| Augustowska
In 2000, I made2 a series
of monochrome paintings depicting the forest and surrounding landscape
of Augustowska, on the border with Poland and Lithuania. I had read
about the history of the region in a book by Simon Schama, “Landscape
and Memory”, and I became fascinated by the stories he uncovered.
During the 2nd World War, many
Jews survived in small cells by hiding in the forest, enduring pitiful
hardship and living like animals. By the end of the war, as Stalin’s
N.K.V.D. troops marched on towards Berlin, they were instructed to flush
out Polish Liberation Army sympathisers. Entire villages were massacred,
and their corpses hidden in the forest, never to be found. The dense cover
of the forest had provided sanctuary and sustenance on the one hand, but
hid dreadful atrocities on the other.
Working with Alphons Bytautas,
I have selected three of these images to reproduce as prints, carefully
adjusting the process to create an atmospheric interpretation of the subject.
BIOGRAPHY
1959 Born in Glasgow
1976-80 Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, D.A. (Painting)
1980-81 Royal Academy of Fine Art in the Hague, Holland. Postgraduate
in Painting (Special commendation)
1981-82 University of California in Los Angeles, USA. Visiting artist
1989 International Exchange Workshop in Valencia,Spain.
"Il Gioco Dell'Oca" (The Game of The Goose). Project with international
artists in Sardinia
1993-94 Part-time lecturer in Painting, Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
2000-present Part-time lecturer in Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College
of Art, Dundee
Lives and works in
Edinburgh
AWARDS
1980 British Council Scholarship
1981 Greenshields Award
1985 Educational Institute of Scotland Award
1989 Scottish Arts Council Award
1995 Guthrie Award, Royal Scottish Academy
2002 The Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aberdeen Museum and Art Gallery
Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, Glasgow
Scottish Arts Council
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
The City Art Centre, Edinburgh
BBC, London
Contemporary Art Society, London
Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
Educational Institute of Scotland
Life Association of Scotland
Fleming's Collection
Standard Life
MEMBERSHIPS AND COMMITTEES
1986 Founder Member and Artists Representative,
WASPS, Edinburgh
1987 Professional Member, Society of Scottish Artists
1988-91 Member of Council, Society of Scottish Artists
1994 Artistic Adviser, Eastern General Art Fund
1995 Member of Council, Society of Scottish Artists
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1984 "Voices", Main Fine Art, Glasgow
1985 "The Wilderness",The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1987 "Sanctuary", The Glasgow Arts Centre
1988 "Fractured Landscape", The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1989 Raab Gallery, London
1992 Raab Gallery, London
1993 Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1994 Raab Boukamel Gallery, London
Galleri Christian Dam, Copenhagen
1995 Raab Boukamel Gallery, London
1997 BCA Gallery, London
1998 Galleri Christian Dam, Oslo
1999 Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow
2000 BCA Gallery, London
2000 Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
2003 BCA Gallery, London
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