Inverness College, Midmills Campus, until 27 June 2007

Work by Mark Lomax.

HALF WAY through 2007 it has been wonderful to finally see a range of exhibitions over the last few weeks (both student and professional) that make the quality and diversity of work in the region clearly and publicly visible.

This exhibition of works by Highland-based artists highlights the need for permanent central exhibition space in the Highland capital. As a statement of contemporary visual arts in the region it contains some excellent examples of diverse practice including painting, photography, sculpture and installation.

The collected work of artists Mark Lomax, Matthew Jones, Ian Kane, Maggie Kinghorn, Fiona Corance, David Taylor, Rosie Newman, Robyn Kennedy and Brian MacBeath provide a view of what we should be able to view every day in any developed city.

It is especially gratifying to see the work of artists not regularly exhibited in the area being made visible and I sincerely hope to see more regular representation beyond this particular showcase.

A quartet of works by Mark Lomax merges the disciplines of painting, drawing and sculpture in an extraordinary way. The surface treatment of slab-like panels is both rough and exquisitely intricate, with a matt texture reminiscent of concrete, charcoal and plaster.

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The group are to be congratulated for seizing the opportunity to exhibit and make their creative presence felt

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There is also interplay between intentional and accidental or “natural” marks on the surface that is intriguing. A sense of hidden weight in a series of often delicate textures creates a work of real presence. Without any direct subject matter or colour to draw the eye the outcome is unexpectedly mesmerising. For me this is one of the strongest pieces in the show and with accompanying work by the artist warrants display as part of a solo exhibition.

An assembled object made by Lomax comprised of a hymn book open to facing pages of “Precious Name, Dearest Name” and “In His Holy Name” contains a gun veiled in nondescript brown paper. The gun rests in a cutaway space and the open book reveals and supports the form of a violent secret far more potently than the object unmasked.

A black bible hung next to this piece is shot through with the suggestion of bullet holes. This is a menacing work which one is compelled to return to. The juxtaposition of public religious expression suggested by the hymn book and a hidden object of violence is both powerful and affecting. Powerful because it engages the imagination of the audience and poses infinitely more questions than it answers.

Two paintings by Matthew Jones are also a strong component of the exhibition combining wide gestural marks on strong grounds of earthy red and ultramarine with traces of secondary colour and scratched under-painting made visible.

The drawn forms are organic and dominate the whole composition carrying equal weight with the choice of colour. Although there is no visible identity or direct reference to human subject matter they seem to have a human presence. Depth of hue, contrasting mark and paint handling are equal partners here and make the work aesthetically and intellectually compelling.

These two paintings hung side by side complement each other in terms of handling, but also present a balance between dominant cool and warm emotive colours. Though the brushwork is freely expressive this is tempered by the ground colour and composition which is about attaining balance, something that Jones achieves beautifully in these two abstract works.

Ian Kane’s most successful piece in this show is not the installation of naturally twisted branches on the floor balanced by a cut length of white painted timber but the small painting which accompanies them. As a drawn piece it is wonderfully subtle, a series of dark vertical gestures in wood and pale shadow, white ground with layered flesh tint laced with ochre emerging from underneath and an accent serpentine line of red.

What I like so much about this artist’s work is the characteristic exploration and expansion of different artistic disciplines such as drawing and the challenge to an audience’s expectations. Like Matthew Jones Ian Kane doesn’t have to slap us in the face with colour or a riot of movement to get our attention (or hold it).

A surprising work of small scale such as this one actively balances all the visual elements of the discipline and positively sings off the wall in spite of its link to a larger and more immediately visible work.

A series of beachscapes by Fiona Corance hung adjacent to panoramic Highland landscape photography by David Taylor reveal the value of reinterpretation of environment through loose gestural brush work and strong complimentary colour.

The most engaging of these is the swirl of incoming tide in white and ultramarine onto a beach of sienna red with purple and ochre cast into the sky. The lone figure in the distance and in relation to solid red cliffs (possibly the rock formation the Old Man of Hoy in Orkney) is deceptive in its scale, simultaneously monumental and human.

The great churn and sweep of the sea is achieved through colour but also in lines of force that remind me of the superb Canadian West Coast painter Emily Carr.

Robyn Kennedy’s series of abstract landscape based works are diluted by being hung together. The first of the series is the most successful and more tightly composed than the others. Colour and energy are finely balanced. While the style is distinct with hazy edges and blocked in colour of dominant ochre and blue, repetition of a comfortable style wasn’t enough to hold my interest by the fourth painting.

Brian MacBeath’s abstract works are composed of simplified forms and softened colour layered consistently like screenprint. A tryptich-like abstract utilising pale yellow, orange, cream, and lavender create a characteristically quiet contemplative mood.

Rosie Newman has contributed several paintings and sculptural works to the show including her gold prayer chair with gold and blue canvases depicting layers of floating eyes. This reverent sensibility is also present in two figurative paintings with dominant hands that overlap and entwine like plants emerging out of the soft green surface.

The accompanying work in dominant red and orange is almost decorative, its organic pattern merging with the gentle rendering of human figure (athough, as with the Pre-Raphaelites or the work of William Morris, decorative also reads as symbolic.)

There is warmth, spirituality and mystery in this piece concentrated in the gesture of hands, use of colour and the depiction of natural forms suggesting renewal.

In the spirit of making art (and local artists) visible I would like to have seen some information about each artist at the show, including web site links and the open opportunity to buy work through a simple printed catalogue.

An exhibition of “Contemporary Art in the Highlands” should be ongoing in order to make visual art as visible and accessible as possible expanding the audience for new contemporary work.

The group are to be congratulated for seizing the opportunity to exhibit and make their creative presence felt. Although not part of any official Highland Year of Culture programme, artist initiated action including this exhibition are helping to create a legacy beyond a single showcase event.

The exhibition is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am until 4pm.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007