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Pentangle, 2023
von • by Andrew McIntosh
www.mackie-art.com

A chippy, a souvenir shop, a tanning salon – abandoned, forgotten,

permanently closed. In a series of large-scale oil paintings, Scottish

artist Andrew McIntosh portrays retailers as an endangered

species. The once proud hopes of courageous entrepreneurs are

left standing with faltering neon signs, boarded-up doors and

crumbling plaster. The melancholic series, titled “Dreamers”, was

exhibited at the James Freeman Gallery in London in the summer

of 2023. The paintings are set against dark, misty landscapes that

evoke a sense of approaching autumn. Such mystical depictions
of nature are a recurring theme in the works of this neo-romantic

artist, who was born in Grantown-On-Spey in 1979. The reference

to English Romanticism in his art reflects a critical perspective

on our present-day struggling consumer society. During the

Romantic era from the late 18th to well into the 19th century,

wild and remote landscapes were sought after by a high society

searching for meaning. These locations represented places for

transcendental encounters with nature and served as a response

to the rapid technological progress in the cities. In the idealised

landscape paintings of the time, the light and colour of the sun,

energy and water took the place of representational subjects.

Inspired by a journey through the Scottish Highlands, McIntosh

adopted a romanticised visual language for his new series. He

expressed, “I kept seeing stately homes or quaint cottages in

lovely settings, and I wanted to paint them but couldn’t find a

reason as to why. I became frustrated with the quaintness of

these structures, so I [...] replaced them with the buildings that

interest me. These independent retailers act like bastions of

private passion in wild, hostile landscapes.“