Ian McWhinnie: Oil Paintings And Ceramics

5 Oct 2005 in Highland, Visual Arts & Crafts

Castle Gallery, Inverness, until 22 October 2005

Lochan by Ian McWhinnie. © Ian McWhinnie

IAN MCWHINNIE has made an exciting transition from ceramic art to oil painting in a significant solo exhibition at the Castle Gallery. A former painting student at the Glasgow School of Art and an accomplished ceramic artist, McWhinnie has woven together techniques from these two disciplines to stunning effect.

Through experimentation with different painting surfaces and techniques – and sheer persistence – he has created an exceptional body of work characterised by his own individual style. Like hard ceramic surfaces, oil on board allows the artist a crispness of image and delicacy of texture that is truly unique.

His work in ceramics has enabled him to return to painting with a strength of design and composition that derives directly from working within the confines of specific shape and form. His painting on ceramic plates, bowls or other vessels, though it has a decorative aspect, has (to my mind) always been so much more than just decoration due to its figurative or human content.

This is explored still further in his paintings which are completely fascinating, mysterious and elegantly seductive. Although his style is consistently formal in many respects, every piece stands alone in its own right and holds the viewer’s interest.

‘Circus’ (oil on board) is a fine example of a painting which is based on design principles derived from ceramic forms. Seen alongside the ceramic content of the exhibition we can see how the 3D forms such as these have influenced and strengthened the composition of his paintings.

As so often in McWhinnie’s work the narrative suggested by the painting’s title is defied by the characters in it

In ‘Circus’ the square board contains figures which are arranged in the round. The painting seems to spiral, like looking down into a stairwell, and each component of the design is locked together in a visually unified way. This painting also contains the recurrent inspiration of performance, the world of musicians, dancers and circus performers that run through many of the artist’s works.

‘Musician’ (oil on board) is a great example of rhythm made visually tangible through the subtle repetition of curves. The form of the guitar held by the male figure in the centre of the painting is echoed in the curvature of the window and the flow of the woman’s hair running parallel to the strings of the instrument. Each form compliments the other whilst remaining separate. The two figures’ eyes’ never meet, the relationship between them is a suggestion, a compelling mystery that characterises most of McWhinnie’s work with the human figure.

The ceramic piece ‘Circus Family’ also contains an abstracted relationship between its figures. A relationship is suggested by the title but within the confines of the circular bowl each figure is alone.

‘The Meeting Place’ seems to take this idea a step further. The two figures are highly stylised, even sculptural in form. The man’s arms embrace the woman in an act of intimacy but their eyes stare past each other in a way that is psychologically intense but completely detached.

As so often in McWhinnie’s work the narrative suggested by the painting’s title is defied by the characters in it – perhaps it may be more of an observation about human behaviour than a story being told here. Again the shape of the arm in the foreground is mirrored in the form of the stones and hills in the background helping to create a strong unified image.

‘Serenade’ (oil on board) is, as the title suggests, a kind of dialogue defied by the cool sensuousness of eyes that never meet. The curve of a shoulder, a curtain, and the colonnade in the background seduce the eye and mind into the picture.

Although he alludes to the art of the past, McWhinnie has created a visual language all of his own that seems to be very modern in its sensibility.

McWhinnie introduces a palette here that mingles warmth and coldness. It is an alluring use of colour, the deep crimson and cool blue of the figures that are simultaneously locked together and separated by the composition, a formal highlighted rectangle of pink between them.

‘Serenade’ seems to contain a mysterious concealment of emotion that only intensifies the experience of looking at each work in this group of paintings.

The fineness of texture and stylisation of the figure in ‘Blue Dress’ reminded me very much of Botticelli’s vision of Venus. The influence of Italy and Italian Renaissance Art can also be seen in many of McWhinnie’s backgrounds where architecture and countryside provide depth, perspective and a framework for human activity.

The warm flavour of ochres, Venetian reds and the delicate practice of painting onto an ungiving surface bring a human touch to what is a highly developed and formalised style. Although he alludes to the art of the past, McWhinnie has created a visual language all of his own that seems to be very modern in its sensibility.

Seductive, mysterious and strangely poetic ‘Lochan’ (oil on board) with its overlapping moonlit trees and figures is almost surreal and dreamlike in feeling. I kept returning to look at this painting, it had a lyrical quality that was extremely engaging.

‘The Mime Florence’ (oil on board) is the darkest of the paintings, and extremely ambiguous in meaning. The central performer and his audience are detached, staring past each other in all directions within a darkened blue interior. A curved archway frames the central figure and behind him is a sunlit piazza-like space. The shadows in this painting, which seemed to me to be both literal and metaphoric, made me think of Surrealist artist De Chirico and the menace of his deserted plazas.

Though this space is populated there is a dark feeling of isolation in this piece which is very strong. The malevolent Mime seems to hold the world of the painting and its inhabitants in his hand.

‘Jardin du Luxemborg’ provides an interesting contrast as it reads more traditionally like a head and shoulders portrait. The stillness of this piece holds the viewer’s attention, along with its polished execution.

Seductive, mysterious and beautifully beguiling, McWhinnie’s paintings are the work of an artist that has “come full circle”. I look forward to seeing his next solo show.

Link

Castle Gallery website