For our first Picture of The Week we are delighted to present Jock McFadyen’s masterpiece Calton Hill, Full Moon. This monumental nocturne sees the moon’s occult presence suspended over the folly of Edinburgh’s mini-Acropolis, St Andrews House and the Royal High School. Painted as part of his Lunatic Series in 2014, it is the sister work to the painting Calton Hill, now in the collection of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
Jock McFadyen, March 2020The Lunatic Series grew out of my love of Edinburgh light and years of dog walking up Calton hill and Arthur's Seat but the moon is a universal obsession that I can hardly claim as my own...
Publication available
2019 saw McFayden as the Coordinator of the Royal Academy’s 251st Summer Exhibition, taking over the mantle from Grayson Perry. It also saw the publication of the first monograph on the artist written by the award-winning architecture critic Rowan Moore. Please click here to purchase a copy.
Jock McFadyen by Rowan Moore, 2019A painting is like a 2.5-minute pop song. It’s like the proscenium arch theatre or a 90,000-word novel. It’s the four walls that you work in. You’re committed to the format and the format gives resonance to what is within. It’s what makes you cogent. You long for painting not going beyond its borders. Painting is just a painting.
Forthcoming exhibition
In November, Edinburgh City Art Centre will host a unique exhibition, displaying his paintings alongside works from the City Art Centre’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art. The show will include new and existing works by McFadyen as well as his curated from the City’s collection, ranging from ‘old favourites’ by renowned Scottish artists, to artworks that have rarely been seen by the public.
Calton Hill, Full Moon, 2014 is available for purchase. Please contact The Gallery for more information.
