Introducing Andrew McIntosh
We have a new artist in the gallery - Andrew McIntosh.
We have been admiring London based McIntosh's work over the last 5 years and it was by chance that last summer he visited Deal and wandered into the gallery. We got talking and discussed the idea of trying to get some pieces for Taylor-Jones & Son. 18 months later and here we are with two quite mind bendingly spectacular works.
These large scale pieces need to be seen in the flesh to appreciate them at their wonderful best so they have gone straight into the gallery windows.
They really don't need an explanation, but the thinking behind them is fascinating - particularly the caravan work. Carvans are very much his signature motif and having one so specifically linked to Deal is just fantastic.
Have a read below and enjoy.....
X Marks The Spot, Andrew McIntosh, oil on canvas. 90 x 120cm
This painting is called X Marks the Spot, and the idea began when I discovered that Deal, on the Kent coast, was once notorious for piracy and smuggling.
That got me thinking about hidden treasure, and the possibility of finding something extraordinary in the most unlikely of places.
So I located this rather battered, weather-beaten caravan on a deserted stretch of Deal coastline and opened it up to reveal its treasure.
Inside hangs John Singer Sargent’s Madame X, the very epitome of femininity and elegance, surrounded by a riot of polka dots in tribute to Yayoi Kusama.
I’ve positioned Madame X as though she’s looking towards the setting sun. There’s something rather romantic about this embodiment of beauty, surrounded by riches, yet gazing beyond them towards the horizon.
The setting sun also introduces the passage of time, the fleeting nature of beauty, and perhaps a longing for something that can’t be possessed.
And so the title brings everything together — the X on a pirate’s treasure map, Sargent’s mysterious Madame X, and Kusama’s unmistakable spots.
A little treasure hidden in plain sight.
