Grisaille Legacy

About

SPACE and Eldon Galleries at the University of Portsmouth are proud to announce the first showing in England of an acclaimed exhibition by the American-Scottish artist Beth Fisher.
Direct from the Royal Scottish Academy, Grisaille Legacy consists of a powerful series of large drawings based on the experience of being both a mother and a daughter at the centre of the family cycle of birth, ageing, illness and death. The grisaille of the title refers to the mainly northern Renaissance technique of monochrome painting to create the illusion of monumental sculpture, as can be seen on the Van Eyck brothers' Ghent Altarpiece.
The exhibition was judged 'Pick of the Week' by The Sunday Times' Rachel Devine in January who described it as '[e]motional, gut-wrenching and deeply personal.' She said: 'Fisher's creative spirit and a sense of adventure will leave a lasting legacy in her adopted nation. This is as rewarding a body of work as Fisher has produced in her career to date.' In an essay in Studio International, Janet McKenzie wrote: 'The eloquent and searing images are presented with such directness that the tenor of the drawn line is at times overwhelming.'
Fisher, an elected member of the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, began a series of mainly charcoal drawings, etchings and engravings about ordinary family life over ten years ago. She was then drawn into an epic drama as her parents declined and died, her husband and daughter suffered serious illnesses, and she confronted her own ageing and her children's growing independence.
'We're thrilled to host Beth Fisher's unflinching work', said Dr Marius Kwint, Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at the University of Portsmouth. 'It shows the lasting value of the Renaissance figurative tradition, which Beth makes both contemporary and timeless.'

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Beth Fisher emigrated from the USA during the 1960s, and was influential in setting up the Glasgow Print Studio and Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen. Over the past 40 years she has taught at Glasgow School of Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee and Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen.
The Private View is on Friday, 16th April 2010 from 4'7 p.m. A free symposium of talks by art historians and curators around the theme of history-painting, with Beth Fisher in conversation, will be held beforehand. Details and booking contact www.port.ac.uk/space