Sandy Murphy RSW RGI PAI
20 May - 18 June 2018
Previews Sunday 20 May, 2-5pm, wine; the artist will be present
The catalogue is available on request
Catalogue foreword by Jim Belkevitz:
"I have known Sandy Murphy since his time at Glasgow School of Art in the seventies. It was a great time for such a naturally gifted painter to be a student. He could learn from and be influenced by the many great artists teaching there at that time. Artists such as Duncan Shanks, David Donaldson, Jimmy Robertson, Barbara Rae and Geoff Squire to name but a few. Sandy has also looked to many other artists for inspiration, including Joan Eardley, Gillies, Soutine, Van Gogh, Hodgkin and many others.
Sandy lives and works in Ayrshire where he grew up, and it`s here that his love of landscape is rooted. Drawing and exploring the Ayrshire countryside, creating sketchbooks later to be developed into paintings in his studio. It may take many such sketches to find a composition as he doggedly searches for a resolution to a painting. Then it may come together often in swathes of dark plummy purples almost black, creating depth to be broken with contrasting sharp notes of yellows or orange, perfectly judged. In a few smaller more formal compositions we may see a church as a central image.
As with his landscapes Sandy`s still-life paintings have gone through many changes over the years, influencing many on the way. In some recent paintings he has incorporated collage, while some of his larger still-lifes have developed into almost abstract compositions. Using white and "different" whites in a painting or using black as a colour can be a challenge. Sandy resolves problems such as these as he works over surfaces creating textures which are a pleasing by-product of this way of working. Those who appreciate the physicality of paint will gain a lot from looking at a Sandy Murphy painting.
Through his expressive, powerful, yet subtle use of colour we can see an artist who is his own man at the peak of his powers. His marks are a clear signature of his work. I believe that Sandy Murphy has established himself as part of the lineage of a great tradition of West of Scotland painters."
