Sorting through some catalogues in the studio today I came across this quote from an exhibition called Scottish Landscapes that I was privileged to be included amongst. It featured work by SJ Peploe, GL Hunter, James Guthrie, Joseph Crawhall, Anne Redpath, William Gillies and Joan Eardley. McLaren had always been drawn to arresting and dramatic subject matter while at the same time he has consistently implied that his real subject is abstract, that the dashing marks he makes on his board care nothing for their mimetic quality but only for their inherent abstract property. This may be so and allies him with William McTaggart, in whose late works the ostensible subject of children, dune, sea and sky are subsumed by the drama of the paint itself, but with both painters we must be allowed to enjoy the brilliant suggestion of sea spume in the air, powerful wave on unyielding shore and the continuing, dramatic performance of the elements. When the artist first came to Orkney some eight years ago he had to serve an apprenticeship of restraint, such was the sensory overload of this dramatic new landscape, before he could see the subject he could paint. Now his series of sea/rock paintings are one of the most heartfelt attempts at landscape since Joan Eardley painted at Catterline Im going back to paint in Orkney soon. Im keen to see what happens.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 21:21:52 +0000