Aleph Contemporary for AccessArt

Painted on location in East Lothian on a stormy day I looked out to the Island of Craigleith in the Firth of Forth. Once a lepers colony then hermitage, the island is now a nature reserve with no human foot allowed to pass. From my forthcoming series of works on the theme of Island.

In the last year, my painting has moved from a focus on heightened realism to a more gestural and intuitive approach.  

To me, painting and drawing is an act of invocation. A poiesis of matter and thought, where instinct and intellect create a place of attunement. 
A ritual space of imagination and embodiment, where materials have thought and the hand moves instinctively.  

I come to the studio to be grounded in matter. 
The snap of graphite on paper. 
The brittle bend of charcoal. 
An oily stretch of pigment across linen.

Certain questions arise about gesture and representation, the illusionistic qualities of painting and the sensibilities of externalising the internal.

Alastair Gordon (b.1978) is a London based artist, artist-in-residence for City and Guilds of London Art School in 2020. He is co-founder and director of Morphē Arts and course leader for Critical and Professional Development at the Leith School of Art in Edinburgh. Alastair’s practice references forms of trompe l’oeil painting as a means to approach questions about illusion, replication and the way in which artists utilise source materials.

After his selection for the open west 2014 Alastair went on to receive first prize in the Shoosmiths Art Prize. That year he was also selected for the Threadneedle Painting Prize, Zeitgeist Open, Oriel Davies Open and Beep 2014. Since then solo exhibitions have included First Things gallery in New York, the Ahmanson Collection in Los Angeles, Nomas* Projects in Dundee, Aleph Contemporary in London and group exhibitions including CCE Gallery in Beijing and Sluice, Berlin.  Alastair’s work features in several international collections including the Landmark Trust plc. (London), Ahmanson Collection (Los Angeles), Simmons and Simmons (London), Royal Bank of Scotland Collection, Glasgow School of Art Alumni Collection and the Bow Arts Trust (London).

www.alastairjohngordon.com
@alastair_gordon