RHYS FULLERTON TAKES A LOOK
The Open Eye Gallery starts 2016 with its 35th birthday, and 50 artists – both emerging and more established, but all represented by the gallery – are on hand to help celebrate it.
Established in 1982, Open Eye was originally located on Cumberland Street before relocating to Abercromby Place just over a decade ago.
I’ve picked four of my favourite works, which I feel sum up this exhibition and the gallery as a whole.
Alberto Morrocco – ‘Life Class’
By positioning Morrocco’s work at the start of the show, it strikes me that the gallery is making a statement that their success is as much down to the artists, and the freedom they are given, as anything else.
This work is about the creative process and there is so much happening. Morrocco’s use of colour, especially under the lamps, is wonderful. Its composition is impressive – wherever you look there is a different focus, and it’s not always the model as you might have expected.
Stuart Buchanan – ‘Convoy’
This small painting caught my eye for both its simplicity and its obscurity. Where is the convoy heading? Why is the boat in the middle of the birds? There are more questions than answers.
The various green shades, and the way they have been applied, work together as they move in to a light central area surrounding the boat. It’s an odd little painting but I found it fascinating.
Chris Bushe RSW – ‘Inlet, An Clachan’
This mixed-media abstract work is really quite special and is even more powerful when seen in person. It is thick with wet stodgy paint, which comes together to create an immersive landscape. The foaming waves are slowly overcoming the beach, which seems to be crumbling in its wake. It makes for a dramatic image, which is all down to the technique employed and it’s fantastic to see a landscape scene achieved in this way.
Henry Fraser – ‘The Prisoner’
I found this painting disturbing but comical. The prisoner appears to be looking past you but at the same time keeping an eye on you wherever you go. I’m quite glad he’s trapped inside the frame forever, but I’d like to know what he’s done to end up there.
It’s difficult to sum up an exhibition which contains works by so many different artists, but I feel that these four works and their makers are perfect examples of what the gallery showcases. Each has a different style and each creates something special and unique.
Next month at Open Eye, normal service will resume and the celebrations will be over. Judging by the preview images of Cate Inglis’s work, it looks as if the gallery has no plans to slow down.
Happy birthday!
35 Years of the Open Eye Gallery continues until 27 January 2016 at the Open Eye Gallery (34 Abercromby Place). Admission free.