I am primarily a figurative painter, but the term “imagist” may be more appropriate since the human figure in my work is usually de-constructed and re-assembled, synthesised from a range of fragments of images which carry traces of recognition from their source but which have gained a new identity in their new juxtaposition. These fragments are painted illusionistically as if they are collaged, even including the effect of the torn edge of the paper.

Typically the figures are depicted in an environment that also is a synthesis of pictorial elements, which includes the natural and the man-made. The work has an affinity with theatre, with these figure substitutes acting as characters on a stage surrounded by the props necessary to relate some unwritten narrative.

The paintings are intended to engage the viewer in a process of imagination, enquiry and mental game playing. They are complex and multi-layered and involve allusion as much as illusion, since the subject matter often includes reference to the art and mythology of a shared cultural past. Layering, illusion, allusion, ambiguity and visual puzzles relate to a fascination with visual language and the WAY we see. This is demonstrated in the range of painterly devices such as the use of the photographic qualities of focus and blurring, or the construction of images from dots or cross-hatching, with reference to mass-printed images or computer pixels.

The subject matter is often structured as if within the traditional genres of figure, still life and landscape painting, but is more about these than of these. A range of subjects has been constant for a number of years. Gardens in general have been used as a metaphor for nature or landscape, and the Garden of Eden in particular has been central as a reference to our relationship with Nature, and about ideas of knowledge, good and evil and the fall from grace. Figures entangled with keep-fit machinery, often accompanied by after-the-hunt type still lifes or set in luxuriant landscapes, have featured prominently. Images of food, usually as celebrated in advertising, are a constant element. Taxidermy, fakes, museums; and the dream-like disassociation caused by long-distance travel have all been explored. Often, use would be made of the structure of great works by artists from the past as the basis for paintings using easily recognised current day images and objects.

The unexpected combination of the archaic and the contemporary reflect the roots of my way of thinking in Surrealism, nurtured through Pop, leading to personal work, which uses contemporary detail to explore universal and perhaps timeless issues.

Contact
13 Fort Street Dundee DD2 1BS
Tel/Fax 01382 641498

Email
ronnieforbes@blueyonder.co.uk

Web
www.ronald-forbes.com

Biography

Born in Scotland
Edinburgh College of Art,1964-69
Awarded SED Post Graduate Scholarship,1968-69
Jordanhill College of Education,1970-71
Lecturer, Bell College, Hamilton 1972-73 Founder Chairman of Glasgow League of Artists, 1971
Leverhulme Senior Art Fellow, University of Strathclyde, 1973-74
Head of Painting, Crawford School of Art, Cork, 1974-78
Elected member of Society of Scottish Artists, 1972
Artist in Residence, Livingston, West Lothian, 1978-80
Scottish Arts Council Studio Award, Amsterdam, 1980
Lecturer at Glasgow School of Art, 1979-83
MFA Programme Director, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee, 1983-1995
Head of Painting, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee, 1995-2001
Artist in Residence, Hobart Centre for the Arts, University of Tasmania, 1995
Elected Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, 1996

Prizes and Awards

1964-69 Numerous awards and prizes at Edinburgh College of Art
1967 1st prize in first Scottish Young Contemporaries Exhibition
1968 Prize in Scottish Young Contemporaries Exhibition
1975 Prize for film, “Between Dreams” in BBC “Scope” Film Competition
1979 R.S.A. Guthrie Award, Royal Scottish Academy
1979 Scottish Arts Council Award for Film-making
1980 S.A.C. Amsterdam Studio Award
1994 Commendation, Aberdeen Artists Exhibition
1996 Highland Society of London Award, Royal Scottish Academy
1999 Sir William Gillies Bequest Award, Royal Scottish Academy

Work in Public Collections

Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Cork Municipal Art Gallery, Ireland
Dundee Museums and Art Galleries
Edinburgh College of Art
Hunterian Gallery, Glasgow
Museum Narodowego, Gdansk, Poland
Perth Museum and Art Galleries
Ross Harper and Murphy Collection, Glasgow
Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling,(Scottish Arts Council Bequest)
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (Scottish Arts Council Bequest) Strathclyde University, Glasgow
Rare Books Collection State Library of Queensland, Australia

Solo Exhibitions

1973 Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1974 Goethe Institute, Glasgow
1974 Collins Gallery, Glasgow
1975 Drian Galleries, London
1976 Cork Art Society Gallery
1976 Project Arts Centre, Dublin
1978 Cork Art Society Gallery
1980 The Lanthorn, Livingston
1980 Forebank Gallery, Dundee
1980 Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
1983 Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1984 Drian Galleries, London
1986 Babbity Bowster, Glasgow
1990 Seagate Gallery, Dundee
1991 Perth Museum and Art Gallery
1991 Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr
1995 An Lanntair Gallery, Stornoway
1995 Seagate Gallery, Dundee
1995 Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
1996 NS Gallery, Glasgow
1997 De Keerder Kunstkamer, Cadier en Keer, Netherlands
1999 Sonia Zaks Gallery, Chicago, USA
1999 Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale, USA
2000 Royal Over-Seas League Gallery, London
2001 Royal Over-Seas League Gallery, Edinburgh
2001 Vardy Gallery, University of Sunderland

Curated Exhibitions

Scottish Arts Council Touring Exhibition
With Alan Robb

1978 Arts Council Gallery, Belfast
1978 Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh
1978 Collins Gallery, Glasgow
1979 Aberdeen Art Gallery

Netherlands Touring Exhibition
With John Nelson and Cameron Shaw

1983 Hoensbruck, Roermond, Maastricht and Liege

Nature: Only an Idea
With Nicole Hardy and Jannel

2002 Galerie Trace, Maastricht, Netherlands

Selected Group Exhibitions

1967-71 'Scottish Young Contemporaries'
1971 '20 x 57' Edinburgh Festival Exhibition
1973 and 1984 Glasgow Group Exhibition, Mclellan Galleries, Glasgow
1973 and 1974 'Original Print', Edinburgh
1974 STV Gateway Exhibition, Edinburgh Festival
1975 “Fact and Fantasy”, Scottish Arts Council Tour
1975 “Different Realists”, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
1975 “Living Art Exhibition”, Dublin
1985 “Unique and Original” Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow
1985 “Exposition International de Peinture”, Paris
1987 “Scotch in the Apple” Contemporary Scottish Art, Lincoln Centre, New York
1988 “The Garden”, Fine Art Society, Glasgow
1988 “Works on Paper”, Contemporary Scottish Art Touring Netherlands and Belguim
1990 “The Compass Contribution” 21 years of Contemporary Art, Tramway, Glasgow
1990 “RSA Guthrie Award Winners
1920-1990”, The Fine Art Society, Glasgow/Edinburgh
1991 “Man in the Universe”, Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
1991 “International Exhibition”, Central Museum, Ginza, Tokyo
1993 “Alive and Printing”, 21 years of Glasgow Print Studio, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow
1993-94 “Witnesses of Existence”, Kingston University, England; Demarco Foundation, Edinburgh; Obala Gallery, Sarajevo, Bosnia
1994 “Outpost”, Edinburgh Festival
1994 “Beuys in Scotland”, Demarco European Art Foundation, Edinburgh Festival,
1994 “World SHO and European Artists Exhibition”, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Centre, and Kyobun Civic Gallery, Kawasaki, Japan
1994 “Groot in ’T Kleine”, De Keerder Kunstkamer, Limburg, the Netherlands
1994 and 1995 “Celtic Connections Exhibition” The Glasow Royal Concert Hall,
1995 “Contemporary Scottish Art: 15 Years of Collecting”, The McManus Galleries, Dundee
1995 Inaugural Exhibition, New Foyer Gallery, University of Abertay, Dundee
1995 “Uprising”, The Meffan Gallery, Forfar
1996 Dave Thomas project, Expanded Field - 500 Sites, Melbourne, Australia
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999/2000 Nobel Grossart Painting Competition, RSA, Edinburgh and Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
1996 “Small Works”, Roger Bilcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow
1996 “Postcards”, Roger Bilcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow
1996 Exhibition of Small Works, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Festival
1997 “An Alphabet of Artists”, Perth Museum and Art Gallery
1997 “Figure This”, McManus Art Galleries, Dundee
1997 “Reunion” de Keerder Kunstkamer, Cadier en Keer, Netherlands
1997-1998 “Rastava Sodobne Skotskf Grafike” Exhibition of Scottish Prints, touring Slovenia
1998 Recent acquisitions from the Scottish Arts Council Collection, Smith Stirling Art Gallery, Stirling
1998 Holland Art Fair, The Hague, Netherlands
1998,1999,2000 Glasgow Group Exhibition (invited artist) Kelly Gallery, Glasgow
1998 "Small Paintings” Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
1998 “New Works by Members” Festival Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
1998 “Metamorphosis” Seagate Gallery, Dundee
1998 “Absolute Secret” Postcard Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London
1999 “France and Six Nations, L’Art Actuel”,. Tokyo, Japan and touring
1999 “Recent Acquisitions”, Perth Art Galleries and Museum, Perth
1999 “RSA Painter Members”, Albemarle Gallery, London
1999 “Artists 95”, website exhibition organised by Axis
1999 “Small Paintings” Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
1999 “Connections” Royal Scottish Academy Festival Exhibition, Edinburgh
1999 Morrison Portrait Competition Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2000 “Scottish Painters at the Fosse Gallery”, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cheltenham
2000 “Connections 2000” Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2000 “Expressions: Scottish Art Since 1945, McManus Galleries, Dundee
2000 “Spool: An Exhibition of Prints by Scottish Artists” Manhattan Graphics Center, New York, USA
2001 “ Four by Four” Artists’ books at Fine Art Gallery University of Tasmania, Hobart
2001 4th Australian Artist Book Fair, Brisbane

Films
(All 16mm except ”TV 74” which is supwer-8)

‘Between Dreams’ 1974
‘She’ 1974 ‘TV 74’, 1974
(S8) ‘Portfolio’, 1975
‘Behaviour Patterns’, 1976
‘Signs’, 1976-77
‘Incident’, 1978
‘Two Painters’, 1978
‘Happy Day’, 1979
‘Incident’, 1981
‘Three Artists’, 1982