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Robert Macmillan In the Stillness of Light

Robert Macmillan

In the Stillness of Light 7-31 March 2012

The Scottish Gallery 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ Tel 0131 558 1200 Email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Front cover: Beside Quiet Waters, oil on board, 60 x 76 cms

Towards the Rig I, oil on board, 14 x 17 cms

In the Stillness of Light For some time now my work has involved using a figure within voids of empty space. I have been fascinated by the delicate relationship that exists between figure and space; too much of the dark void and the figure is engulfed; too much focus on the figure and the presence of the space is forgotten.

I love the intimacy, and the intensity, which can be created through the use of a single face or solitary figure, theatrically lit, embraced in a velvety darkness that surrounds. In both subject matter and use of paint there is a definite acknowledgement of painters past. Rembrandt’s influence permeates through all my work, not only his use of chiaroscuro but also the surface quality that he achieves with the paint like the sleeve of the bridegroom in his work ‘The Jewish Bride’; the constant reworking of paint, creating a texture and luminosity that begins to emanate from the source material and, through constant scraping and glazing, achieve a richer conclusion.

Over the last couple of years my work has included landscape studies; inspired in part by the magnificent views close to where I live along the Fife Coastal Route. The work also demonstrates the influence of a number of landscape painters who I greatly admire: James McNeill Whistler, George Inness and many of the American Tonalists. There has been a great desire to recreate the tones and atmosphere found in the works of these painters and also seen daily in my surrounding landscape. My landscape paintings have thus developed into intimate studies of last light or a singular light source in a darkened landscape.

This new body of work: both figure and landscape has gradually developed into something that shows an obsession with light in the darkest of places.

Robert Macmillan, 2012

Stargazer, 2012, oil on board, 49 x 128 cms

A Different Kind of Light, 2011 oil on board, 15 x 15 cms

Solas, 2011 oil on board, 19 x 36 cms

Draped Figure oil on board, 16 x 15 cms

Veils, 2012 oil on board, 47 x 62.5 cms

Draped Figure oil on board, 16 x 15 cms

Figure Study, 2011 oil on board, 15 x 14 cms

Towards the Rig II, 2011 oil on board, 18 x 24 cms

In the Stillness of Light II, 2012, oil on board, 25.5 x 63.5 cms

Prodigal Son, 2011 oil on board, 18 x 18 cms

Treetops, 2011 oil on board, 20 x 20 cms

Bride oil on board, 10.5 x 11 cms

Emerald Moon, 2011 oil on board, 17 x 17 cms

Between Two Places oil on board, 10 x 18.5 cms

Nightscape, 2011 oil on board, 21 x 27 cms

Patience, 2012, oil on board, 23 x 56 cms

Curriculum Vitae Born 6 May 1974 Education Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee BA (Hons) Fine Art 1993-1997 MDes 2005-2006 Solo Exhibitions: 2011 In the Stillness of Light, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2010 New work, The Fraser Gallery, St Andrews 2009 Light In The Darkest Of Places, The Fraser Gallery, St Andrews 2004 New Work, The Edinburgh Gallery 2003 Lighter Shades of Darkness, The Kelly Gallery, Glasgow 2002 New Work, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate 2000 Out Of Darkness, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate Awards: 2009 International Artist Finalist (International Artist Magazine Dec/Jan) 2007 Aspect painting prize winner (1 of 4 winners) 2002 Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Exhibition Award 2001 Noble Grossart Painting Prize Finalist 1997 John Eadie Award for Painting 1997 John Kinross Travelling Scholarship Collections: Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee Collections in the USA Collections in Cairo, Egypt