Today I'm looking at the artwork of Stuart Allan! I've know Stuart for longer than I care to share but I have fond memories of seeing him at The Palace back when Nu Metal was still new and we became good friends through a shared love of music and comic books, Hellboy being a particular favourite. Of course early on I found out Stuart was hiding a secret, he could paint and not just that but he was really good at it!
During his time at Grays School of Art he painted two portraits of me which was a real honour, seeing oneself immortalised in that way. I'd originally intended to wait until Stuart was skint and make him a lowball offer for my portrait but it was purchased straight away on the opening night of his degree show with many of his paintings selling out. Thankfully he tool the time to paint a second portrait a few years later when I got a bit fatter and it looks down on me from my living room wall. Stuart has a magical ability to capture people as you'll see from his portrait of swimming Gold medalist Hannah Miley, whether its in oil paint or using modern technology like an iPad Pro. He's created a number of special commissions for dear friends and its quite special to see them hanging in homes across the North East.
Of course his work has shifted over the years as his focus changed from intimate portraits of friends to icons of the big and small screen including cult classics like Blade Runner and the iconic Xenomorphs in Alien to Mayday Queens like Dani in Midsommar (warning that film is scary as hell!). His last show a collaboration with Craig Fisher titled 'TEETH' saw the duo create a joint mural along with individual pieces for sale including a full set of Xenomorphs from the chest burster right up to the Alien Queen along with a special Alien woodcut complete with retractable proboscis. Being the proud owner of his Godzilla & Mecha Godzilla woodcuts, I left the show empty handed but impressed.
Jumping between projects Stuart has also produced numerous pieces on the streets, swapping brushes for spray cans working on large scale collaborative murals with Fisher both in the UK and America whilst also producing work for Painted Doors Aberdeen (check out my video below) and the Victoria Art Road project in Torry. It seems whatever Stuart turns his hand to it comes out great from giant murals to spicy hot sauce labels, he's a true jack of all trades but I'd argue he's mastered them all too.
His latest work continues to play with cultural icons and death metal iconography while he jumps between bold graphics and fine detailed portraits. The bold graphic tattoos of Paul Slifer are also evident both on his arms and in his graphic work but Stuart always manages to add flourishes and expressions on the canvas that give his work a unique feel. More recent experiments with woodcut paintings have also brought a new dimension to his work, allowing him to step off the screen and use a more hands on traditional approach to painting but still with a Stallan twist.
With his last major solo show taking place at Foodstory in 2018, I hope we'll be seeing a big project from Stuart in 2022 but in the meantime you can spy some of his work for sale at the newPoison Hearts Studio in the Castlegate and with various prints and zines in the works be sure to check out more of Stuarts work on Etsy here.
Its been another hectic few months and with Christmas and New Year looming there's not much sign of it slowing down. But its good to take a minute to recap what's been happening probably for the last time this year and to see what's coming up for 2019! Before that though press play on the mix tape above from Lucky Me artist Jacques Greene . I've been listening to this a lot over the last couple of weeks and I've found it an uplifting trip for this rather bleak and depressing time of year. Although released in April the EP which features many of these new tracks has just been released and can be purchased via his website / Lucky Me shop . Other musical highlights this month include this beautiful cover of 'Avril 14th' by Aphex Twin on a pedal steel guitar, rediscovering the amazing Jeff Buckley and despite not going to see him at The Lemon Tree I've still had 'SIX' by Mansun on heavy rotation, a masterpiece from the late 90's that ...
Another hectic month but lots of great things happening so here's my round up of whats been happening and whats coming up! Local skateboard company Doric Skateboards have just celebrated their 1st year in business, a year that's seen a dream become a reality for founder Gary Kemp and one that's helped add a bit of community spirit that I think has been missing from the Aberdeen skate scene. As Gary has grown in confidence so has his output as he continues to promote Aberdeen and also noting the importance of the cities creative community. His first collab series with artist Honk went down a treat and now he's teamed up with designer extraordinaire Gabi Reith aka Small Stories . Riffing off the classic John Rattray photo where he's doing an impossible looking wall ride next to graffiti "Adeen thugs kill all visiting fans" Gabi has switched things up and added a more positive spin as a skater drops in on a giant beard. Decks have been selling fast ...
Katie & Pablo's work both really stood out for me.lots of colour, surreal worlds, fags and tiny models, all good things, well not the fags but check out their work and check their blogs by clicking on their names! Katie S Pablo Luane
