Image shows a hanging yellow artwork to the right, which is strung from the ceiling and consists of flat concentric rings. To the left we can see many small works of art ranging in bright colours which are hung in a grid on the white wall. To the corner of the gallery, in the centre of the image, is a small dark window allowing a view to the adjacent gallery.

David Austen

Underworld

23 March - 9 June 2019

This exhibition offered up a new constellation of work by British artist David Austen, bringing the breadth of his artistic practice to audiences in Scotland for the first time.

Image shows two small paintings hung next to each other on a white wall. They share a similar pallet, being mainly sky blue. The image to the right shows the back of a person's head, they have long blonde hair and we can see the tops of the shoulders, as two pink crescents at the bottom of the painting. The painting is graphic in style, with black outlines and lines depicting the strands of har. The painting to the left shows cloud forms, in a cartoonish style, similarly with black outlines and block colours.

Since the 1980s Austen has worked as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and filmmaker. The stylistically diverse elements of his work come together to reveal an often dark yet endearing vision of the world. The artworks in this exhibition, from oil paintings on heavy flax canvas and delicate watercolour works on paper to suspended sculptural objects and cinematic film projects, created an otherworldly space inhabited by Austen’s strange and lovelorn characters.

The image shows two paintings hung on a white wall next to each other. They are square. The painting to the left has a black background and pale grey text in block capital lettters reads on one line 'Under' and on the second line 'World'. The painting to the right has a sky blue background and shows a pale skinned naked person leaning over.

With sources as varied as 19th century literature, poetry, ancient myth and film noir, the impetus of Austen’s work often derives from his immediate surroundings. There is a liveliness and generosity in his approach to art-making, a delicacy of touch, a delight in the unexpected, and a disarmingly nuanced understanding of complex human emotions. Each object and artwork in this project stood alone and spoke for itself yet simultaneously connected with others in the spaces, forming multiple narratives across the galleries.

Underworld sought to create a mythical space for viewers to journey through, punctuated by the artist’s poetic musings on the known world, the imagined world, the bright celestial heights above us and the shadowy, unknowable depths below.

Photograph shows two paintings on a white wall. One is mainly red, to the right, and one is mainly green, to the left.

About the artist

David Austen (b.1960 Harlow) is an artist based in London. A graduate of the Royal College of Art (1985), he has exhibited widely over the past 30 years.

Solo exhibitions include: The Drowned, Matt’s Gallery, London (2018); The stars above the ocean... the ocean beneath the stars, David Totah Gallery, New York (2018); Black Heart, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Cogliandrino, Basilicata; End of Love, Modern Art Oxford (2010); and My love, I have been digging up my own bones in the garden again, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2009). His work has been featured in major international group projects and is held in collections such as Tate, British Council, Arts Council England and the Government Art Collection.

He is represented by Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.