John Inglis

Paintings shown in Corrie

In the last 18 months, John Inglis has produced an impressive quantity of paintings. His show in Corrie Hall ranged through a great wealth of ideas, always showing a quirky sense of amusement and sometimes strangeness. From ships to derelict cars, these paintings are the product of a poetic eye. An Orcadian Mini-van stands abandoned in an indifferent landscape, and people watch a submarine slip by, inhabiting a different world. Someone looks past the pillars of what may be a church or a ruined temple. One of the most literal expressions of strange conjunction is the figure of a living girl lying beside the sculpted tomb image of a long-dead clan warrior.

Purely in terms of painting, Quirang Croft achieves the best clarity of colour and design, though the water-colour sketches piled on a table in the centre of the room have great freshness and simplicity. The oil paintings have the perceptive observation that illuminates the work of the great photographers such as Cartier Bresson, catching a moment of almost inconsequential significance, but the use of the medium sometimes poses a problem. It can on occasion be too heavy and muddy-textured to catch fully the lightness and clarity of the observation that lies behind the picture. However, this work is never less than interesting and intriguing. It rewards the viewer with fresh ideas and shrewd, often wry observation.

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