Moray Art Centre Presents Our Artists in Residence
Moray Art Centre is proud to present our Artists in Residence exhibition, introducing you to six artists based in the North East of Scotland, 4th - 27th August 2023.
This exhibition is brimming with vibrance, from artists Keith Barker, Dawn Burgess, Bruce Torquil Campbell, Jonathan Wheeler, Christa Gramatzky and Lynn Barton.
The exhibition opening is on the 4th of August at 6pm-8pm.
The exhibition will run until the 27th of August on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We look forward to seeing you there!
Moray Art Centre Presents Our Artists in Residence
ABOUT
Learn more about the artists
Keith Barker
Working across various mediums, Keith Barker aims to encapsulate the truth of life as he sees it through images of nature, by manipulating light and shade to reveal a hidden story. Inspired by his interest in crafting boats, his work captures the abundance of wood and its many uses through photography, sculpture, and painting. Keith volunteers here at MAC and teaches illustration and woodworking in our program of courses, he expresses his hope for bringing out the best of the world through his art, “I seek to encourage a better world that is growing inside each one of us, and to invigorate the world of art and design as a whole with expressions of the present age.”
Additionally, Barker has written a poem entitled Trees Can Sing – A Shipwright’s Prayer, here is an excerpt of the poem which will be on display to read at the exhibition: “You balance the air, for us to breathe. To all you great trees growing tall, green, and strong, thank you for the gifts you give for the boats and the houses of man.”
Dawn Burgess
Gray’s School of Art graduate and former art teacher Dawn Burgess is a painter based in Moray. Since 2017, she has dedicated her time to being a full-time painter, exploring the depth of her past through figurative painting and surrealism. Her practice explores the fine line between memory and imagination, as well as incorporating elements of Greek mythology into her paintings, telling a story that peers deep into Dawn’s own life. The paintings she will be exhibiting in this exhibition are colourful and bold, with experimentation of transparent and opaque techniques.
Bruce Torquil Campbell
Bruce Torquil Campbell is a Scottish artist living and working in Findhorn. His art practice is in part inspired by capturing the essence of a moment in light and colour, through the lens of abstract shapes and exciting textures. Sometimes his work starts off from a photograph, which then evolves into a myriad of colour relationships which become reminiscent of landscapes and cityscapes. He works mainly with oil and acrylic creating layers of space and colour. The works he will be showing at the exhibition will include a collection of small acrylic paintings and several oil paintings, showcasing a culmination of his time in the MAC studios. As well as being the Chairperson and Director of the Park Pottery in Pineridge where you can see his ceramics, he is also a Trustee and Director of MAC.
Join us for the opening evening of 'Our Artists In Residence'.
Friday 4th August, from 6pm - 8pm
Hosted at Moray Art Centre
Drinks & nibbles
All welcome
Free entry
Jonathan Wheeler
Known for his vibrant and dramatic watercolour paintings, Jonathan Wheeler is an artist based in Findhorn and will be showcasing some work at the exhibition. Jonathan has made a full-time profession from his art practice by capturing the beauty of the Scottish landscape through vivid and painterly brush strokes. Oxford-trained physicist Jonathan revived his passion for painting and began his full-time career painting the architectural landscape of the Highlands. Wheeler explains his renewed passion for painting, “I came back from Brazil in 2001 and found myself painting in ways that surprised me – the colour was so vibrant, and my painting style became very free and loose almost overnight. I saw this as a sign that I needed to take action – to leave my computer career behind and go for art!”
Jonathan exhibits his work in galleries around the UK and his work travels internationally, illustrating how Scotland has become the heartland of his work. Furthermore, Wheeler is the author of Scottish Castles, a book consisting of paintings by Wheeler of various castles throughout Scotland, it is currently the best-selling book in Scotland for Scottish castle lovers.
https://www.soulofscotland.co.uk
Christa Gramatzky
Christa Gramatzky is a Stroud School of Art graduate and artist based in the North East. Her paintings are vivid and bright, immersing the viewer in colour, composition, light, and shade. Christa aims to take the viewer on a journey to find beauty reflected through the abstract nature of her work. The work on display at the exhibition showcases scenes of surreal and otherworldly combinations of forms and colours that everyone will have a different perspective of.
Lynn Barton
Lynn Barton is a Moray School of Art graduate who specialises in abstract painting. Barton is inspired by American abstract expressionism and non-objective abstract techniques, which are evident in the pieces she will be showcasing in this exhibition. She has exhibited mainly locally, such as in Eden Court in Inverness, and Wasps Links Studio in Nairn, but has exhibited as far as New York for The Art Students League of New York residency on the Vytlacil campus.