exhibitions
a sense of city
17th August - 17th September 2022
In Simon Rivett's third exhibition at Doubtfire, based on the subject of Edinburgh – his city trilogy - he presents a new collection of work in celebration of city life beginning to fully return to its vibrant self. He includes some favourite motifs and some new pictorial interests. Earlier this year, Simon took a long planned European trip, a train journey travelling from Sweden to Italy taking in five great, unique cities. Returning to Scotland at the end of May, he reflected on Edinburgh as a magnificent city in its own right. This was not so much a surprise, more a re-discovery of a sense of the place where he has been living and working for the past five years. “As well as my ongoing use of shapes and lines derived from architectural forms and the infrastructure and ephemera of the city, I have discovered the beginnings of a more decorative use of paint with heightened colour and the introduction of narrative.” This new work reflects Simon’s sense of enjoyment as he continues to explore the potential of the forms and historical shadows of Edinburgh and the wonderful qualities reflected in architectural eras, both past and present.
Exhibition Images
(click on thumbnails to view - please check with gallery on availability of work)
Simon Rivett
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
Simon Rivett trained at Goldsmiths College in London and gained a BA (Honours) in Fine Art. He has been painting landscape from his days as a student, painting the declining industrial landscape of his home in Newcastle, living and working in Lewis and exploring the unique rural landscape of the Outer Hebrides, before moving recently to live in Edinburgh.
He says "I like to take time to look beyond the obvious and understand the depth of this landscape, to interpret its subtle moods and to see the interactions between its different aspects."
Whether Simon is painting mountains in Iceland, the peaty moorland of Lewis, the gentle hills of Cumbria and Northumberland, or the urban city environment, the graphic rhythms and components of these lands are captured in harmony with Simon's painterly skills using oil, pigment, watercolour, turpentine, wax and sand, bringing the composition of the land to life.