Category: Exhibitions

We are delighted to welcome the award winning Northern Irish landscape artist, Neal Greig to the gallery for our late Summer Show.

Neal was born in Belfast in 1965. He first attended the Edinburgh College of Art in 1983 graduating with a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art in 1987, and later completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art between 1988 and 1990 again from ECA. Neal has won numerous awards including the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Award from the Jackson Pollock Foundation, New York. His work is held in many public and private collections including Donegal County Council, Monaghan County Council, Tyrone Guthrie Art Centre, AIB Bank, ACC Bank, Bank of Ireland and New Brunswick, Canada.

Neal’s land and seascapes of the wild and rugged Atlantic coast of Ireland have been well received in the gallery to date. Brimming with the organic colours of nature from the splashes of greens, pinks and oranges of the lichens and grasses on the clifftops to the deep blues of the ocean and sky. Painting en plein air, his spontaneous brushstrokes and flicks and drizzles of paint are applied expressively with the confidence of an assured artist. The final result really capturing the raw energy of the ocean and the timeless beauty of the rugged coastline near Donegal.

For this exhibition Neal has explored the Scottish landscape. From the windswept beauty of the West Coast and Islands to the more sedate East Lothian coastline, Neal’s exuberant plein air brushwork and innovative mark-making, coupled with his natural palette is sure to provide a vibrant and interesting body of work.

Preview with refreshments Friday 4th September 6-8pm.

Three of the most popular and intriguing artists from Glasgow will be bringing a variety of new and recent work to North Berwick. Fidra Fine Art is delighted to welcome Lesley Banks, Alice McMurrough and Neil Macdonald to the gallery this summer.

Lesley Banks studied at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) specialising in Drawing and Painting. After graduating, funded by an Elizabeth Greenshields Scholarship, Lesley travelled and painted throughout Europe. She worked as a gallery assistant at the Compass Gallery, Glasgow, where, encouraged by Cyril & Jill Gerber she began to exhibit more of her artworks winning numerous prizes and awards, such as the 1991 Scottish Prize, Royal Overseas League London. Since this time Lesley has exhibited throughout the UK and as far afield as Singapore & USA.

Lesley’s work is always well crafted with rich colours but it is often a brooding narrative that draws the viewer in. In these paintings, which are a mixture of work from her last trip to Venice and Tuscany, the beautiful land and cityscapes are captured with intense, atmospheric colour but there is always something about the scenes that leave the viewer with a sense of unease.

Alice McMurrough PAI RGI RSW also studied at GSA graduating in 1979. She then went on to teach including Acting Principal Teacher in the 1990’s and marker and moderator for the SQA until she left the profession in 2007 to concentrate on her own painting. She has won several awards including; D Muirhead Purchase Prize, RSA (2002), James Torrance Award, RGI (2011), Joe Hargan Award, PAI (2012) and in 2013 she was awarded the Diploma of the Paisley Art Institute, elected member of the RGI and the RSW.

Like Lesley, narrative is an important ingredient in the mysterious, magical work of Alice McMurrough. Always beautifully crafted there is a mesmeric quality to the detail and mystery behind the characters in her work.

In Alice’s words…“My artwork is a tool to understanding self and the surrounding world. I make connections. I create from memories of particular events and general influences: family legends, cultural myths and religious fables. I aim for an attention that children have for the world, before ritual and maturity strips life of its daily magic. I paint the gap between innocence and experience using distortion, metaphor and symbolism, free form chronological time and place.”

Neil Macdonald PAI RGI RSW completes the trio of GSA graduates. Neil studied from 1975-79 and then a further year of Post Graduate Studies. He attended Hospitalfield Art College Summer School near Arbroath in 1978. Awards include; William Shanks Painting Prize in 1979, David Cargill Travelling Scholarship (Italy & Belgium) in 1981, Robert Innes Award – Scottish Drawing Competition 2011 and was awarded the Diploma of the Paisley Art Institute 2012, elected member of RGI & RSW in 2013.

Again, narrative plays a strong part in Neil’s work. Drawing inspiration from familiar, distinctive, landmarks he subtly distorts and bathes them in a luminescent light then adds a little mystery to further engage the viewer – Dunbar, St Monans and Portsoy will be among the subjects in this exhibition.

In Neil’s words…“I am drawn to locations which exert historic and mythic presence. I explore the lyrical narrative of natural sites and strong bold shapes of castles, old townships and harbours. I do this through distortion of perspective, invention and editing, aiming to capture an essence of the structure or place. Colour is used in an emotive way to heighten the sense of mood. I apply each layer upon layer of paint in a divisionist manner. Slowly I realise a unity of statement as the image emerges, revealing the subject’s unique sense of place.”

From sketches and studies as preparatory work for paintings or as completed works in their own right, drawings offer an intriguing and intimate insight into the artistic process as well as offering a more affordable route into collecting original art.

We will have a wide range of drawings and etchings from great Scottish artists past and present. Incredibly visceral portrait work by Graeme Wilcox, Angela Repping and Suzanne Kirk to very rare and delicate drawings by William Gallacher. Early life study work from college days by Joseph Urie and George Birrell…nudes by George Birrell…not something you see every day. Also on show we will have a few etchings including work by James McBey, EA Lumsden, John Bellany and an interesting monoprint by Georgina Bown which is sure to raise a smile.

Also included will be work from David Foggie, William Wilson, Susan L Crawford, David Hosie, Stephen Conroy, Simon Laurie, Ian Fleming, Keith McIntyre, Patti Yuill, Jayne Stokes, Lesley Banks, Alan Connell and John Lowrie Morrison (Jolomo).

We will also be introducing the work of two new artists to the gallery – Gordon M. Scott and Sandra Collins. Quite detailed figurative work laced with a mythological narrative from Gordon and delicate botanical studies from Sandra…all great stuff!

Our Christmas Exhibition is next up and features two of the most popular and collectable contemporary Scottish artists working today – George Birrell and Simon Laurie. Both graduates from Glasgow School of Art and both have wonderfully colourful and distinctive styles.

Simon has won numerous awards for his distinctive abstract landscape and still life paintings. Drawing stylistic inspiration from (amongst others) the work of the St. Ives School and the Scottish Colourists, Simon uses everyday objects and the landscapes of Scotland, and more recent trips to the Greek Islands, to produce stunningly colourful, well-balanced compositions that never fail to please.

George’s instantly recognisable landscapes, where the architecture, inspired from the towns and villages of the East Coast, competes with the emotion of the “time and place” as the main subject of his paintings. Distinctive, stylised, compositions with an assured, confident use of colour, George’s work just gets better and better.

Fidra Fine Art is pleased to present “The Art of Arran Ross”, a solo exhibition of Painting, Sculpture and Photography by the award winning Scottish artist Arran Ross.

Arran graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1987 with a BA(Hons) First Class in Sculpture then completed post graduate studies at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee emerging with a MA Public Art & Design. He has won various awards including the JD Fergusson Award, the Latimer Award from the RSA and in 2000 won an award from the prestigious Pollock Krasner Foundation in New York. He has participated in several solo shows including the Compass Gallery in Glasgow, the JD Fergusson gallery in Perth, and the Artemisia Gallery in Chicago as well as numerous group exhibitions including the annual exhibitions at the RSA and the RGI.

Drawing inspiration from such diverse sources as the great Surrealist artists Giorgio De Chirico and Magritte, the children’s television character, Mr Benn, his disdain of international aggression and state sponsored violence as well as the bleak beauty of his native Highland landscape, it is little wonder that Arran’s work has been described as enigmatic, Slightly Sinister (the title of a 1998 exhibition at the JD Fergusson Gallery in Perth) yet profoundly beautiful. Most widely known for his iconic renditions of Spacemen his work is infused with a distinctive style and humour which is both entertaining and thought provoking. Presented over three mediums, this exhibition demonstrates an impressive artistic dexterity.

As usual we are open 12-5 each weekend but are more than happy to open during the week but ask that you contact us ahead of your visit to ensure we are here. Hope you can make it along.