Midmills Campus, Inverness College, until 28 July 2007

It Must Be Hard to Juggle, oil on canvas by Caroline Hewat.

IT IS A pleasure to see a presence emerging in the city centre of Highland Artists, a group which includes Alan MacDonald, Anita Jeanne Murray, Caroline Hewat, Denise Davis, Erland Tait, Eugenie Vronskaya, Gerald Laing, Helen Denerley, James Hawkins, Kirstie Cohen, Leon Patchett, Linda Smith, Michael Forbes, Pamela Tait, Pat Hay and Rosie Newman.

Formed in 2006, the group actively promote their work online, representing a strong professional network within the Inverness-shire and Ross-shire area. This latest exhibition at Inverness College Midmills campus adds weight to the argument for future development of the site as a centre for Visual Arts due to the quality of work on display.

“The Art of Being Highland” is not narrowly defined, but offers a diverse and dynamic vision of contemporary practice in the Highlands, especially in relation to the art of painting. There is a wide range of creative approaches and subject matter, including the surreal anthropomorphic world of Michael Forbes, a series of black and white works on scraperboard by Erland Tait, animal sculptures in assorted scrap by Helen Denerley, a series of retro portraits in pencil on paper by Pamela Tait and the fluid abstract style of Denise Davis in the form of still life and land based works.

Whilst landscape is strongly represented by the work of such artists as Alan Macdonald with his energetic “Strathy Point”, “Big Swell Strathy”, and by the work of James Hawkins, this is a show which presents wider exploration of technique and subject matter than is often associated with traditional ideas about Highland Art.

Pat Hay’s work with oil on linen allows the colour and texture of under-painting to hover over the surface, creating an ethereal quality in both “Renewal” and “Untitled”. Use of colour in “Untitled” with its aquamarine under painting and layers of pink and green with a central red circular focus holds the whole composition together.

Treatment of the ground is reminiscent of Mark Rothko and the Colourfield group, and is quietly meditative. “The Valley” (Oil on Canvas) depicts a golden refuge between the simplified mass of two mountains. Again colour is used to emotional effect rather than literal description of a scene.

I was especially pleased to see the work of Kirsty Cohen uncharacteristically represented by a quartet of abstract works, the “Icarus Series”. These really celebrate her superb paint handling without the misty landscape cliché so often selected by private galleries for public consumption.

A range of spontaneous sketched marks are beautifully blended into steely blues and browns which read as both abstract and figurative. Ironically the removal of typically landscape-based subject matter heightens appreciation of the artist’s skill in her chosen medium of oils. It would be wonderful to see Cohen take these natural elements manifest in her handling of paint into new territory.

Development within the group is also evident in the work of Caroline Hewat with her exploration of oil and wax on canvas in “Crust” and “Mantra” in acrylic and wax. The green swirling texture of “Mantra” displays a delicate layered quality like that of an etching, immediately drawing your eye to its centre.

“It Must Be Hard to Juggle” and “House in the Country” (both oil on canvas) are smoother textured, well balanced abstract compositions both in terms of form and complimentary use of warm and cool colours. “Blue Rooftops” and “Blue Avenue” (watercolour and ink) make a fascinating and accomplished addition to the artist’s range of work on show.

Fellow Moray College graduate Linda Smith has exhibited a poignant and affecting series of works. “The Undone”, with its fragile gauze-like dress hung slightly out of view on a hanger where we sense a human presence should be, is characteristic of this series. Two smaller works are even more intriguing; “Out of Sight” (oil on board) with two dresses hung slightly out of view, yellowing with age and “Silver Cross” with its framed silhouette of a pram both inhabit an interior world.

Use of light and colour, the glow of green and a block of alizarin crimson to create a horizon like structure within both paintings are extremely effective. The painting of clothing is as sensitive as a portrait and just as intensely psychological.

The work of Anita Jeanne Murray is an excellent example of mixed media technique. “White Night” a combination of drawn, scratched, painted and collaged work is beautifully accented like reading a piece of music. Text and image are also combined in “Stacatto” in fluid ink beneath liquid varnish.

A beautiful series of small square works are the highlight of this section with layers of richly varnished paint, pastel, ink, text and abstract form creating a sense of depth in a compact space. These pieces reminded me of Gustav Klimt due to their jewel-like intensity of colour and often abstract form. One of the more recent members of the group, I look forward to seeing more of this artist’s work at future shows.

The highlight of three works in oils by Eugenie Vronskaya is “Gold and Silver” which seems to convey an attitude to life and the everyday as one set of hues gives way to another in the twilight. The composition is skilfully divided between the exterior distant landscape and interior kitchen sink view The artist uses a typically subdued palette to devastating effect as warmth gives way to cold resting in the glazed dead eye of the deer head on the sink.

Vronskaya’s domestic interiors are always unsettling but that is part of her strength as an artist – she never allows the viewer to get too comfortable. She succeeds in altering perception whether painting a pile of glass jars or a kitchen interior which is part of what makes her work so extraordinary.

It is extremely appropriate in a focus year of Highland Culture that access to the diverse range of visual art practice in the region is highlighted and the group are to be congratulated for making their presence felt in the Highland capital. Like many artist led groups Highland Artists have reacted to the lack of visual art representation in the region with positive action.

The group’s next show at Queen Mary’s Vaults ( a newly discovered space beside Johnny Foxes on Bank Street) runs from 9-18 August, and will hopefully pave the way for a more permanent showcase in the city centre.

The Art of Being Highland – A Summer Exhibition of recent work by Highland Artists is open from 10.30am to 5.00pm at the Midmills Campus.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Link

• Highland Artists
• More images from The Art of Being Highland exhibition