Julia McNairn White returns to The Sutton Gallery this month with a series of paintings of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
A Sutton Gallery regular, McNairn White manages to portray a location which will be very familiar to Spurtle readers, in a natural, calm and curious way.
I like the framing of the path in ‘Chinese Hilltop Garden’ (below). It’s slightly to the side and the foliage is trying to dominate the painting. It’s something that occurs throughout this exhibition. The angles and subjects are not what we’d expect.
In ‘Lush Green’, the blue sky peers through the trees and the array of greens really is lush.
In ‘Purple Pathway’, the trees are like vines smothering the scene.
If we need reminding, ‘Edinburgh Skyline’ shows what a beautiful city we live in. It’s calm and tranquil … and looking at it now, it’s hard to believe that right in the middle are thousands of people attending one of the biggest arts festivals in the world.
‘Vibrant Colours’ is one of the stand out pieces because McNairn White is trying something different. There is no space whatsoever; the frame is full of beautiful (and of course, vibrant) colours. There’s no room to breathe in this richness.
In the backroom of the gallery, McNairn White changes direction with some urban landscapes. These have been worked up from photos taken in the 1990s; some of the buildings may no longer be here.
It’s refreshing to see McNairn White try something different and I especially liked ‘Sunkissed Wall’ for its minimalism and for the interesting viewpoint. It’s as if the lamppost, the ventilation pipes and the chimney are all facing the same way, trying to catch some sun before the approaching shadow takes over.
In an often overwhelming and challenging month for art in Edinburgh, it’s refreshing to see works which don’t trying to push the boundaries too far but are content to depict beautiful and colourful subjects with wide-eyed relish.—Rhys Fullerton
Julia McNairn White continues at The Sutton Gallery (18a Dundas Street) until 3 September 2016. Admission free.