exhibitions
À table
14th September - 20th October 2024
We are delighted to welcome Michael for his eighth solo exhibition at Doubtfire. For this exhibition he has produced a heart-warming body of work imbued with Mediterranean light and full of joie de vivre. "Sicily, April 2024, warm days, waking up to deep cobalt blue skies, the chiming of cow bells in the fields and the heady, herbal fragrance of the wild flowers and herbs. A breakfast of caffè, sun-ripened fruit and fresh ricotta on the terrace, whilst massaging my knees and recalling drunken dancing under dark southern skies. Here, the architecture of Noto, Siracusa and Scicli proved truly inspirational. In 2023 I had visited Pistoia and Siena. The year before, Venice and Bordeaux. This exhibition celebrates my love of, and deep inspiration from Italy and France. After a day of wandering around these ancient towns, a cherished way to spend time is cooking a meal for friends. Sitting around a table with good, regional food and wine, sprinkled with stories and laughter, and feeling blessed. Ainsi, ‘ à table’. “
Exhibition Images
(click on thumbnails to view - please check with gallery on availability of work)
Michael G Clark RGI RSW PAI
Michael graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1983.
He often paints scenes from everyday life: a couple hugging in Paris, a waiter balancing a tray, a conversation at a café table. If there is a narrative taking place in his paintings, he wants the viewer to share the story.
"I don’t spend much time drawing. I prefer to just paint. It has always been like that. I can remember primary school and the cakes of poster paint which turned gooey with just the right amount of water and the frustration when our art class was cancelled because William Morrison knocked over his water jar.
“If I work from my photographs, they are just the starting point, the inspiration for the painting. It might be a mood or a posture that I respond to as I often end up painting out the detail, simplifying the image. The painting has to deliver more than the photograph.
“My paintings are a response to my surroundings, places, and people I love and if in my daydreams I find our garden in Spring, I also find France or Italy in the Summer and Autumn.“ Michael G. Clark, Ayrshire 2024
“His paintings depict life kissed by the restorative power of the sun and a chilled bottle of wine waiting to be shared among friends.” Dr Nia Clark MA MPhil