press release

STIRLING

&

STIRLING

an exhibition of paintings by

ANGUS STIRLING & KITTY STIRLING

Gallery 27

27 Cork Street, London w1s 3ng

15‒ 20 November 2010

private views

Tuesday 16 November, Wednesday 17 November 6‒9pm

TWO PAINTERS, TWO GENERATIONS

This exhibition brings together the creative worlds of father and daughter for the first time. Angus and Kitty Stirling

have followed independent artistic lives, yet there are parallels in their approaches and shared influences that recur

in their paintings. The exhibition is an exploration of those common threads and a fascinating insight into the work

of both artists at different stages of their lives.

angus stirling has had a distinguished career in the Arts, from the Arts Council of Great Britain in the 1970s

to Director General of the National Trust and Chairman of the Royal Opera House. Following his retirement in

1995, Angus returned to painting and studied with Robin Child at Lydgate Arts Research Centre. Since 2005 he has

exhibited in selected group exhibitions.

His interest in the relationship between music and painting draw on his years in opera and ballet, reflecting ele-

ments of rhythm, form, colour, tone and counterpoint found in both genres. Using these precepts, Angus aims at

a personal reincarnation of landscape, human form, architecture and still life, revealing a work of imagination.

‘I begin by making marks that bear no relation to the subject, and the work itself suggests how to proceed; it is akin

to a game of chess, with an opening, middle and end game.’

kitty stirling studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art and the Byam Shaw School of Art. After working in

film and radio, she took up painting full time in 2001, curating exhibitions and teaching alongside her practice. She

has exhibited widely in galleries and art fairs, most recently with Caroline Wiseman Modern and Contemporary Art,

and has been selected for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2010, which coincides with this exhibition.

Much of Kitty’s subject matter is enigmatic, operating on a border between the figurative and the abstract.

References to the real world can be found in her smaller paintings, using her drawings to open up ideas as she em-

ploys mixed media, oil and collage. In the larger works these figurative references take on other qualities, forming

compositions, which are then veiled with layers of paint, becoming mysterious and abstract, partially lost to resur-

face later transformed. The process allows the potential image to construct its own narrative, fusing with

autobiographical situations and charging the paint with emotional content. The dominant subjects of recent years

include the series ‘Allotment’, a place Kitty returns to draw from, finding it a source of unkempt simplicity and

human endeavour.

‘Kitty Stirling has a remarkable eye for natural and accidental beauty.’

henry garfitt, Afterglow catalogue, Tricycle Gallery

Gallery 27 is open Monday to Saturday, 10am‒6pm

For further information please contact

kitty stirling 07950 177 679 kitty@kittystirling.com or angus stirling 07973 794 857 9stirling@tiscali.co.uk