Niall Stevenson
Degree: MA
University: Edinburgh University
Graduation Year: 2016
New Blood Art Commentary
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See the artist's work alongside David Hockney's
Based in Edinburgh, artist Niall Stevenson, creates from his surrounding landscape.
A dexterous artist, Stevenson uses short, gestural marks: carefully placed and cleverly layered. These small, buildable strokes wonderfully insinuate where movement might happen; creating depth and tangible texture. Other times, he uses smooth line and clean contours. His work is characterised by the power of suggestion: suggesting a thought, a memory or a movement.
Artist Statement
My most recent work has been informed by walking in the landscape, particularly in Scotland. I have tried to find ways to paint my experience of being in these environments, often using sites of archaeological interest (cairns, hill forts, enclosures, etc.) as a starting point for image-making. The pictures are not intended to be bucolic or pertain to any romantic notions of the wilderness, but rather try to show a more idiosyncratic vision of how I encounter various topographies. I am particularly interested in the ways in which time has erased traces of culture from the landscape, and how fragments of remaining structures can act as a catalyst for interpretive thought processes.
Solo Exhibitions
(2018) Fittie, Art Spot Korin, Kyoto, Japan
(2017) Tribute, Weissraum Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
(2013) Isolating Fragments of Reality, Weissraum Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Group Exhibitions
(2022) Looking for You, Project Room, Glasgow
(2020) Ways of Seeing, Art Spot Korin, Kyoto, Japan
(2019) Tragicom (Act I, II, & III), Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
(2018) Plastic Beach ...poetry of the everyday, City Art Centre, Edinburgh
(2017) Untitled, Trinity Apse, Edinburgh
(2016) Interim, Talbot Rice, Edinburgh
(2013) Summer Art Shower, Contemporary Art Space Osaka, Japan
(2012) Bridges and Barriers, Universität der Künste Berlin, Berlin
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2013) Recipient of the Robert Callender International Residency for Young Artists
(2021) Hope Scott Trust Funding for Visual Artists working in Scotland
(2022) VACMA (Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award)