Two new exhibitions open on 30 January
2012 at Open Eye Gallery, A Retrospective with New Works by Rob Fairley
and New Paintings by Kirsty Wither. The Reporter went along to the
gallery just before it opened to take a look at the new offerings.
It turns out there really is more to art than meets the eye as we
found out when speaking with the gallery owner, Tom Wilson...
Velocity, Cityjet's In flight magazine, January 2012:
“Someone with a vibrancy
and vigour that one sees all too rarely”
Kirsty Wither has become one of the UK’s
most successful women painters, with regular sellout exhibitions
across Britain. Her unique style brings thick swathes of oil paint
and colour to the canvas – and collectors from across the
globe. Her originals have sold in every continent. Tom Hewlett,
owner of London’s Portland Gallery, which has hosted Kirsty’s
solo exhibitions for over a decade, describes her as “Someone
with a vibrancy and vigour that one sees all too rarely… representational
work that is refreshingly individual and well-crafted… an
artist with a commitment and passion about her painting that leaps
straight off the canvas.”
Artists and Illustrators Magazine April 2011 Edition:
“Working without references means I create far
more exciting paintings”
With her shock of scarlet hair,
expressive artwork and Celtic roots, Kirsty Wither seems every bit
the stereotypical feisty Scottish artist. However, while the Brighton-based
painter clearly thrives on bold colours and energetic mark making
where her paintings are concerned, she is more self-effacing away
from her easel.
Having recently held a fifth successful solo exhibition at the Portland
Gallery in London’s West End, she says that instead of being
able to enjoy seeing her work hanging on the walls, she often simply
feels sick with nerves. “I think suddenly seeing it out of
your studio [means that] you have to let it go. It has to work on
its own, without you there to explain it. I think that’s where
I have my moment of confidence crisis – rather than in the
studio, where I think it’s all crap anyway.”In truth,
one look at her vibrant paintings should be enough to lift the spirits
of even the heaviest heart. Whether she is painting rolling fields
or a blooming vase of flowers, the paint is applied with real relish,
in warm and appealing colour combinations. Nevertheless, the layering
of oils can have its down side for her. “I often trash paintings
if I have overworked them, when the sensible option would be to
walk away. Knowing when to stop is important – that comes
with experience.”
On a bright autumn day, Kirsty Wither is
in her Brighton studio playing Nick Cave and putting the finishing
touches to her newest paintings. The Scottish painter,who graduated
from Gray’s School of Art 20 years ago this year, is feeling
optimistic. “I do feel I’ve developed over that time,
and I’m enjoying the fact that I’m putting more paint
on my canvas, using fresher and more subtle colours, and have a
wider range of
looser and tighter handling,” says the 42-year-old, whose
breathtaking work with flowers has found considerable commercial
success. “It feels good to evolve. But the thing I’m
noticing most is that I’m reacting
more positively to landscape painting than ever before. At the moment
they seem to have more potential.”
Press
photography for opening of Kirsty Wither exhibition 'All Good Things'
at the Portland Gallery, LondonPhotography
by Tine Frank
The Scotsman, May 2004:
“Kirsty's work is blooming
bold”
POTENTIALLY tedious as subject matter,
flowers are a dangerous thing to want to paint. The walls of the world
are full of dry, botanically correct lilies and lifeless, dull-as-dishwater
chrysanthemums, most of which fade anonymously into the wallpaper.
But Kirsty Wither’s paintings - whether flowers, landscapes
or figures - are anything but anonymous. Not content with giving her
paintings depth and vibrancy with impasto strokes, she has such a
fabulous grasp of colour that whatever she chooses to paint either
leaps out at you, or draws you completely in. Being bored isn’t
an option.
Her paintings are animatedly impressionistic, like Scarlet Favourite,
an orgy of reds and warm purples, supporting an indeterminate bunch
of off-white blooms. Late Night Velvet has a cool, dark surface of
purples and blues, against which the greys and near-white flowers
shine out almost like stars.
Her landscapes, with or without figures, often feature layers of bright
colours peeking out behind bold, broad, earthy strokes. It sounds
wrong, but such is her understanding of hue, tone and composition,
that it works beautifully.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
