Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, until 7 July 2007

Worried Man by Gordon R. Brown.

IN A YEAR draped in tartan I am relieved and heartened to find a public affirmation of creativity originating in the Highlands and Islands that reflects the strength of art and ideas beyond landscape and clichés.

The Highland Council Exhibitions Unit are to be congratulated on bringing together the work of recent graduates from Moray College BA Fine Art Course, Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, Duncan of Jordanstone (Dundee) and Grays School of Art (Aberdeen).

Aptly titled “Latitudes”, this inspiring and potent exhibition presents work from artists with strong Highlands and Islands connections, revealing true breadth, integrity and quality of art practice inspired by or based in the North.

The creative scope of these works challenges our expectations as an audience and successfully translates “Northern” inspiration into an international context. It is a show with unique roots and influences but equally an exhibition that would be at home on any stage.

The abstract paintings of George Glennie illustrate this beautifully. “Tear Your Eyes Away From the Obvious” (Oil on Board) reveals an understanding of colour and technique that is utterly compelling. For me the title encapsulates the spirit of the whole show. The way that the iridescent glow of orange neon is contained beneath opaque layers of cool blue paint is exquisitely understated and mysterious.

Glennie’s work recalls that of Mark Rothko, especially in the delicate paintwork at the edges of the piece and as an investigation of the emotive and psychological effect of colour. Two vertical lines of energy emerge out of the colour field and hold your gaze as you sink into the depths behind surface layers of hue and tone.

“1.2.05” and “2.2.05” (both Oil on Board) also display great technical control and are images which invite contemplation through light, colour and shallow ranges of tone. They are works that resist narrow definition or explanation based on subject matter and read beautifully as expansive meditations. This artist’s work reminds us that great painting is never solely about what you can see with your eyes.

Caroline Hewat’s series of “Neighbourhoods and Villages” (Monoprint and graphite) are part of a large body of work following a journey to New York in 2006. The intensity of these works in black and white capture the essential energy of the city perfectly. Composite forms through buildings, scaffolding and lines of life force, often seen from above seem to move and shift endlessly.

The range of mark in this series of monoprints is a great strength, giving a delicacy and vulnerability to images devoid of human subjects. Getting under the skin of this urban environment through intensive study of drawings and photographs made during the trip is as much a visualisation of creative process as it is a series of complete images.

Layering and “visually repeating her understanding of individual images” allows the artist to convey not only the heart of her subject matter but the investigative scope and integrity of her practice.

Another graduate of Moray College, Jenny McLaren’s box constructions “Family Album” and her diptych “Freedom and Sacrifice II” utilise a variety of materials including plywood, digitally manipulated photographs, found objects, beeswax, acrylic paint and ink.

In “Freedom and Sacrifice II” the pinned edges and cut out butterfly silhouettes hover gently over layers of delicate wing-like paper. A ground of faded lace, floating text and fluttering burnt edges seem to convey the transience of memory linking past to present.

Karen Moser’s “Whispers of Loss” inspired by the Clearances and events at Croick Church in Sutherland is a deeply moving and poignant work. Set on the ground, a raised cross with a series of crumpled spheres marking out the form have a universal and timeless resonance. The use of materials here is ingenious and unexpected (semi-porcelain with silk screened under glaze pigment), and it is a work I returned to several times when viewing the exhibition.

Michelle Murray’s “Hollyrude” and Cinnamon Synonym” (Both latex prints), Glass House” and “Rural Glass Jungle” (Silk screen on Perspex) stretch the boundaries of our expectation about printmaking in terms of texture and technique, extending the art form into three dimensional sculpture.

The latex prints onto corrugated cardboard are particularly interesting surfaces with accidental as well as intentional marks being created as part of the print process. “Glass House”, with layers of overlapping 3D screenprint, and “Sporran”, a screen print composition on paper, clearly display the artist’s interest in Graffiti art.

“Natural architecture” is explored in different scales by Fiona Hepburn’s giant “Dragonfly Wings” made from hand cut paper and “Flutter”, a series of hand cut life size wings suspended cocoon like in a perspex box.

Lisa Hyland’s “Aurora”, constructed from found woodland materials, creates a natural vortex or mandela woven into sculptural form. Drawing on the natural world for inspiration, this work is not bound to particular associations of place, but is more universal in its conception.

Although a prime source of inspiration to many artists in the region, access to a natural environment needn’t inspire literally as imagery or subject matter. The concept behind the work, use of natural materials and a fluidity between techniques associated with both visual arts and crafts practices characterise the work of many artists who choose to live and work here or are creatively influenced by their experiences in the region.

The “gleefully perverse” surrealism of Gordon R Brown is represented in “Worried Man” (Acrylic on board) bent into an awkward balancing act. With such a distinct comic drawn style and a typical palette like stale candy, it is hard to know how this artist can really evolve.

The morphing of animal and human forms is humorous, playful and characteristically sexual in Brown’s work but it induces momentary amusement rather than lasting contemplation. Having said that the contrast between this and other works in the show makes it a valuable inclusion in the exhibition.

The depth and breadth of exploration in terms of ideas, materials and subject matter throughout this show is impressive and I would expect no less of recent graduates from Scotland’s art colleges.

There is a distinctive creative edge to work created in some form of isolation and bringing together artists who have either left the area to pursue professional training in Scotland’s cities or remained here as part of Moray’s BA Fine Art course allows an audience to take stock of itself especially in this focus cultural year.

As this show demonstrates we can be both exceptionally proud and energetically confident in terms of visual arts development throughout Scotland and within our own region.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

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