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This autumn, the new exhibitions at the Pier Arts Centre will showcase new work by two Orcadian artists.

Skeleton Stories - new paintings by Brandon Logan and Kringlo - and other constellations - new work by Colin Kirkpatrick - will both open on Saturday 2 September.

Brandon Logan has created the work included in Skeleton Stories over the course of an Orkney spring/summer.

Brandon’s paintings are made through a process he has developed which involves flooding and sealing warps of string with layers of paint, the string support allowing him to suspend colour within it.

Logan commented “I've been working with the same process for several years now but this is the largest body of work I've yet to produce, and the first I've made to be presented at home in Orkney before anywhere else.”

He continued “To be able to show at the Pier Arts Centre is particularly significant on a personal level as the works in the Pier Collection played such a major role in the forming of my own relationship to modern and contemporary art. The concerns of the collection - of light, colour, modularity and nature - are never far from my mind.”

Brandon Logan Throat Ache 2023 © the artist. All works are courtesy of the Artist and Ingleby, Edinburgh


Kringlo - and other constellations will bring together a selection of new work created by Colin Kirkpatrick over the last six months.

For over thirty years Kirkpatrick has explored the tensions between conservation and change. The natural environment and the perils of modern society have remained deep concerns for him in his work.

Drawing is at the core of his work – whether scratched line on found wood or boldly applied ink on paper.

Colin said “I am really pleased to be displaying these new works at the Pier Arts Centre. Every time I visit the Centre’s collection, I come away feeling recharged. Recently looking at the life and work of Orcadian filmmaker Margaret Tait has been particularly inspiring.”

Kirkpatrick continued “I have always been interested in Orkney words, which sometimes offer a clue to stories told in my work. Like the title of this exhibition - Kringlo - the stars one sees following a blow to the head.”

Colin Kirkpatrick Film Makar 2023 © the artist


The Pier Arts Centre Curator Andrew Parkinson concluded “It is such a great opportunity for us to bring the work of these two Stromness artists to our audiences. There is already a buzz amongst those who are familiar with their work. For folk that are new to these artists, we hope you will be excited to explore the exhibitions.”

Elsewhere in the galleries, The Growth of New Ideas – The Legacy of D’Arcy Thompson in Modern and Contemporary Art is on display until the end of the year. The exhibition explores the pioneering work of Scottish biologist and polymath D’Arcy Thompson (1860-1948), and how it impacted on Modernist artists and contemporary artistic thinking - curated in collaboration with the University of Dundee Museums.

Skeleton Stories - new paintings by Brandon Logan and Kringlo - and other constellations - new work by Colin Kirkpatrick will be on display until Saturday 11 November.

The Pier Arts Centre is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.30am-5pm. Admission is free.