Viewing Room
Welcome to the Castle Gallery Viewing Room where you will find highlights from our current exhibition focussing on key works, inspirational ideas and telling the stories behind the show.
MYCHAEL BARRATT
3rd - 25th June 2022
'Happy Accidents'
'Happy Accidents'
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Mychael Barratt with a Highland Coo!
Mychael Barratt was selected to take part in our carefully curated programme of solo exhibitions at the Castle Gallery by the Director, Denise Collins, because of the high regard in which he is held by the printmaking world. Denise says “He is such a joy to work with - his wit and humour are infectious - and we wanted to give our customers in Inverness the opportunity to meet him.”
Mychael responded admirably to the invitation to mount a solo show in Inverness with the creation of two new prints specifically inspired by some outstanding architecture in Inverness and the monster in Loch Ness. |
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Wes Anderson's Dog - Rose Street Foundry, screenprint, 50 x 50cm
His new screenprint, ‘Wes Anderson’s Dog – Rose Street Foundry’, pays homage to the recently restored Rose Street Foundry on Academy Street in Inverness. Stylistically, the image mimics the work of the iconic film director Wes Anderson and Mychael has cleverly positioned a classic Scottish dog outside the building. Cairngorm Brewery restored this historically significant building to create a vibrant, flagship bar and restaurant to showcase their beers and Highland food and no doubt Mychael will be partaking of some of these victuals when visiting Inverness!
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The Surgeon's Photograph, woodcut, 50 x 50cm
Mychael’s most recent woodcut, ‘The Surgeon’s Photograph’, has been made especially for his solo show in Inverness and it shows the staging of an infamous photograph from 1934 purporting to show the Loch Ness monster. A highly respected surgeon, Colonel Robert Wilson, came forward with a photograph that appeared to show a sea serpent rising from the water. It was in fact a toy submarine fitted with a sea serpent head, as was finally admitted by one of the hoaxers, Christian Spurling, in 1994 shortly before he died at the age of 90. A wonderful story recreated in this woodcut image by Mychael Barratt.
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Damien Hirst's Dog, woodcut, 50 x 50cm - Magritte's Dogs, etching, 22 x 22cm - Picasso's Dog I, mezzotint, 22 x 22cm
Eric Ravilious' Dog, etching, 22 x 22cm - Cyril Power's Dog, screenprint, 22 x 22cm - Modigliani's Dog, etching, 22 x 22cm
Eric Ravilious' Dog, etching, 22 x 22cm - Cyril Power's Dog, screenprint, 22 x 22cm - Modigliani's Dog, etching, 22 x 22cm
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Banksy's Dog, screenprint, 50 x 50cm
Mychael Barratt is famous for his series of images in which he imagines what an artist’s dog (or cat) might look like. His handmade prints and paintings are inspired by a lifetime of scanning artist’s monographs and reading everything from pulp fiction to classics investing his work with a vocabulary of half remembered impressions and brazenly pilfered imagery. Sometimes these borrowed images will register with the viewer with a curious sense of déjà vu and other times with a hearty laugh.
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Starry Night, woodcut, 50 x 50cm
Mychael is a hugely versatile and technically proficient printmaker and is a past president of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers – an elected body of professional artists. The gallery staff are honoured to work with Mychael Barratt PPRE for his exhibition in Inverness.
Mychael was originally from Ontario, Canada but is now based in London and he is a consummate printmaker, painter and raconteur. He will be giving two conducted tours of his exhibition in the Castle Gallery on Saturday 4th June at 11am and 12noon when he will expound on his vast knowledge of art history and printmaking techniques. |
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Edward Hopper's Dog - Nighthawks, screenprint, 49 x 67cm
The Castle Gallery, Inverness, is renowned for its extensive collection of handmade prints from artists who are amongst the leading exponents of original prints in the UK, including many who have been elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers such as Mychael Barratt, Trevor Price, Karolina Larusdottir, Angie Lewin, Veta Gorner and Brenda Hartill. With over 30 years of experience in the printmaking world, the director of the gallery, Denise Collins, and her staff have expert knowledge and appreciation of handmade prints. You can find out more about original, handmade prints here.
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Hokusai's Dog, oil on panel, 80 x 80cm
Hokusai is best known for ‘The Wave’, a woodblock print from 1831. Little did he know what Mychael Barratt would be doing with it nearly 200 years later!
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