From outwith

From Outwith comprises the work of three Scottish artists, Gordon Brennan, Keith Grant and Allan Watson, each of whom relate to the notion of looking 'from outwith’ as an intrinsic, but unique, aspect of their art-making processes.

Gordon Brennan’s artworks are deeply situated in a personal identification with the artisanal and craftsman. His materials, for example, are inherited from his signwriter father, and by constructing beautiful images from otherwise incidental elements in historic paintings, he champions the work of the studio assistant rather than the famous artist. These are artists who are outwith what is historically known, but visibly present in their peripheral contribution to an artwork. Gordon’s approach to looking at art is oblique; “you don’t always look at paintings straight on. You look round the edges as a way in.” As such, he identifies the phrase ‘from outwith’ not only with his preoccupation with the often nameless artisanal artist, but also with the act of looking itself.

Keith Grant’s work is both densely worked and striking. While his images begin with the depiction of the familiar, they derive resolution through being informed by the intervention of an external event. This is an undoubtedly complex area, but for Keith a painting of, for example, a ceramic vessel, is only fully resolved when he recognises it acting as a conduit for that given event. “I’m on the outside,” he says, “I don’t have any influence on the things I see around me, or in the media, but I can refer to them through my painting”. The experience of working outwith these events is given coherent form through the resolution of an image – as though two strands of existence have come together exactly.

For Allan Watson, whose precise, geometric sculptural practice is built on contemplation and a respect for simplicity, there are impassable psychological barriers that exist between the made thing and the perception of the viewer – in the same way that a unique language developed by one person would be incomprehensible to another. “We all see differently” he says. For the viewer and artist there are two separate, constructed world views in which each seeks to interpret what they see from outwith the other’s understanding. The unlikely corollary from the apparent isolation of each participant of course is that the artwork still communicates between artist and viewer, and irrespective of the artist’s intention, the artwork provides a point of shared experience.

The word ‘Outwith’ is in usage only in Scotland and in the North of England, and to some extent, for the three artists, the term refers to the rural location of the Gallery itself. They place value in the gallery simply because it exists outwith the usual cultural centres.

Gordon Brennan: @gbrennan56

Gordon was born in Edinburgh in 1956. Initially he trained as a tapestry weaver before attending Edinburgh College of Art. In 1998 he became a lecturer in the School of Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, where he eventually became Head of Painting. Gordon instigated many cross disciplinary projects and courses across the University of Edinburgh including Neuroscience, and University Collections. Gordon retired from Edinburgh College of Art in 2020. Gordon’s practice has spanned sculpture, printmaking, drawing and painting. He has exhibited and had residencies in the UK, Poland and the USA.

Keith Grant : @keithgrant158

Keith was born in Edinburgh in1960. He moved to Aberdeen in 1978, studying Drawing and Painting at Gray’s School of Art and completing his Post Graduate Diploma in 1983. Moving back to Edinburgh, Keith worked in a number of studios before being awarded the Scottish Arts Council Amsterdam Studio Residency in 1990. In 1992 he joined the staff of the Drawing and Painting department at Gray’s School of Art becoming Course Leader in 2012. Keith retired from Gray’s in 2021.  Keith has exhibited across the UK in one person, joint and group shows throughout his career. This is the first time that he has shown his work since winning the W Gordon Smith award at the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition in 2019.

Allan Watson: @allan_watson_artist

Born in Alyth 1960. Allan grew up on farms in Perthshire but has lived and worked in Aberdeen since 1982. In 1992 he completed a practice-led PhD focused on chance and decision making within the creative process. Between 1994 and 2016 Allan taught sculpture at Gray’s School of Art. Throughout his academic career, Allan continued his art practice, participating in a wide range of projects, exhibitions, public art commissions, artist-in-residence schemes and international workshops. Having left teaching in 2016 Allan co- founded Deemouth Artist Studios in 2019 which today has a community of around 40 artists, designers, and makers and where his own studio is located.