GORDON MITCHELL RSA RSW RGI : SIGHT – SEER
Fantasie Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Break' Dance Framed Size: 79 x 94 cm 79 94
Vivaldi Framed Size: 79 x 94 cm 79 94
Encore Framed Size: 120 x 79 cm 120 79
Little Nibbles Framed Size: 40 x 40 cm 40 40
Lucky in Love Framed Size: 76 x 67 cm 76 67
Ever After Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Waiting in the Wings Framed Size: 109 x 94 cm 109 94
Ripe and Ready Framed Size: 40 x 40 cm 40 40
Wall Flower Framed Size: 66 x 56 cm 66 56
Six for Gold Framed Size: 109 x 94 cm 109 94
Twenty One Framed Size: 120 x 109 cm 120 109
Oranges and Lemons Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Asylum Seekers Framed Size: 139 x 120 cm 139 120
Early Morning Venice Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Echo Chamber Framed Size: 45 x 56 cm 45 56
Suzie Tongue and Simon Groove Framed Size: 40 x 55 cm 40 55
Settlers Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Winter Wonderland Framed Size: 139 x 120 cm 139 120
Butterfly Effect Framed Size: 74 x 89 cm 74 89
Mother Goose Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Panellists Framed Size: 56 x 46 cm 56 46
Siblings Framed Size: 46 x 41 cm 46 41
Venetian Illusion Framed Size: 41 x 66 cm 41 66
Looking Back Framed Size: 46 x 56 cm 46 56
Sound of Jura Framed Size: 139 x 109 cm 139 109
Cats can Dream Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Scaredy Craw Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Blue Moon Framed Size: 96 x 79 cm 96 79
Transition Framed Size: 119 x 94 cm 119 94
Initiation Games Framed Size: 109 x 76 cm 109 76
Red Hot Framed Size: 120 x 120 cm 120 120
Royal Palm Framed Size: 94 x 119 cm 94 119
Puffin "Moss" Framed Size: 56 x 46 cm 56 46
Say a Little Prayer Framed Size: 55 x 45 cm 55 45
Hatchling Framed Size: 45 x 56 cm 45 56
Light Recall Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Limelight Framed Size: 66 x 56 cm 66 56
Love Apples Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Static Caravan Framed Size: 66 x 56 cm 66 56
Friends and Lovers Framed Size: 76 x 66 cm 76 66
Mini Dress Framed Size: 66 x 76 cm 66 76
Morning Appeal Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Spring Cleaning Framed Size: 94 x 79 cm 94 79
Stable Relationship Framed Size: 56 x 66 cm 56 66
Perceptive, thought-provoking, and with more than a little humour, there is always more than meets the eye
in a Gordon Mitchell exhibition. The experience is as cerebral as it is visual, as the interplay of images and
words give rise to stimulating and engaging insights. A-ha moments are a-plenty! Drawing upon traditional
iconography, news stories and visual puns, Gordon presents us with unexpected juxtapositions and sharp
witted commentaries, which question everyday reasoning and the ‘taken for granted’. He invites us into his
iconic painterly world, rich with meaning and intrigue, but his humour ensures that we stop just short of
taking it and ourselves too seriously.
In this exhibition, Sight-Seer, we can appreciate the play on words as we travel through the paintings,
engaging with them visually first, and then with our minds. With unparalleled draughtsmanship, Gordon
creates images that are immediately compelling due to their illusion of reality. When the obvious technical
process is removed however, something puzzling, witty, often provocative, and always memorable, becomes
apparent. Now we really see! The exhibition also features several paintings in which the subject matter is,
upon first sight, typical of a sightseer’s view, but which very quickly offer up another vision, and an opportunity
to question and reflect upon the world we live in today. Future postcards from our present time perhaps.
If the immediate experience of Gordon’s paintings is visual, and the secondary, cerebral, what strikes me when
I spend time with his paintings is the way that they engage emotions. Poignant and human, they explore the
quirks and intimacies of relationships. Gordon’s use of colour and symbolism is quietly uplifting and hopeful;
he chooses to paint so beautifully cracked pots, woods with aged patinas, lovers, birds, butterflies, and fruit,
so often in pairs. And of course, the eggs – long standing symbols of birth and renewal. With warmth and
sensitivity, Gordon paints the small unspoken moments between people, the moments that often slip
through the cracks, and the relationships that stand the test of time and are all the more beautiful for it.
Of course, these are my thoughts and my words. Gordon simply says: ‘There is no point in copying what I see.
I would be bored. I like painting what I would love to see’. Witty, irreverent, warm, and almost always self
effacing, Gordon’s company is as enjoyable as his paintings, which last year’s crowds of collectors, friends,
family and former students attested to. We finish this introduction with his answer to one of my many
practical questions about this year’s exhibition: ‘It’s your exhibition Eileadh, I just paint the silly pictures’. We
hope you will join us at the Private View, for a lively and stimulating evening with this incredible artist
and his silly (?) pictures.
Please contact us for further information about the Private View and Meet the Artist Event and for additional images of available works. Paintings are available for pre-sale.
