James McNaughtLooking for Ariadne
In the words of Pablo Picasso – “A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes as one’s thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing the changes imposed on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough, as the picture lives only through the man who is looking at it.”
James McNaught paints in gouache and watercolour with a delicate touch and a faultless technique. His highly sought after paintings have an obsessive quality, they are witty and enigmatic and depict a surreal, brooding, slightly threatening world.
This beautifully realised world is often unnervingly quiet, inhabited sporadically by mysterious recurring figures, such as Fernando Rey, Esmeralda and Georgette Magritte.
