Monday, June 13, 2011

Life

Pregnant 2 2004

Ishbel Myerschough
Life
Flowers Gallery (Cork St.)
All photos © Flowers Gallery

There are something so simple and stunningly beautiful about Ishbel Myerschough´s painting series "Life". Yes, because it is portraying honestly and truthfully the way we are living. She is showing how we are growing through life by bearing us naked and by that touching the basic instincts in us all.

Two Pregnant Women 2004

Pregnant pair 2004

These petite pregnancy paintings hang behind the counter, don't be shy, ask if you can see them, they are the strongest of them all. They show quite intimate portraits of herself and her close friend the painter Chantal Joffe who exhibited at the Victoria Miro earlier this year.

Misery 2006

Sleeping 2006

Ishbel Myerschough has been a three time minor prize winner for the National Portrait Gallery's annual BP portrait Award commission. As a result she painted Dame Helen Mirren's portrait for their collection.

6 year old 2010


16 year old 2011

9 year old 2010


Lily 2010


41 year old 2011

Nadia 2007

To be a painter, a figurative painter and a portraitist to boot, might be considered as anachronistic as writing on vellum rather than on a laptop. Yet however often painting is pronounced dead, supposedly killed off by the ubiquity of photography, Ishbel Myerscough mines a fertile seam, embraced by other contemporaries such as Chantal Joffe and Jenny Saville, of intimate, truthful and, at times, uncomfortable paintings that reveal something of the inner world of her subjects. It was Oscar Wilde who perceptively observed that: ‘Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter’, and this must surely be considered the case with all successful modern figure painters from John Minton and Lucien Freud to Alice Neel. It is this disclosure, this frank dialogue of emotional exchange between artist and subject that colours Ishbel Myerscough’s work. 

         -Flowers Gallery
Little girls 2010

Little girls 2010

Big Girls 2010


Bedroom 2008

Should my portrait be painted again, I wish Ishbel Myerschough would do it, wouldn't you?


With Love 
Kristin

I did my first Q&A for a Norwegian Magazine, RocknRolla here, where I will also write a monthly Art Column.
Posted by at 2:26 AM
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21 comments:

  1. Jane and Lance HattattJune 13, 2011 at 2:54 AM

    Hello Kristin:
    We think that one might have to be quite strong to have a portrait painted by Ishbel Myerschough as she really does depict a 'warts and all' image. Stripped and true to life they are fascinating because of it.

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  2. Ana DegenaarJune 13, 2011 at 3:32 AM

    If there is anything inspiring, is this!
    PS: dont forget this giveaway end today.

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  3. elena nuezJune 13, 2011 at 4:03 AM

    I like Ishbel Myerschough´s painting!!!
    thanks for sharing,

    A big hug,
    elena

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  4. Kimia KlineJune 13, 2011 at 5:18 AM

    i LOVE chantal joffe. and the pregnancy series is gorgeous.

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  5. -E-June 13, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    i would prefer something more classical, but these are very striking.

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  6. Krysten @ Why Girls Are WeirdJune 13, 2011 at 5:55 AM

    Hmm not sure what I think of this series.

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  7. little luxury listJune 13, 2011 at 7:23 AM

    Simple and gritty - very interesting images!

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  8. ;)June 13, 2011 at 11:02 AM

    An art without concession and full of questions, at the same time terrifying and beautiful.

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  9. Kristin HJune 13, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    Love hearing your different opinions!!! Thank you:) Yes, absolutely a bit terrifying, in a way Lucian Freud's paintings are.

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  10. the nyanzi reportJune 13, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    very talented.

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  11. MY REPUBLIC OF FASHIONJune 13, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    Such a unique collection! :)SArahD

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  12. Claudia LaneJune 13, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    Hi Kristin, love them. What an interesting display of what comes across as simple and unpretentious art - when infact there's nothing simple and unpretentious about the amazing talent and the care and consideration that clearly transpire from this beautiful art. Thanks for sharing.
    Claudia xo

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  13. Jaime @ laviejaimeJune 13, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    very cool- i love the Lily one. you can just see how these people look/are in real life.

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  14. nicoleJune 13, 2011 at 7:32 PM

    i exactly thought of lucian freud as well, i would want him to paint my portrait, warts and all!

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  15. Diana MieczanJune 14, 2011 at 3:51 AM

    Yay! Congrats on the monthly Art Column and the interview. I wish I could read it monthly. Truly beautiful series and the pregnancy paintings are my favourite. They show such a depth. Have a lovely Tuesday, sweetie

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  16. Ren- Lady Of The ArtsJune 14, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    wow those pregnancy photos are surreal- I can't imagine sticking out that much-

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  17. BonBon Rose Girls KristinJune 14, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    Those preggers portraits are so very accurate...I remember it all too well!

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  18. Couture CarrieJune 14, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    Love the nude on the couch!

    xoxox,
    CC

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  19. MordrianJune 14, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    These pictures just have so much life and energy behind them, its breath taking.

    - Mordrian

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  20. Pierre BOYERJune 14, 2011 at 9:51 PM

    Interesting work.
    I particulary love "Nadia" and "Big Girls"...
    Regards,

    Pierre

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  21. misslikeyJune 15, 2011 at 12:07 AM

    wow this is a discovery for me. amazing work. Amazing paintings.Amazing talent. Especially Misery and Little Girls

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