In his second solo exhibition at the gallery Calum McClure reflects upon one of his longstanding preoccupations, trees. The exhibition brings together work spanning a ten-year period, the oldest painting is Falling Tree I, (2012) from a series which focused on the felling of sequoias in California. Along with these images of historical logging, there are paintings of ornamental and botanical specimens, in country estates and private arboretums around Scotland. These were used as symbols of wealth and power, which evoke memories of empire and the collection and study of foreign species.
Most of the exhibition was made after the Spring of 2021 when the artist travelled to the tidal island of Eilean Shona on the west coast of Scotland. There he gathered images of its pinetum, which was planted in the 19th century by one of the island’s past owners Captain Swinburne. The resulting paintings show that some of the trees brought from abroad have fared better than others, some appear to have struggled with the climate, look untended or out-competed by the faster growing spruces, whilst others have flourished and can be seen towering from the mainland. The passing of time is acknowledged in the title of one of the exhibition’s main works Forgotten Trophies, (2021). This painting depicts some of the rarest specimens on the island, planted in a sheltered hollow behind the main house.
He has also made paintings of the native species such as the silver birches, whose gnarled forms hug the coastline. This tangle of the native and imported species can be seen in Trees and Windows On A Beach, A Dream, (2021) in which the trees appear to metamorphose and blend, creating a dance of shapes on the sand. There is also a hint at a human presence in the clean angle of a window on the right of the painting.
The artist is not afraid to vary his style, from the more abstract pieces which have an apparent Japanese influence, to the more representational and depictive works, although there is a common language between the differing approaches. As with all of McClure’s work we can see this push and pull between the power and beauty of nature and our human will to perfect, tame and train it.
With special thanks to the team at Eilean Shona for generously accommodating the artist for a residency in 2021.
