Matthew Draper
“Small Works”
20 May to 18 June
Opening with refreshments on Saturday 20 May 12-5pm
The volcanic plug that is Bass Rock, sits a few miles off the coast at North
Berwick. Its presence to people who live in East Lothian has provided a timeless,
reassuring permanence. To artists such as Matthew Draper the rock is the
perfect stage that plays host to the perpetual drama of the ever-changing
Scottish weather. The haar, so familiar to residents of this coastline, is one of the
star performers. Descending in layers of varying depth, diffusing the light onto
the rock creating an heir of romance and mystery - it is as much the subject of
Matthew’s work as the landscape itself.
The current show featuring new and recent, smaller works explores not only
Bass Rock and the East Lothian coastline but also Edinburgh, where Matthew has
his studio as well as the dramatic Scottish landscape from the Trossachs to
Rannoch Moor and beyond.
In his Edinburgh cityscapes, the weather is again a key player. It provides infinite
possibilities for the artist to change the mood of a landscape. Blizzards closing in
over Arthur’s Seat or the passing of squalls swept in from the Firth of Forth have
been studied at length from his top floor flat, overlooking the city. The haar,
again a natural filter on the landscape, rolls in over the Old Town, softening the
light source whether that be the sun or moon, streetlights or lights from events
at the Castle esplanade.
His Highland pieces follow in the tradition of the Romantic landscape painting of
Caspar David Friedrich, De Breanski and the Scottish artists Alexander Nasmyth
and Horatio McCulloch. Clouds creeping in across a glen, light chasing along a
hillside or dark, ominous fronts closing in, all perfectly evoked through the
manual build up of numerous layers of pastel, his chosen medium.
We are extremely proud to be exhibiting in North Berwick, the work of one of
Scotland’s most accomplished landscape artists. Matthew has won many awards
including, most recently, the prestigious Charles Pears Award at the Royal
Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. He has had numerous
solo shows across the UK including; Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh, Lemon
Street in Truro, Beaux Arts in Bath and last year, at the Scottish Gallery in
Edinburgh.
Alan Rae, 45 Dirleton Avenue, North Berwick, East Lothian EH39 4BL
01620 895057 – www.fidrafineart.co.uk - info@fidrafineart.co.uk
Artist Statement
'I identify myself principally as a draughtsman; drawing being the most
unencumbered and immediate form of image-making. My work is made with an
intense and energetic immediacy, working instinctively rather than methodically,
keeping me physically and emotionally involved in the process. I crush soft
pastel in my hands rubbing the dust into the paper in wide sweeps of colour
gradually manipulating the material to build up a thick layered surface using the
ball of my thumb or the heal of my hand.'
'I am interested in and influenced by the dramatic imagery of Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Century painting. I admire the idea of the contemplation of landscape
in the Romantic spirit, found in the work of the German Romantics like Caspar
David Friedrich and the notion of the grandeur of the landscape as expressed in
the work of the American Subliminal Painters like Sanford Robinson Gifford and
Frederic Edwin Church. These artists adopted the term 'Luminism', defined as
light in the landscape and the effect that light has on the landscape and objects
within it.'
'As a contemporary artist choosing to adopt this approach to light in the
landscape, my interest is not to make straight-forward topographical images that
are illustrations of place. Instead I am attempting to make imagery that is
descriptive of the circumstances under which the subject is viewed; images
which convey a sense of place. The drawings are emotional reactions to events
and experiences evolving in front of me; events happening or about to happen.
The images become like fading memories or captured moments in time. The
making of the work is in itself as set of actions and events which creates a
harmony between my process and my interpretation of the subject.'
Alan Rae, 45 Dirleton Avenue, North Berwick, East Lothian EH39 4BL
01620 895057 – www.fidrafineart.co.uk - info@fidrafineart.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
Fidra Fine Art
Covering over 200 years of the best in Scottish fine art, watercolour and oil
paintings, drawings and prints, Fidra Fine Art is an art gallery based in North
Berwick, East Lothian and currently displays work from a range of leading
Traditional, Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Scottish artists. Current
artists include Matthew Draper, Simon Laurie, Davy Brown, George Birrell, Neil
Macdonald, Alice McMurrough, Lesley Banks, Jock MacInnes, Angela Repping,
Jayne Stokes and many more.
Alan Rae, 45 Dirleton Avenue, North Berwick, East Lothian EH39 4BL
01620 895057 – www.fidrafineart.co.uk - info@fidrafineart.co.uk