Tsg john brown catalogue 04 %281%29

John Brown Centro Habana

John Brown Centro Habana

6 – 29 October 2014

Front cover: Panadería Reina, mixed media on board, 117 x 122 cms (detail) (Cat.no.26) Left: 1 Street Baseball, mixed media on board, 81.5 x 76 cms Above: 2 In the Pink, mixed media on card, 24 x 23 cms

Antique map of Havana, 1849. Centro Habana is situated between the hotel districts of Habana Vieja and Vedado with the Caleta de San Lรกzaro to the north.

Foreword John Brown’s paintings are often inspired by foreign travel and we are delighted to welcome him back for his fifth solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, this time informed by travels to Cuba and in particular, his most recent visit to the island’s capital city. In previous exhibitions we have seen the product of John’s stays in traditional artist destinations such as Venice, Tuscany and Collioure. For this superb new body of work he has strayed from a somewhat sanitised tourist trail and instead of azure seas and lush green hillsides we are presented with a raw view of what John regards as the ‘real’ Cuba, the bustling streets and crumbling buildings of Centro Habana.

The most densely populated area of the sweltering capital city, life in Centro Habana inevitably unravels in the street. John’s paintings are vignettes of chance encounters and experiences: children play impromptu games of baseball, adults congregate by market stalls and taxi drivers recline on their ciclotaxis and idly chat while whilst waiting for trade. Happenings and conversations are witnessed by bystanders and overlooked by balconies where laundry is literally aired in public.

We are not used to seeing people in the artist’s work and in some cases the figures may seem incidental but throughout the exhibition these colourful characters are integral to the piece they occupy, whether a protagonist in a figurative character study of a man proudly presenting his pet turkey (Cat 32) or the anonymous figure in La Guarida Washing (Cat 19) whose role we gladly contemplate, acts not only as a character but also as an

Working sketch for Malecón Facade

important compositional device, offering us a way in to one of the more abstract paintings in the exhibition. Each work has echoes of a theatrical performance – balconies the shallow stage, building facades backcloth and the people like theatrical characters playing out their daily dramas. Even John’s depiction of the dilapidated Cuban architecture plays out to this dramatic metaphor as the Malecón Facade (Cat 35) appears like a delicate stage-set.

Situated on the Caleta de San Lázaro, this once elegant promenade was the face of Havana in the 1950s as ships came in from the Americas. Elaborately crafted pilasters and architraves are now disguised by layer upon layer of green paint at street level and the upper storey windows reveal no interior, just a pure blue sky behind.

The multi-layering of colours, severe deterioration of many of the buildings and the sheer energy of Centro Habana lends itself well to the artist’s painting technique. This is why he was initially drawn to this area of the city. Founded on sketchbooks of skilfully executed drawings, John builds up his paintings in layers: scraps of newspaper and strips of textile are coated in paint which is then sanded back or scratched, mirroring the fabric of the Cuban buildings who reveal their history as remnants of once-pure colour and bare brickwork appear beneath a cracked surface. There is a physicality about these paintings which truly captures the spirit of the place.

Elizabeth Wemyss The Scottish Gallery

opposite: The Artist’s photographs of Centro Habana

1 1 2 2

3 Painted Facade mixed media on board 76 x 81.5 cms

4 Paladar Entrances mixed media on board 105 x 99 cms

5 Opera Stage Set mixed media on card 37.5 x 34.25 cms

6 Lamparilla Balconies mixed media on card 32 x 35 cms

7 Parasoles in Habana mixed media on board 76 x 81.5 cms

8 Daily Theatre mixed media on board 76 x 81.5 cms

9 Blue Entrance mixed media on board 81.5 x 76 cms

10 Silver and Golden Facades mixed media on card 18 x 24 cms

11 Painted Bodega mixed media on card 35 x 33 cms

12 Setting the Scene mixed media on board 81.5 x 122 cms

13 Swings and Washing mixed media on board 28 x 27 cms

14 Centro Habana Produce mixed media on board 28 x 27 cms

15 Grand Entrance mixed media on board 96.5 x 147 cms

16 Reina Balcony mixed media on card 32 x 30 cms

17 Colonial Habana mixed media on board 26 x 27.5 cms

18 Yellow Ribbons mixed media on board 76 x 81.5 cms

19 La Guarida Washing mixed media on board 96.5 x 147 cms

20 SanterĂ­a mixed media on card 24.25 x 24.5 cms

21 Macho Men mixed media on board 28 x 27 cms

22 Blue Balconies on Santos Suarez mixed media on board 86.5 x 117 cms

23 Theatrical San Lazaro mixed media on board 81.5 x 76 cms

24 Trocadero mixed media on card 40 x 36 cms

25 Balcony Duet mixed media on card 23 x 26 cms

26 PanaderĂ­a Reina mixed media on board 117 x 122 cms

27 129 and 130 mixed media on board 86.5 x 117 cms

28 Ernicos mixed media on board 27 x 28 cms

29 Fashionable Senoritas oil on board 25.5 x 27.5 cms

30 Corvales Street Vendors mixed media on board 76 x 81.5 cms

31 Ciclotaxis mixed media on board 100 x 140 cms

32 Pet Turkey mixed media on card 30 x 19.5 cms

33 Old Griollo Selling Newspapers mixed media on card 28 x 20 cms

34 Newspaper Seller mixed media on board 127 x 117 cms

John Brown, RSW Biography 1945

Born in Scotland

Education 1963-68 D.A. in Drawing and Painting, Glasgow School of Art Solo Exhibitions 1970 Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow 1979 Moray House, Edinburgh 1992 The Torrance Gallery, Edinburgh 1996 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 1976 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 1998 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 1999 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2000 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2001 John Davies Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2002 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2003 John Davies Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold Richmond Hill Gallery, London 2004 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2005 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London Richmond Hill Gallery, London 2006 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2007 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2008 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2009 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2010 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London Rendezvous Gallery, Aberdeen 2011 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Lemon Street Gallery, Truro 2013 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London 2014 Duncan R Miller Fine Arts, London The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

Awards 1967 Royal Academy – Landscape Studentship Award Royal Scottish Academy – Maclaine Watters Bronze Medal 1968 Glasgow School of Art – Post Diploma Exhibition – Highly Commended

Glasgow School of Art – Cargill Travelling Scholarship Royal Scottish Academy – Carnegie Travelling Scholarship 1969 Travelling Scholarship to European countries 1970 Royal Glasgow Institute of fine Arts – James Torrance Award 1993 Society of Scottish Artists and Artists Craftsmen – Arts Club Award

Society of Scottish Artists and Artists Craftsmen – Scottish Provident Award 1994 Heinzel Gallery Award Elected Member of Visual Arts Scotland 1996 Elected Member of Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour 2005 Alexander Graham Munro Award – RSW 2010 En Plein Air prize from Paisley Art Institute – RSW Council Award Residency, Collioure France – Charles Rennie Mackintosh Association

Prestigious Print commissioned by Art in Healthcare

Collections Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd Scottish Life Assurance Co. Ltd John Menzies plc Korean Embassy Lillie Art Gallery University of Edinburgh British Steel

The Artist in his Studio, Edinburgh, 2014

Dunfermline Building Society Kuwait Royal Family Hugh Martin & Partners Royal Bank of Scotland Aida Cherfan Gallery, Beruit Aberdeen Asset Management Works held in Private Collections Worldwide

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition john brown Centro Habana 6-29 October 2014 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/johnbrown Acknowledgements Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk Printed by J Thomson Colour Printers John Brown would like to thank the staff at The Scottish Gallery, Brien Nicholson framers and William van Esland Photography All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.

16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ tel 0131 558 1200 email mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Right: Working sketch for Macho Men (Cat 21) Inside back cover: 35 Malecรณn Facade, mixed media on board, 81.5 x 76 cms