Two exhibitions coming to the Open Eye Gallery

Edinburgh’s Open Eye Gallery is staging two exhibitions next month.

The first is Impressions: Two Centuries of Printmaking, a wide-ranging exhibition featuring examples from some of the most prominent British printmakers in the last two centuries.

In association with John Anderson, this show will include works by Robert Austin, Sandra Blow, Sir Muirhead Bone, Gerald Leslie Brockhurst, Lynn Chadwick, Alan Davie, Peter Howson, James McBey, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Victor Pasmore, Graham Sutherland, William Walcot and Sir David Wilkie.

The exhibition spans just under 230 years, quite aptly starting and ending with artists closely associated with Edinburgh.

From 1790 engravings by caricaturist John Kay to a 2008 screenprint by renowned naïve painter Craigie Aitchison, this exhibitions encompasses the varying styles and techniques explored throughout the last two centuries of printmaking.

The second is Quartet, introducing four new artists to the Open Eye Gallery: Nerine Tassie, Susan Mitchell, Kate Montgomery and Fi Wallace Velarde. Having previously exhibited postcard sized works as part of their annual ‘On a Small Scale’ exhibition, this all-female group of artists have been hand-picked by the directors to showcase a selection of larger-scale works as an introduction to the Open Eye Gallery stable of talented artists.

Kate Montgomery’s paintings often suggest interior spaces associated with female responsibility, creativity and desire. The sources for Kate’s paintings is found in and around her home on the south coast. Finding her inspiration in seaside runs and walks in the Sussex countryside her work is informed from the interiors and gardens of Georgian and Victorian houses and museums in Brighton and Hove.

Kate Montgomery studied at The Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, St John’s College, Oxford and then Royal College of Art in London, graduating in 1992. In the same year Kate was artist in residence at the Prince of Wales’ Institute of Architecture. Her work is held in both private and public collections around the world.

Natural spaces and forms provide the basis and inspiration for Nerine Tassie’s work. She is particularly drawn to the coastal waters and woodlands around her home in Fife, the ever-changing landscape providing infinite sources for her work.

Primarily an exploration into the mystery of nature, she has always sought to create a strong sense of atmosphere and connection to place within her paintings. Experimenting with materials and using a variety of painterly techniques, Tassie creates a rich texture and sense of light to her work.

Viola Paterson (1899-1981), Aux Champs-Élysées, original lithograph, c.1940

Nerine Tassie graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002 with a degree in Fine Art.

Fi Wallace Velarde grew up surrounded by the Cheshire countryside, spending every summer in Devon where her fascination and love of the sea developed.

In her latest body of work she attempts to move away from generic conventions, exploring relationships with colour, shape and composition. Concerned with feelings and her response to the environment she visits a place many times; watching, waiting, sketching, painting, writing; listening to her surroundings and connecting with the elements surrounding her.

The resultant monotypes and paintings are quiet, simple images. Fi creates an openness to her work, leaving the viewer with an impression of where she have been and the solitude and tranquility felt.

Fi gained a first in Advertising at Manchester Polytechnic and worked in London for a short time, returning to Cheshire where she taught Art for six years before embarking on her art career full-time.

Susan Mitchell has been a full time artist since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1991.

Studying Tapestry alongside Drawing & Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, Susan has continued to expand her technique by incorporating the use of textiles alongside print, drawing, watercolour and oil into her paintings.

Susan has long drawn inspiration from her farming background, focusing her direction mainly on animals and birds, however this most recent body of work has brought together old and new skills in landscape painting, captivating the ethereal feeling and mood of atmospheric Spoon Wood, which looks down onto her home town of Peebles.

Running from 4-28 October, the exhibitions will take place at the Open Eye Gallery, 34 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh. The Open Eye Gallery, based in the New Town, has been running for 30 years and holds 32 exhibitions per year focusing on contemporary and applied art. Visit www.openeyegallery.co.uk for details.

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