| Ken Laidlaw |
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Graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1967. Worked as an art director for a major publishing house for four years before becoming a freelance artist.
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| About the Artist |
A recurring theme that interests me concerns the metaphysical question of chance versus inevitability. Do we have any control over the events that shape our lives, can we influence the dice to roll our way, or do things follow a pre-determined path?
Inspiration comes from the many sources in my carrier bag muse! |
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Click to enlarge images (if larger image has been loaded) |
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Artist and Model
2007 acrylic on canvas 101 x 76 cm |
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Bored with figurative art, New York denied Lucien Freud an exhibition at first. This image shows a wire artist upon which a label can be hung, and a flat, mdf model. The carved inscription on the tree reads 'NY loves LF'. Freud's profile appears left of the wire artist's face. |
Wind of Change
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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The Wind of Change blows leaves around the central image of the die. New events and encounters will unfold, according to which way the die rolls when it lands. Is it the wind of change or ourselves who influence the roll of the dice? |
Lucky for Some
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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Lucky charms and superstition. Can they influence the way the dice and cards fall or does the wind of change ultimately decide our fate? |
Message in a Bottle
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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A message in a bottle adrift on the cosmic ocean. The bottle symbolizes loneliness of the individual and of mankind and planet Earth. Rays of hope beam from distant worlds. |
Rebirth of Venus at the Speed of Light
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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Venus is reborn in this painting where time stands still and may even run backwards. Elements in the painting include the tick-tock croc from Peter Pan (on the boomerang), flamingo, chess board and tea party from Lewis Carroll stories. and an attenuated white rabbit in the bottom right hand corner.
The clock contains time capsule organic material and the numbers six and nine which appear on the face allude to the Jimmy Hendrix song "If Six was Nine'. |
Fame
2007 acrylic on canvas 101 x 76 cm |
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The head on the pedestal is derived from Michaelangelo's David but also has nuances of Madonna, Princess Diana and Human League's Phil Oakey. Squares on the snakes and ladders game board on which the pedestal stands contain hand, foot and paw prints, redolent of Graumans Chinese theater in Hollywood.
Ants stream from a crack in the pedestal, implying that it is hollow |
Waterlow Park in Winter
2007 acrylic on three canvases 51 x 120 cm |
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The essence of London's Waterlow Park in winter. A Dick Whittington view looking down the hill to the distant city and St Paul's Cathedral. |
Chair and stars
2007 acrylic on canvas 31 x 41 cm |
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Van Gogh's chair on a fall leaf, floating among the stars. |
Walking on the Moon
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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Falling in love and the feeling of walking on the moon. The figures have masks as at the beginning of a relationship our images are idealized. |
Play to Win
2007 acrylic on canvas 9 x 120 cm |
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Inspired by the lyrics of Heaven 17's 'Play to Win'. |
In and Out of Fashion
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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Like pool balls dropping, the sequences of fashion trends from catwalk to incinerator. |
Beata 4
2008 crayon on paper 46 x 60 |
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Drawing from life |
Brighton Pier
2007 acrylic on canvas 77 x 90 cm |
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The essence of Brighton Pier on a crisp day in late winter. |
Maria-Theresa
2007 crayon and pencil 46 x 60 |
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Drawing from life |
Pierr-0
2007 acrylic on canvas 76 x 101 |
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Pierr-0 is an empty figure, made up of component parts. The girl has become a puppet. Love will bring them to life |
Spanish Garden
2008 acrylic on canvas 76 x 61 |
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Canary Islands landscape |
The Path by the Tennis Courts
2008 acrylic on canvas 71 x 91 |
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Tennis courts in Waterlow Park, London |
Wounded Heart
2007 acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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A battered and patched heart drifting along on the wind of change. |
Her Dreaming Head
2007 acrylic on canvas 76 x 101 |
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Inspired by Dylan Thomas's 'Her Lying Down Head" |
The Wind in her Hair
2008 acrylic on canvas 31 x 41 cm |
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The sea wind blowing yesterday out of her hair |
Destiny
2007 acrylic on canvas 76 x 101 |
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Chance versus inevitability |
Three Cones
2007 acrylic on canvas 48 x 61 |
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Three cones in a landscape |
Fruit and flowers
2008 acrylic on canvas 76 x 61 |
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still life |
Dandelion and Cone
2008 acrylic on canvas 71 x 91 |
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Flip Side
2008 acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 |
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The mystery of what fate holds in store. Donated to Charleston House. |
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| Education and biography |
| Studied at Edinburgh College of Art under Peploe and Blackadder. Work shown at Sotheby's (London), Hamilton's Gallery, ICA, Windsor and Eton Fine Art, The Design Council, Charleston House, Karen Taylor Gallery. |
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| Future shows |
| to be determined. |
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Website: www.kenlaidlaw.com |
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