TUBER-BABES, A MAJOR WORK BY ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI

* ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI RSA HonFRIAS HRSW (SCOTTISH b 1958 - ),
TUBER-BABES
oil on canvas, signed and dated 2008
214cm x 183cm
Unframed (as intended).
Provenance: Acquired for a noted private London collection from The Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall in 2008. A handwritten letter dated 10.11.08 by Wiszniewski to the owner accompanies this lot. Wiszniewski states: "I am really pleased that Tuber-babes has found its way into your collection. I began painting Tuber-babes in 2005, worked on it over a six-month period into 2006 and then left it until the beginning of 2008 when it was completed. The painting (process) can be a long one and I spend that time developing the subject matter - drawing and re-drawing. I was intrigued to see where the painting story might take me. What would be the pivotal point. The point of the painting Tuber-babes balances on the relationship of two worlds - the rural (earthiness) and the urban (urbane). The rural world is populated by the Tuber-babes, their children are of the earth and of nature and are linked umbilically with it. They are however dominated by the more sophisticated and elevated who look down on the Tuber-babes as curios. They survey them with a superior air in the way that ancient gods might from their mountain top. They smile and toy with their 'playthings' and use a pointer as an educational prop. The Tuber-babes, however, like all other 'vegetables' that populate the canvas have an energy and an unflappable life-force - a fact that might prove dangerous if it were denied. This point is underpinned by the view from the window; a garden recedes into farmland and to a horizon where the twin Trade Towers stand distant and aloof. Yours Adrian Wiszniewski".
Note: Adrian Wiszniewski creates work characterised by a strong drawing element and fertile imagination. Populated with contemplative figures set in vividly coloured Arcadian landscapes, his paintings are rich with symbolic, political and philosophical depths. Adrian Wiszniewski (pronounced Vishnevski) was born in Glasgow in 1958 and studied architecture at The Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow 1975–79; then trained at Glasgow School of Art, 1979–83. Wiszniewski is one of the leading members of the New Glasgow Boys responsible for the revival and resurgence of figurative painting under the tutelage of Sandy Moffat OBE; a group of artists that included Steven Campbell, Ken Currie and Peter Howson. His multiple awards include the Haldane Trust Award in 1982, the David Cargill Scholarship in 1983, the Mark Rothko Memorial Award in 1984, the I.C.C.F. Best Design Award New York in 1993 and the Lord Provost Gold Medal from City of Glasgow in 1999. His work can be found in many international public collections including The Gallery of Modern Art in New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, The Setagaya Museum, Tokyo, Japan, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Tate Britain, London and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Wiszniewski has had numerous major solo exhibitions over many years including in London, Sydney, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ghent and Tokyo.