Toni Harrower
University: Gray's School of Art
Graduation Year: 2016
New Blood Art Commentary
See Toni Harrower in her studio
See work in-situ
Toni Harrower’s work is beset with mathematical experiments in colour, composition, and scale. But this is just the foundation; within her systematic restraints and rules, the physicality of paint is allowed to gloriously resurface. Colours merge, layers build up, and Harrower’s initial grid plans are both rescinded and accentuated. The passing of time seems to become a creative form of its own – a process tangentially informed by Harrower’s research into dementia and memory deterioration. Hardened textures and jutted forms make up the works, where crusted oils and geometric patterns take the paintings into sculptural terrain. Similar visually to the endlessly layered work of contemporary American artist Mark Bradford, Harrower paints abstractions with complexity in mind.
Artist Statement
My paintings follow a ‘system’ and a set of restraints that determine colour, composition and scale. Working from a colour-coded alphabet, the titles for each painting are extremely important as they are the starting point for making; from this point each piece follows a basic set of rules - working from left to right, top to bottom. I explore the physicality of paint in line with my interest in dementia. Working in a repetitious manner, I create individual patterns and repeated geometric shapes which form a grid-like structure. The grids provide a level of control over the paint which is otherwise unrestricted. The build-up of layers expresses the passing of time. As the paint gains depth and weight, gravity and a lack of control come into play, causing the paint to fall away, with cells merging into one another. In many ways the paintings relate to uncontrollable events that happen in life, and several pieces imply the notion of the mind – and life - falling apart.
Solo Exhibitions
(2023) Untitled, Moray Art Centre, Forres
(2023) May your thoughts write the rest, Duff House, Banff
(2023) Beyond Colour, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh
(2022) Lost on Purpose, The Long Room, Logie Steading, Forres
(2022) A sense of Place, Gallery Pop, Forres
(2021) The colour of what?, Art Studio, Garmouth
(2019) Fresh Thoughts, Upright Gallery, Edinburgh
(2018) The Real and the Remembered, Elgin Library, Elgin
(2018) Colours you've forgotten, Moray Art Centre, Forres
(2017) A Closer Look, Nairn Art and Community Centre, Nairn
(2017) Edge-Lands, Moray Art Centre, Forres
Group Exhibitions
(2023) Nowhere in particular, The Gallery, Elgin
(2023) SSA 130 years Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
(2023) WEST, The Briggait, Glasgow
(2022) REVERB, Visual Arts Scotland, Online
(2022) The 196th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
(2022) Aberdeen Artists Society Annual Exhibition, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen
(2022) ATS Members’ Exhibition, An Talla Solais, Ullapool
(2022) Members exhibition, Gallery Pop, Forres
(2022) PLOT, The Gallery, Elgin Library
(2022) NORTH, WASPS Creative Academy, Inverness
(2021) Members Exhibition, Gallery Pop, Forres
(2021) Moving Forward, The Fran, Online
(2020) The Resilient Self, Espacio Gallery, London
(2020) ATS MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION, An Talla Solais, Online
(2020) Flow, Visual Arts Scotland, Online
(2019) Edges of What?, Dundas Gallery, Edinburgh
(2019) XMASHUP, Upright Gallery, Edinburgh
(2019) ATS Members' Exhibition, An Talla Solais, Ullapool
(2018) 20days20Artists, Upright Gallery, Edinburgh
(2018) Winter Open, Moray Art Centre, Forres
(2016) GC08, Lines to Paint, Arts Centre and Theatre, Aberdeen
(2016) Qualia, Number Seventeen Gallery, Aberdeen
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2015) RSA Keith Prize
(2016) John Gray Legacy Award
(2016) ACT Graduate Award
(2022) Leith School of Art Exhibition Award