Barbara Rae: New Paintings from Ireland and Spain

16th June - 7th July 2012

One of Britain’s leading contemporary painters Barbara Rae is an artist highly sought after, a Royal Academician and the recipient of numerous awards including three honorary doctorates and Commander of the British Empire (CBE). Many of her paintings can be found in public collections, including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; the Whitworth, Manchester; Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington.

Barbara Rae: New Paintings from Ireland and Spain

16th June - 7th July 2012

Many of Barbara’s recent paintings are based around Casarabonela, a small village close to the ‘Sierra de las Nieves’ National Park near Málaga in Southern Spain. She often works when the sun is rising or setting, as the violets and blues in the landscape contrast with the shafts of bright light and make the shapes around her shift and change. The colours of paintings such as ‘Zalea Fields’ and ‘Taivilla’ show the vibrancy and warmth of the area.

‘Painting is enjoyable,’ explains Barbara, ‘I’m not a landscape painter although I do draw inspiration from landscapes. In the studio it’s different: it’s a creative process, a template, a starting point for creating something new where materials and surfaces come in to play – I jump off from that point to a place where there are no boundaries – it is a catalyst that sets off the creative process of playing with shapes and colour – not just thinking about reproducing a landscape’.