Structure : Meaning

About

Structure : Meaning brings together two Scottish printmakers, Benet Reid and Richard Marsden. Both are abstract artists. Marsden works with the formal relationship of form and colour, while Benet concerns himself with expression and meaning.

Richard Marsden’s practice derives from his interest in architecture, particularly the construction of concrete buildings. The prints on show are a selection of his most recent works. They mark a subtle, yet significant development in the way he approaches and thinks about his art. Previously, Marsden used a system, photographs and drawings as reference for his output. These works are much more process-led. With no planned visual outcome, they are created by gradually adding layers of ink, experimenting with saturation, tone and lightness of colour and composition, each layer a reaction to the last. The final compositions are completely formalistic; searching to create balance while still maintaining visual interest.

Benet Reid has been making pictures all his life. When lost amongst materials and processes, he hopes something will emerge with a language and meaning of its own, that makes its own kind of sense. He feels that making pictures answers a deep desire to release expression, and if successful, opens a pathway to meaning without language. His artworks often draw upon lost versions of himself: playing street football in Brasil, suffering abysmal mental health in the South Atlantic, winning critical acclaim for comedy at Edinburgh fringe, failing at graffiti in East Anglia, playing capoeira in Newcastle, staying off social media in Fife, and deconstructing knowledge and power around illness and wellbeing for a living.