Biography of Charles MacQueen RSW RGI
"My most important influence was John Dewey, whose work I read when I was training to be a teacher. His book "Art as Experience" made strong emphasis on learning through doing, and Art as a response to lived experience. Dewey's insistence that the expressive energy of works of Art comes from formal interaction rather than from representational subject matter This gave me, for the first time a justification for wishing to work in an abstract/non figurative way. I began to think about the connection between the art object and the viewer. The object in my case a painting was made for people to reflect in, as they might in a mirror. In a way the painting could heighten the viewers perceptual understanding of line colour pattern shape texture or form but could also help them "see" themselves. Not everyone would see the same thing. One member of an audience at the play "Hamlet" could see it as a blood thirsty murder, another a psychological drama. The play is constant but the level of appreciation changes from individual to individual. This helped me to decide the role of the artist is to make these "magic mirrors" for people to reflect in. Every painting I do is related to the last one. It may be a continuation of the previous painting or it may be a reaction against it. When I grow tired of harmony, I long for discord. Colour and surface texture are very important elements in my paintings. The forms I use are forms remembered, experienced or dreamt about. Usually as with recent trips to Tunisia and Morocco it takes between six months to a year to digest the experiences. The stark visual contrasts of moving between strong blinding sunlight and black dark bazaars full of rich reds, golds and turquoise eventually inhabit my paintings. This is also like being put down to sleep in a darkened room with strong sunlight streaming through shutters. This is not a representation but an evocation." Charles T K. MacQueen RSW RGI
1962 D.A. Glasgow School of Art 1965 Teaching Certificate, Jordanhill College of Education 1983 RGI Elected Member Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art 1984 RSW Elected Member, Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour 1994 Elected Vice President for the East of Scotland, The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1989 Thackeray Gallery, London 1991 English Speaking Union, Edinburgh 1995 The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh 1996 Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow 1997 Randolph Gallery, Edinburgh 1 998 Le Mur Vivant, London 1999 John Blockley, Stow on the Wold 1999 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2000 Thompson's Gallery, London 2000 The Adam Gallery, Bath and London 2000 Ainscough Contemporary Arf, London 2001 The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh 2001 Panter and Hall, London 2002 Ainscough Contemporary Arf, London 2003 Art London, Chelsea, Ainscough Contemporary Art 2003 Broadway Modern, Broadway 2004 Art London, Chelsea, Ainscough Contemporary Art 2004 Thompsons Gallery, London 2004 Ainscough Contemporary Art MIXED EXHIBITIONS Royal Scottish Academy Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour Society of Scottish Artists and Craftsmen The Scottish Arts Club The Glasgow Arts Club The Mall Gallery, London AWARDS 1971 Glasgow Civic Arf Prize 1974 Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts: Torrance Award 1984 Royal Scottish Academy David Muirhead Memorial Fund Purchase for the Royal Scottish Academy Collection 1987 Royal Scottish Academy: Debenhams Award for outstanding work by a Scottish artist 1989 Royal Scottish Academy: Post Office Award for a painting by an artist living and working in Scotland 1992 Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour: The Scottish Arts Club Award 1994 Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts: The Teachers Whisky Travel Scholarship 1995 Scottish Artists and Craftsmen: The Ann Redpath Award 1996 Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour Council Award RECENT COMMISSIONS Royal Bank of Scotland Arcadia, P&O Ferries