exhibitions
impression expression
4th November - 25th November 2017
With the imagination and skill to work successfully across a range of styles and subjects, Scottish painter John Kingsley is just as comfortable in the creation of free-flowing abstraction as he is with a delicate still life or a lush landscape in the south of France, Corsica or the West Highlands. The results are dynamic and full of vitality. In essence, he applies an exciting sweep of colour, texture and verve to all his work. That body of work has won him great acclaim and a series of prestigious awards, the latest being the May Marshall Brown award for his Elemental Landscape triptych, shown at this year’s RSW exhibition in Edinburgh. ‘I’ve had a long love affair with the landscape of Provence, he said, ‘the light, the earth, the rich greenery of the vines, the villages and shadows.’ Whatever the subject matter, John’s expression of colour is instinctive, harnessing it as the principal means of expressing form, light, texture and, above all, creating harmony in the composition. In his first exhibition with Doubtfire his passionate impression and expression is clear for all to see.
Exhibition Images
(click on thumbnails to view - please check with gallery on availability of work)
John Kingsley PAI RSW
Born in Glasgow, where he still lives and works, John Kingsley studied drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art under Dr. David Donaldson, James D. Robertson and Geoffrey Squire. He has exhibited with the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute and the Royal Scottish Society for Painters in Watercolour, where he was elected a member in 2015.
This exhibition reflects impressions of a recent visit to the rugged Mediterranean island of Corsica. And he plans to add more Scottish landscapes to those already included in this first solo exhibition at Doubtfire.
His more abstract work often grows out of his connection with landscape. As he explained ‘The abstracts are a mixture of sizes but are largely landscape inspired. I like the free-flowing nature of this approach, which always surprises me with the element of experimentation with form and colour.'
He is also greatly drawn towards the challenges of still life, proving the format still has tremendous potential and vitality, even as artists have been interpreting its themes for centuries.
'In the still lives, I enjoy playing around with the perspective and narrowing the picture plane, thereby emphasizing the surface qualities and paint textures’, he said. ‘They are also an opportunity to create a dynamic balance of shape and colour.’
He has shown widely throughout the UK and his work features in collections of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Tommy Hilfiger and Paisley Museum and Art Gallery among many others at home and abroad.
1973-77 Glasgow School of Art, DA in Drawing and Painting