Peacock is proud to present the 'Apples Kabuki' suite of Lithograph prints by esteemed Scottish artist Pat Douthwaite. This exhibition is the first time they've been shown in their entirety since they were published and shown in 1988. They were originally exhibited at The Third Eye Centre in Glasgow as part of Pat Douthwaite's exhibition "Paintings and Drawings 1951-1988".

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pat Douthwaite (1934 – 2002) was a self-taught artist from Glasgow, Scotland. She had a varied career, studying movement, mime and modern dance with Margaret Morris a pioneering dance teacher. Following several years performing with the Celtic Ballet she decided seriously pursue art, and more specifically painting in the 1950’s – a decision often linked to the influence of Morris’s husband, Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson. Her early career in the 1950s and 60s found its roots through a close circle of iconoclastic writers and painters, including Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, the poet Robert Graves and writer Brendan Behan.

In 1970 Pat began a more nomadic existence. This solitude often feeding into her work, which unquestionably reflects her somewhat troubled life. Douthwaite had her first solo show in 1958 and exhibited work in numerous solo and group shows in the UK and internationally right up to her untimely death in 2002.

ABOUT THE WORK

‘Apples Kabuki’ are a visionary suite of lithographs. Made up of 10 prints and a title sheet are described by her biographer, these graphic prints echoes Pat’s own dance training and are inspired by Japanese Kabuki theatre. The works capture the state of exaggerated costume and extreme theatre.

These prints were a rare excursion into printmaking for the artist. Recognised as the most complex of processes, the lithographs were made by the artist drawing directly onto a zinc plate with a greasy crayon and wash.

The suite transforms from slow and static portraits of women in Komonos towards powerful, surreal and at times gruesome images of people with scarred faces and skulls. All highly detailed with elaborate and complex patterns and feature birds and small cat-like animals. According to her son Toby Hogarth, Pat described herself ‘The High Priestess of the grotesque’ a reflection of her artistic focus on the grotesque and the unusual. Despite her tragically short career, Pat’s legacy is in her work: original and arresting paintings and drawing which provoke a variety of responses and persist in the memory – and which, like all great artworks, transcend the times in which they were made, defying any impulse to box them into an art historical cul-de-sac.

ABOUT THE PEACOCK ARCHIVE

This exhibition introduces prints from the Peacock Archive, held by Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums. A close working relationship between the Art Gallery and Peacock sees the custodianship of the archive of all the published work made at Peacock looked after by the Art Gallery. The archive contains over 2000 objects with new work being added yearly. This is a priceless resource for Aberdeen Art Gallery, Peacock and all citizens interested in accessing and viewing the prints. Works from the archive can often be seen in the Art Gallery and are available to all to view online through the Art Gallery website.

BIOGRAPHY

1934 Born, Glasgow

1947 Began to study movement, mime and modern dance with Margaret Morris, whose husband, J. D. Fergusson, encouraged her to paint. Apart from this important influence she was self-taught. During this period she won the Phyllis Calvert Award for Mime which allowed her to study full-time with Margaret Morris. Finally performing with Ted Shawn at Jacob's Pillow, Massachusetts.

1958 Went to live in Suffolk with a group of painters, including the Scots expatriates Colquhoun and MacBryde, and William Crozier.

1959-88 Travelled widely, to North Africa, India, Peru, Venezuela, Poland, East Germany, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, France, Italy, U.S.A., Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Ecuador.

From 1969 lived part of the time in Majorca.
1969, '71, '75, '76 Scottish Arts Council Awards.

1974 Hope Scott Award for Lithography.

1975 Created multi-media performance work, Inanna, with the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council and the Gulbenkian Foundation. Inanna was performed at the Traverse Theatre during the

1975 Edinburgh International Festival and later at Third Eye Centre, Glasgow.

1985 Took part in TV documentary, The Lunch Party, BBC 1.

1999-2000 Lived in various properties in the south west of Scotland including time at the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, Eskdalemuir.

2002 Died, Broughty Ferry