Henry Kondracki, an artist based in Edinburgh, is known for his evocative scenes of city life and the Scottish landscape. This exhibition focuses on a series of works centred around locations of literary significance in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. Embracing the rich cultural heritage of his native city, Kondracki depicts the hometown of Walter Scott, Muriel Spark and Ian Rankin in his typically vibrant, impressionistic style.
Known for painting the city in all seasons, Kondracki captures the mood of Edinburgh, be it in glorious summer sun or autumnal drizzle. Working in fluid, gestural brushstrokes, he paints the city in motion, viewed from buses, pavements and coffee shops. For this exhibition, Kondracki has painted locales associated with moments in novels and with the lives of writers. Miss Brodie walks down the Vennel toward the Grassmarket and the birthplace of Rebus is lit by ghostly moonlight. A moment in the Meadows brings to mind Robert Burns: ‘come autumn, sae pensive, in yellow and grey’.
Kondracki was born in Edinburgh but having been rejected from his local art school, he went to London to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art (1981 - 1982), and then at the Slade School of Art (1982 - 1986). He has won the Cheltenham Drawing Prize, the Hunting Art Prize and has been twice the recipient of the Slade Fine Art Prize. Kondracki has exhibited widely both in the UK and internationally. His work is held by many public collections including Glasgow Museums, Manchester City Art Gallery, the Fleming Collection and Art in Healthcare. He was elected a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 2016.
The topography of Edinburgh lends itself to the imagination; the vistas and constant horizons have stimulated writers and poets throughout the centuries. The contrasts inherent in the city and its surroundings; the Old Town, the New Town, Arthur’s Seat guarding the city like an ancient sphinx, and from many places a vision of the sea with ships arriving and departing to distant lands.
At some point many of these literary imagineers walked the same streets, looked at the same vistas, were affected by the same weather and absorbed the same local histories, tales and legends. It is a place where inspiration soared, over the castle and spread across the world.
Henry Kondracki
