Kilmorack Gallery, By Beauly, until September 2007

'Mountain Pass' by Kirstie Cohen (oil on board)

THIS CURRENT exhibition includes work by Kilmorack regulars Kirstie Cohen, Sarah Carrington, Nael Hanna, James Hawkins, Allan MacDonald, Robert McAulay, James McCallum, Ingebjorg Smith, Peter White, Eugenia Vronskaya and a selection of work from artists new to the gallery: Marj Bond, Hamish MacKie, Ian Scott and Hock-Aun Teh.

Over the last ten years Kilmorack Gallery has established a reputation for quality and this is easy to see in new work by regular exhibiting artists such as Eugenia Vronskaya and Peter White.

Vronskaya’s three works in this mixed show display her characteristic edginess, wit and superb paint handling, elevating the everyday genre of still life into something not only brilliantly observed but emotionally charged.

Never simply decorative but always challenging, the artist’s arrangement of objects makes us look again at what we take for granted as representation of the every day.

‘Jar Guards’ has its own cold inner spotlight of glinting glass and metal, a palette of grey with residue of colour held within empty jars and displayed on two mannequins in the foreground painted like bright jesters. Vronskaya’s use of colour is as powerful as it is sparing.

In ‘Rains All Day’ a streaked window, smiling toy teeth and empty jar upon the window sill is unexpectedly poignant, and ‘A Mass Grave’ of used paint tubes piled one on top of the other presents a menacing and beautiful study of humanity through still life.

Human experience and emotion seem to emanate from chosen objects that defy a fleeting glance. As spectators we are drawn into these works in a way that is satisfyingly compelling.

Peter White’s ‘Bowl I, ii and iii’ in mixed media reveals a fascinating technique of layering texture and materials with the solidity of slate or stone which feels more like a process of excavation than painting. These simple images of vessels are both beautiful and effective, especially hung together as a sequence.

As one would expect there are also new discoveries for the viewer including paintings by Hock–Aun Teh and Marj Bond, etchings by Ian Scott and sculpture by Hamish McKie. Ian Scott’s etchings of George Mackay Brown are portraits full of weathered sensitivity.

‘Seven Fold Silence’ has a fine surrealist quality akin to the collages of Max Ernst and ‘First Garden’ is a great example of the range of mark possible through the etching process surpassing the drawn line. Scott is an intriguing artist that I hope to see more of in future exhibitions. His work is proof that the art of original printmaking should not be underestimated.

Hamish McKie exhibits a range of work in bronze including the intimate scale of ‘Greyhound Running’ and larger works such as ‘Fossilised Crustacean’, which displays a wonderful range of patina that looks as if it has been dredged from beneath the ocean and layers of sediment.

As a study in raw movement ‘Greyhound Running’ is particularly striking and expressive. More roughly modelled than its companion pieces it is bursting with life and energy.

Marj Bond’s oil on paper works have a hazy pastel like softness which coupled with a palette of complimentary oranges and blues in a work like ‘Kerala Boatman’ convey an atmosphere of glowing heat and light.

Three of the smallest works, ‘Thanjavur Horseman’, ‘Indian II’ and ‘Indian Silk Seller’ were for me the most effective, with a strong blend of red and black composition.

Hock-Aun Teh’s canvases are executed with the force of a martial art. Wide gestural marks read like Tai Chi upon the surface and are combined with drip and splatter techniques associated with Abstract Expressionism.

Citing De Kooning as an influence, this Glasgow-based artist displays a strong interplay of elements, traditions and techniques from East and West. Hock-Aun Teh’s attitude to tradition is refreshing and dynamic:

“Old cultures need to be pushed forward and expanded and reinvented for each new age. Tradition should be like a fruit for us to eat and digest so that it may give us new energy”

‘Hogmanay’ seems to express this sentiment like a dance on the canvas in dominant red with splashes of orange, ochre and cerulean blue. It contains vitality both in the execution and the final image. The artist’s work and method raises important questions about how we engage creatively with “tradition” in a Scottish context. and this seems particularly apt in the current cultural climate.

The artist’s discipline, mastery of martial arts and Chinese calligraphy are layered with strong use of colour and humour. Hock-Aun Teh’s work is primarily about life force, making that vital spiritual and physical energy visible and tangible through the art of painting.

‘Feeding Wildbirds in the Garden’ with its dominant palette of yellow and range of gestural, splattered and dripping marks and ‘Making Tea on the Mongolian Plain’ in blue, aqua and black are two prominent examples. Thoroughly ancient and contemporary at the same time Hock-Aun Teh is a fascinating artist.

With a strong blend of new and familiar work Kilmorack Gallery’s latest show provides a vision of how it has emerged as one of Scotland’s best galleries over the last decade.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Links

• Kilmorack Gallery
• Hock-Aun Teh