A MAJOR exhibition celebrating Jock McFadyen on his 70th birthday will open next week at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.
The event, named, ‘Jock McFadyen: Lost Boat Party’ will be held from June 11 to September 25.
The exhibition which is in partnership with The Scottish Gallery will showcase recent paintings by the artist which convey the romantic side of the Scottish landscape along with the urban dystopia McFadyen is known for.
Jock McFadyen
Christina Jansen, director of The Scottish Gallery, said: “McFadyen paints the exterior world with a cool detachment that carries an emotional punch, and Lost Boat Party perfectly describes his approach – floating through the landscape to find and show the strange enigmatic portion only seen when looking for something else.
“The painting Lost Boat Party is a monumental work, depicting a seaside funfair which appears to have detached itself from the land and is slowly drifting out to sea. The metaphor for the human condition is unavoidable, and many of the paintings in the exhibition describe the sea with all its implications of threat and indifference, as well as painterly possibility.”
A painting by McFadyen – Uist, 2011
Over 20 of McFadyen’s large paintings will be shown at the exhibition which highlights the artist’s compassion for the landscape tradition.
McFadyen was taught by a generation of abstract painters whose influence is conveyed in his paintings which highlight the modern world.
McFadyen’s painting: ‘Lost Boat Party’.
Dovecot Studios has collaborated with McFadyen over the past seven months to make new artwork inspired by his paintings.
In his collaboration with Dovecot, McFadyen follows a range of Royal Academicians such as Graham Sutherland, David Hockney, Chris Ofili and Barbara Rae.
The Mallaig Commission will be exhibited at the event as well as documentation of the collaboration.
The Mallaig Commission done in partnership with Dovecot Studios
Naomi Robertson, the master weaver at Dovecot Studios, said: “Our initial aim was to explore the beauty in the paintings. We have experimented with how to amplify the complex undertones in Jock’s use of paint through the blending of yarn as well as the innate sensuality of the textile surface. The way in which the final work absorbs light emphasises a depth of colour that is just not possible with paint.”
The exhibition will be part of this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival programme, it is the second in four UK exhibitions marking McFadyen’s successful 45-year career.
McFadyen’s career includes solo exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum, The National Gallery, Piers Arts Centre, Talbot Rice and Camden Art Centre.
A painting by Jock: Somewhere in the Hebrides
The artist’s work is shown in over 40 public collections in the V&A, SNGMA, Government Art Collection and Tate, along with corporate and private collections in the UK and international countries.
He has also designed sets and costumes for Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet ‘The Judas Tree’ held at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.
The Lost Boat Party follows the exhibition Jock McFadyen goes to the Pictures at City Art Centre in Edinburgh and will be followed by exhibitions at the Royal Academy in London early next year as well as a retrospective at The Lowry in Manchester.
