Ian MacIntyre
Born in 1958, Ian was raised in Tummel Bridge, Perthshire and went to Kinloch Rannoch primary school 7 miles up the road. At the age of 12 he moved to Breadalbane Academy, Aberfeldy, and then at 18 on to Edinburgh Art College, graduating in 1981 with a first class honours degree in Painting. From then till now Ian has continued painting and printmaking apart from the odd few months at other jobs, such as teaching English to foreigners here or in Germany. He has now lived and worked at his home in the East Neuk of Fife for the past 16 years with his wife Hilke (an artist) and two kids Esme 16 and Max 13, (also artists). Over the years Ian has exhibited in a wide variety of galleries, from the local (such as East Neuk Open Studios and the Weem Gallery, Pittenweem) to the international (Dobbs Ferry and Niedermaier New York), via nationally important venues such as RSA Edinburgh.
Ian says: "My main aim with Art has always been just to get better at it. Having experienced Art School, I felt a bit self-restricted by always needing what I painted to be in front of me even though I thought of myself as a bit of an expressionist at the time. I knew that to improve and find my own style, it would be necessary to forget about Art College and its teachers, break away on my own and do it my way. I felt sure that would lead to abstraction, freedom, possibly my own style; it took a few years, but I was right. All Art that interests me has a strong individual style; without that it’s worthless.
Some of my work pokes fun at movements like Conceptual Art and Brit Art, pointing out that these artists have no individual style and that their ‘ideas’ are not enough. We can all have ideas, just as we can all take photographs; developing your own style is altogether another matter."
Ian says: "My main aim with Art has always been just to get better at it. Having experienced Art School, I felt a bit self-restricted by always needing what I painted to be in front of me even though I thought of myself as a bit of an expressionist at the time. I knew that to improve and find my own style, it would be necessary to forget about Art College and its teachers, break away on my own and do it my way. I felt sure that would lead to abstraction, freedom, possibly my own style; it took a few years, but I was right. All Art that interests me has a strong individual style; without that it’s worthless.
Some of my work pokes fun at movements like Conceptual Art and Brit Art, pointing out that these artists have no individual style and that their ‘ideas’ are not enough. We can all have ideas, just as we can all take photographs; developing your own style is altogether another matter."
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