Eye of the Storm, a Portrait of James Morrison, by Anthony Baxter
14 Jan 2021
James Morrison was a subject of discussion this week both in The Scotsman and on BBC News Reporting Scotland, with the upcoming premiere of Eye of The Storm, a new documentary film by Anthony Baxter. The film combines footage filmed of the artist over a two year period from 2018 with animation by Catriona Black, to examine how James Morrison documented the impact of climate change in the Arctic over several trips, and recalls his personal fascination with the landscape of Scotland. You can read The Scotsman article here or click on the image below.
He kept a very good diary of his trips to the Arctic and could recount them very well. The landscapes that he painted there don’t exist in the form that they did when he painted them. He was essentially a documentarian of the landscape. He was meticulous.
I felt his work had a really important significance now, when there is so much interest in the Arctic and the melting ice cap. He was out there painting these landscapes because he knew they were threatened or disappearing. He was very much ahead of the time.
Anthony Baxter on James Morrison
You can view the BBC News Reporting Scotland clip featuring the upcoming premiere of Eye of The Storm below.
The Glasgow Film Festival (24 February - 7 March) will be presented in an online format this year, on their newly developed streaming platform Glasgow Film at Home. After creating an account you can purchase a ticket to stream Eye of the Storm here. Click here to view the full programme of The Glasgow Film Festival 2021.
He would never become a cultural icon, but that was never his goal. Instead, he turned to nature and paid attention to all her aspects: the scudding clouds, the swaying barley, the gnarled hedgerows, the glassy water and the distant hills; these would be his interlocutors in a discourse that nourished his entire career.
Philip Braham on James Morrison, From Angus to the Arctic, 2020
James Morrison's Memorial Exhibition will be held at The Scottish Gallery in 2022.
You can view available work by James Morrison here.