Centenary Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, June 2014, cat.6
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Claudia Rankin (b.1964) Claudia Rankin lives and works in Northumberland. Growing up in London, she spent many afternoons as a child exploring the textile and ceramic collections within the Victoria & Albert Museum. This has led her to have an enduring love of colour, motif, pattern and historical narratives; all of which are encapsulated within her work. Following a Foundation year at Wimbledon School of Art, Rankin studied Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art (1984–1987), before completing an MA in Sculpture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1987–1989). Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. We are delighted to represent Claudia Rankin for the first time; a multi-disciplinary artist who creates visually exciting work which is constantly evolving. A forthcoming showcase of Rankin’s work is planned for September 2016, followed by a major
50. Beetroot Platter, 2016, white earthenware, D42 cms
51. Turnip Platter, 2016, white earthernware, D42 cms
solo exhibition in October 2017. “I have greatly enjoyed making work for Flora Depicta. For inspiration I looked to old botanical illustrations & seed packets for loving renditions of our traditional root vegetables. I’m drawn to the Claudia Rankin working in her studio, 2016
characterful imperfections and simple forms of early Staffordshire pottery and Etruscan figures. In this spirit, my aim was to celebrate our humble but noble turnip, beetroot and radish. As Uncle Monty states in the film Withnail & I “I happen to think the cauliflower more beautiful than the rose”. Claudia Rankin, 2016
52. Beetroot and Hog Caddy, 2016, white earthenware, H23 x W16 x D9 cms
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Paul Scott (b.1953) Paul Scott lives and works in rural Cumbria. He has been a professional artist for over thirty years. His research activity has meant an irregular but ongoing association with Universities, Research Centres, Museums and Art Galleries in a variety of contexts. Scott makes artwork for exhibition and to commission, whilst also juggling residencies, writing, curating, teaching and other projects. In 2010 he was awarded a PhD by Manchester Metropolitan University and in August 2011, took up a post as Professor 2 at Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO, Norway). Paul was also Research Fellow at MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University from 2012 – 2014. “In 2015 I started harvesting details from fragments of early nineteenth century Willow pattern transferware plates. These ceramic ‘cuttings’ were selected because of their visual similarity to foliage and plant material that I propagate in my garden. By placing them onto the surface of plates and platters I found myself referencing horticulture. My source material widened to include a variety of transferware patterns and gradually the
53. Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Prunings, 2015, cut transferware details and gold on old earthenware platter, with kintsugi repair, H23 x W30 cms
cuttings began to take on other similarities to my gardening practice. Some cut fragments did not work as compositional material so I discarded them onto a spare plate. There they took on the appearance of ‘prunings’ – the kind of plant material that finds its way to the compost heap. Most recently, harvesting has concentrated on overtly floral details of old transferware Paul Scott in his studio, 2016
borders. These works form part of my ongoing interest in gardening, landscape, and their relationships with print, transferware and text.” Paul Scott, 2016 As part of our Festival exhibitions for 2016, Paul Scott is presenting Cuttings, Ruins, Refugees and Wild Roses. Public Collections include: Victoria & Albert Museum, London National Museum of Art Architecture and Design, Oslo Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA The Potteries Museum, Stoke on Trent Statens Konstråd (National Public Art Council, Sweden) Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead Danish Arts Foundation, Copenhagen Manchester City Art Gallery Museum Bellerive, Collection of Decorative Arts, Zurich National Museum, Stockholm Sweden, Museum Ariana Geneva Switzerland York City Museum and Art Gallery
54. Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Willow Cuttings, 2015, cut transferware details and gold on Spode earthenware plate, D23 cms
Tullie House, Carlisle Museum and Art Gallery
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Naoko Shibuya (b.1975) Naoko was born and brought up in Japan. She moved to Scotland where she studied at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 2001 with a Master of Fine Art in Painting and Drawing. “My paintings are based on the real and subconscious world which surrounds us all. For the last few years, I have been very inspired by fleeting moments in nature. I am trying to capture something of its essence. Most of the images in my paintings come from the impression and spectrum of nature. Also, I draw ideas from the form of trees, plants, flowers and lately small birds, not only for visual effects, but also to express the strength and robustness of nature. Plants and flowers show dramatic changes in such a short time when they are in bloom and also, when they wither. Each figure in each moment represents the turn of time, which seems to go far towards expressing my subject. The circles and spirals in my work represent symbols of reincarnation, which can be often found in Zen and Celtic philosophy. I have been trying to express the repeating and everlasting flow of life through these forms. Getting ideas from these symbols and combining them with my drawing is the essence of my personal artistic rhythm.� Naoko Shibuya, 2016 Public Collections Include: Myoenji Temple, Tokyo
55. Bloom in Turquoise, 2014, oil on canvas, 60 cms diameter
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57. Light in the Mist, 2015, oil on canvas, 30 x 15 cms
56. Spirit on the Wind, 2015, oil on canvas, 80 cms diameter
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58. Himalayan Blue, 2014, oil on canvas, 30 x 15 cms
59. Shadow of Red, 2015, oil on canvas, 30 x 15 cms
60. Honeysuckle Breeze, 2015, oil on canvas, 50 cms diameter
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61. Twilight in Rhododendron Garden, 2015, oil on canvas, 80 cms diameter
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62. Hydrangea Teardrops, 2015, oil on canvas, 80 cms diameter
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Christine Wylie (b.1959) Christine Wylie was born in Edinburgh and having travelled extensively, she now divides her time between Edinburgh and Auckland. Her MFA in Art Space Nature at Edinburgh College of Art, has led to collaborations with other practitioners, and she continues to exhibit widely, both in the UK and abroad. She is currently working with Steve Lovett of MIT, Auckland, to explore and develop new techniques and processes in photogravure. Christine’s art practice demonstrates systematic ways of working with various mediums to compose formal images based on geometric constructs, whether they are found in architecture, the ready-made or nature. More recently focusing on printmaking, Christine has folded white paper into geometric shapes, which are photographed on a white background under bright sunlight to cast shadows in some areas and reduce form in others. The image is then processed into a photogravure. These photogravure images are of specially formulated papers (or capsules) used to house seeds, lichens, fungi, mosses and some algae for the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic
63. Herbarium I, 2014, photogravure, 15.5 x 20.7 cms, edition of 10
Gardens, Edinburgh. Christine Wylie, 2016
A herbarium is a collection of preserved plants, which are stored, catalogued and arranged systematically for study by professional taxonomists, botanists and amateurs. Whilst herbaria were founded originally for the purpose of correctly naming plants and recording their geographical distributions, they now have a key role in telling us how human activities over the last 400 years have affected our planet. This data is invaluable for investigating how plant species (and the animal communities that depend upon them), have changed in abundance and location as a consequence of human trade, agriculture, resource exploitation and war.
64. Herbarium II, 2014, photogravure, 15.5 x 20.7 cms, edition of 10
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Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition: Flora Depicta 6—30 July 2016 ISBN 978-1-910267-39-4 Designed by Martin Baillie Printed by Allander Print Ltd
16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ tel 0131 558 1200 | email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Right: 65. Nature Study, Late Summer, 2015 by Angie Lewin, screenprint, 67 x 47 cms
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FLOR A DEPICTA
FLORA DEPICTA THE SCOT TISH GALLERY