§ ◆ KEN CURRIE (SCOTTISH B.1960) A TREE OF
Signed, dated and inscribed verso, oil on canvas (Dimensions: 212cm x 381cm (83.5in x 150in), unframed)
(212cm x 381cm (83.5in x 150in), unframed)
Footnote: Note: The artist has noted verso that this work was commenced on 14/6/88 and completed 8/7/88. Ken Currie views his art as a political tool, a way of expressing his understanding of the world around him and suggesting new ways for society to evolve and adapt. His early paintings promote his ultimate goal of an egalitarian and just society and try to offer easily read and understood visual encapsulations of this vision. Currie entered the Glasgow School of Art in 1978, at that time the focus was very much on colour and sensuality as the focus on art yet as he developed in his talent, Currie felt that this approach didn’t suit his ultimate goals. So, with the support of teacher Sandy Moffat, he switched his focus, putting the content of the work, its meaning and ideas, first. He looked to the realist tradition established between the wars for inspiration, engaging with artist such as Otto Dix, George Grosz, Fernand Leger and Diego Riveria. In the early 1980s the focus of his work crystallised after a period working on community films about Glasgow and the deterioration of its shipbuilding industry. Currie had found his subject in the figures and landscapes of Glasgow heavy industry, particularly the shipyards and the shipbuilders who inhabited them. ‘The Tree of Liberty’ was painted in a period where utopian views had fallen out of favour, so Currie was going against the grain in this respect. Yet, this painting also dates from a time when large-scale figurative work was having a revival in contemporary Scottish art and so stylistically it would have felt very current. The late 1980s was a significant moment in Currie’s career, he was being widely recognised as a significant figure in the New Glasgow Boys movement and in general there was a strong interest in, and lots of attention being paid to, contemporary Scottish art. This was all encapsulated in his involvement in the landmark exhibition ‘The Vigorous Imagination,’ presented as part of the Edinburgh Festival in 1987 and celebrating the most interesting artists to have emerged in Scotland in the 1980s. ‘The Tree of Liberty’ was painted the following summer. The final work is monumental and undoubtedly of museum-quality, a landmark work from Currie in a significant moment of his career. It encapsulates his vision of the status quo being swept away to make room for a new approach based on freedom, justice and education. The fresh new way of life grows in the centre of the composition, studded with the jewels of its existence and the education that is its means. Everything is shifting around the central key figures, the workers and the shipbuilders, carrying the next generation on their backs as they labour for a better future. There are tools and flags, protests and emotions, some elements of violence and destruction required to encourage this fresh approach. Currie’s vision is vivid and bold, he paints with conviction and passion, with all the skills of his figuration and colour utilised to unleash this striking and hopeful new vision upon us.
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Signed, dated and inscribed verso, oil on canvas (Dimensions: 212cm x 381cm (83.5in x 150in), unframed)
(212cm x 381cm (83.5in x 150in), unframed)
Footnote: Note: The artist has noted verso that this work was commenced on 14/6/88 and completed 8/7/88. Ken Currie views his art as a political tool, a way of expressing his understanding of the world around him and suggesting new ways for society to evolve and adapt. His early paintings promote his ultimate goal of an egalitarian and just society and try to offer easily read and understood visual encapsulations of this vision. Currie entered the Glasgow School of Art in 1978, at that time the focus was very much on colour and sensuality as the focus on art yet as he developed in his talent, Currie felt that this approach didn’t suit his ultimate goals. So, with the support of teacher Sandy Moffat, he switched his focus, putting the content of the work, its meaning and ideas, first. He looked to the realist tradition established between the wars for inspiration, engaging with artist such as Otto Dix, George Grosz, Fernand Leger and Diego Riveria. In the early 1980s the focus of his work crystallised after a period working on community films about Glasgow and the deterioration of its shipbuilding industry. Currie had found his subject in the figures and landscapes of Glasgow heavy industry, particularly the shipyards and the shipbuilders who inhabited them. ‘The Tree of Liberty’ was painted in a period where utopian views had fallen out of favour, so Currie was going against the grain in this respect. Yet, this painting also dates from a time when large-scale figurative work was having a revival in contemporary Scottish art and so stylistically it would have felt very current. The late 1980s was a significant moment in Currie’s career, he was being widely recognised as a significant figure in the New Glasgow Boys movement and in general there was a strong interest in, and lots of attention being paid to, contemporary Scottish art. This was all encapsulated in his involvement in the landmark exhibition ‘The Vigorous Imagination,’ presented as part of the Edinburgh Festival in 1987 and celebrating the most interesting artists to have emerged in Scotland in the 1980s. ‘The Tree of Liberty’ was painted the following summer. The final work is monumental and undoubtedly of museum-quality, a landmark work from Currie in a significant moment of his career. It encapsulates his vision of the status quo being swept away to make room for a new approach based on freedom, justice and education. The fresh new way of life grows in the centre of the composition, studded with the jewels of its existence and the education that is its means. Everything is shifting around the central key figures, the workers and the shipbuilders, carrying the next generation on their backs as they labour for a better future. There are tools and flags, protests and emotions, some elements of violence and destruction required to encourage this fresh approach. Currie’s vision is vivid and bold, he paints with conviction and passion, with all the skills of his figuration and colour utilised to unleash this striking and hopeful new vision upon us.
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Time, Location
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