Tore Gallery, until 24 August 2008

Elizabeth MacGregor - Hillside Pass

THIS LATEST mixed summer show features landscape works by Elizabeth MacGregor (Acrylics), Moy MacKay (Felted Hand Dyed Merino Wool) and Jos Howard (Oils) together with works by regular exhibitors Christine O’Keefe, Michael Stuart Green, Isabel Dickson, John Bathgate, Dot Walker, Colin Robinson, Simon Rivett, Kathleen Lindsay, Kitty Watt, Margaret MacKay and David Body. Exciting new work from Selkirk-based artist Mary Morrison is a wonderful addition to the gallery.

Morrison’s thoughtful, contemplative works really capture the essence of the Highlands and Islands landscape, influenced by Kenneth White’s Geopoetical theory. It is extremely interesting to have a seed of revaluation visible in what is predominantly a show of more traditional approaches to Highland landscape.

Whilst the scenic qualities of the North are undeniable, there is something far more potent and enduring to be explored in White’s conception of “territory”. Morrison’s work engages with this idea in her ‘Sea Music’ series exploring “sense of place, light (and) abstract musical notation”.

‘Cosmos, Circular Stave’ (Graphite) is stunning in its monumental simplicity, and oil collages such as ‘High Blue Day, Scalpay (2)’ contain a stillness and beauty that is breathtaking. As an abstract composition and a stream of consciousness it is equally absorbing, the silence of an empty stave descending into a rich gradation of deepest blue.

The interplay of horizontal and vertical notation in ‘Blue Rythym’ (Sketch) and the exquisitely delicate splatter of ‘Sea Music, Rain’ (Oil, Pigment) create not only an earthly sense of atmosphere and sound but a state of mind and being. Morrison’s interest in artists such as Anish Kapoor, Agnes Martin and Shirazeh Houshiary, Eastern Art and philosophy are akin to her own brand of enlightened minimalism or abstraction.

There is fluidity and formality in her technique which is beautifully balanced and her response to the Highland landscape is refreshing and inspired. This work is not about surfaces but understanding, and I would love to see a larger showing of this artist’s work.

A graduate of Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, Elizabeth Macgregor’s work saturates the Highland coastal landscape with bold, vibrant colour. This approach works best when coupled with a strong design element reminiscent of Japanese woodcuts and leading the eye into the work. Elements of shoreline, fields or cottages are blocked in with square edged brush marks of contrasting colour adding movement and energy to the scene.

‘Crovie Walkway’ in vivid purple, blue and green, and ‘Purple Queen, Gardenstown’, with its steep shoreline of cottage rooftops and hot vermillion sky over an alizarin sea are excellent examples. Whilst the colour saturation of modern acrylic is at a level that the Post Impressionists would have revelled in, it can be a relatively flat medium and a work such as “Towards Carn Ealasaid” are less successful.

Equal saturation of colour and even paint handling minus strong formal design doesn’t allow the eye to wander into the scene. While colour instantly draws the eye, good composition and overall design are necessary to hold the viewer’s attention.

New work by Frances Baxter shows a great deal of promise. The strong design of her black and white woodcuts ‘Sea Flowers’ and ‘Nautical Knot’ and her paint handling in ‘Ice Falls’ (Oils) and ‘Junk Rig’ (Acrylic) demonstrate the artist’s potential.

The gallery’s mixed summer show presents a varied selection of paintings, original prints, silver, glass, ceramics, pottery and photography by established and emerging artists inspired by the Highlands. It is great to see the introduction of new work and engagement with landscape beyond white cottages and misty mountains. While traditionalists will equally find much here to enjoy, there is also an alternative range of vision in this show worthy of consideration and healthy debate.

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

Links

• Tore Gallery