4 minute read
BLUE TERRITORY
from Blue Territory
A L I S O N M c W H I R T E R
Introduction by Colin J. Bailey
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e paintings in this wonderful exhibition, which is the first of Alison McW hirter ’ s solo shows to be held in Edinburgh, were all produced in the course of a year af ter she moved into her new studio in the East end of Glasgow on the propitious date of 1 Januar y 2022. As the title of the exhibition ‘Blue Territor y ’ implies, its leitmotif is the colour blue, which is represented throughout by ultramarine, cobalt, indigo, Prussian blue, Eg yptian blue, woad, electric blue, and cerulean among others.
Blue was chosen for its recognised calming effects but it is f requently associated with melancholy, as evidenced, for example, in the works that Pablo Picasso created between 1901 and 1904 in Paris in what is conventionally known as his ‘Blue Period ’ .
ough I am inc lined to believe that few people would guess it f rom their innate serenity and sense of self-assurance, Alison executed these paintings during a year of distressing emotional turmoil, about which she is understandabl y reticent. Averse to the term ‘ c athar tic ’ , she ne ver theless ac knowledges that this per iod of painting was a time of healing and of hope. In her own words, her paintings are “the expression of pure feeling ” .
Among the personally most significant works here are ‘Drif ting ’ and the tondo entitled ‘ To a Friend across the Sea’, both of which are named af ter poems by the artist ’ s distinguished relative Jeanie Donnan, “ e Galloway Poetess”, whose adult life was spent in W hithorn in W igtownshire. In the midsummer of 2022, Alison made a pilgrimage here and on return to her Glasgow studio painted an ineffable ser ies of abstract seasc apes based on her recent memories of “the pure blue tones” of the area surrounding the harbour and inspired by what she describes as an “ inexplicable affinity ” with the genius loci. ese inc lude ‘Evening Light, W hithorn’ and ‘S eaview, W hithorn’, executed using pigments such as kings blue, cerulean, and Sansepolcro blue.
ree other paintings took their inspiration f rom a poem entitled ‘Ultramarine’ in the ser ies of ‘Advent Poems’, by the L anc ashire-born Michael S y monns Rober ts. ‘Ultramarine’ is the eponymous title of one of them. ‘ Water to swim in, not through’ and ‘Utter blue’ are quotations f rom the same poem. ey were executed using respectively :
Eg yptian blue, cerulean, ultramarine, and cobalt; cobalt, Sansepolcro blue, and sky blue light; and cobalt, cerulean, and Eg yptian blue.
One of the most scintillating exhibits is the monumental ‘Blue Territor y ’ , with its distant echoes of Claude Monet ’ s late ‘ Water lily ’ series. Described by the artist as “ an expression of pure, unobstructed energ y ” , it has qualities that are both visionar y and visceral.
In one particular group, with the generic title ‘Cloud Works’, Alison consciously explored the possibility of processing her emotions through the physical action of painting. is exquisite series, all square and each measuring 30 x 30 centimetres, comprises ‘F light ’ , ‘Asea’, ‘Soar ’ , ‘Adrif t ’ , ‘Ascent ’ , and ‘L evitation’. e last inevitably evoke John Constable’s scientific c loud studies, which he produced in the ear ly 1820s af ter reading essays on meteorolog y by Luke Howard and omas Forster, but Alison’s are infinitely more spiritual and ethereal.
To my great delight, Alison has also submitted a small selection of her spellbinding stilllifes of flowers, of which I’m an unwavering aficionado. Silhouetted against backgrounds of various striking blues, they appropriatel y symbolise the seasons when all the other works were painted, with ‘Magnolias’, ‘Peonies’, ‘Sunflowers’ and ‘Iris Setosa’ emblematic of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and W inter.
e ver y last painting that Alison produced for her exhibition at Doubtfire Galler y was ‘Blue Note’, in which unexpectedly her palette has shifted towards yellow, green and pink. Like others in the show, it hovers tantalisingly in limbo between abstraction and pictorial description and remains an elusive and enigmatic tour de force with the expectation of much more of beauty and originality in the years ahead.
Februar y 2023
O ver the past two decades, Alison McW hirter has consolidated her position as arguably the most gif ted artist among the younger generation of New S cottish Colourists, producing works of irresistible allure.
Alison’s paintings are under pinned by her unquestionable sincerit y and characterised by such f reshness and enthusiasm that they appear to have been painted spontaneousl y. In fact, although there are occ asional acts of last-minute spontaneit y, they are fundamentally the product of long periods of reflection and introspection.
Alison was born in D umf ries on 14 June 1975. In 1994, she embarked on a oneyear foundation course at the Cumbria College of Ar t and Design in Car lisle. Immediately af ter wards, she continued her training as a painter at the prestigious Bath S pa Ac ademy (f or mer l y the Bath Ac ademy of Ar t), f rom whic h she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in Fine Art in 1998. S he remained in Bath to continue her studies, and in 2000 was awarded an MFA in V isual Culture by Bath S pa Universit y. S ince that time, Alison has exhibited to wide acc laim nationally and internationally.
