Charles Avery is one of Scotland’s most highly regarded contemporary artists. He has shown at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art on a number of occasions; he was commissioned to make a public work to be sited in Waverley Station for the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2015; and he represented Scotland at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. His work can also be found in numerous public collections including Tate London, Kunstmuseum, The Hague and the David Roberts Art Foundation, London.
These two drawings relate to Avery’s long-term project The Islanders, a painstakingly detailed alternative world that the artist has created. Through drawings, texts and objects Avery describes the inhabitants, architecture, philosophies, customs and idiosyncrasies of this imagined world, part Scottish Hebrides, part East London. The Island sits at the centre of an archipelago, its capital the port city of Onomatopoeia, described by Richard Ingleby as ‘originally a stepping off point for pioneers and travellers, turned bustling boomtown, turned citadel, turned depression ravaged slum, turned regenerated city of culture’. In these two drawings, we see the denizens of the Island at rest, a riff on the traditional art historical motif of ‘bathers’, albeit transferred to hotel pools and public baths. Their swimwear, has a time- and space-shifting quality, taking us back to the 70s and possibly to the Eastern Bloc, yet at the same time, the poses and expressions feel very contemporary, with their combination of awkwardness and poise.
Elements of The Islanders project have recently been exhibited at the 16th Istanbul Biennial (2019),the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kerela (2017) and at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, as part of the NOW series of exhibitions (2019).
Lyon & Turnbull are delighted to offer Modern and Contemporary editioned prints and multiples within our Contemporary & Post-War Art // Prints & Multiples and MODERN MADE auctions.
An exciting and developing area of the market, Prints & Multiples are popular with new and seasoned collectors alike.
At Lyon & Turnbull, we handle prints from a wide variety of artists: from 20th century masters Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro through to the British canon of printmakers including Dame Laura Knight, L.S. Lowry, Edward Bawden, all the way to David Hockney and Howard Hodgkin. Our auctions encompass printmaking created up to and including the present day, with artists currently working in these mediums, such as Tracey Emin, David Shrigley, Banksy and the Connor Brothers.
Characterised by competitive bidding, strong results and a high selling rate, our Contemporary & Post-War Art sales are among our most popular auctions. Held three times a year in our Scottish saleroom, highlights are also regularly exhibited in our London gallery. Our strong private client base and excellent international marketing reach has seen these sales grow into flagships of our company.
Encompassing works by both emerging and internationally regarded contemporary artists and sculptors, we have achieved top prices for household names including John Hoyland (a world record), Bridget Riley, Eduardo Paolozzi (a world record for a sculpture), Terry Frost, Nicholas Party, Alison Watt and Callum Innes. Regularly featured local favourites include John Bellany and the ‘New Glasgow Boys’ Peter Howson, Ken Currie, Steven Campbell, as well as John Byrne and Alasdair Gray.
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