Life Tones will be Mangan’s third solo exhibition at Morningside Gallery and includes twenty-five new paintings from the award-winning artist. Finding the right tone and atmosphere for his work has always driven Stephen’s practice, with a sense of place a key element - identifying atmospheric locations and settings for them to inhabit. Having been brought up around the beaches of East Lothian, and with his family home next to Musselburgh racecourse, this seemed a good place to start. Over the years, more settings have been added - railway stations, theatres, and cafes - all places from which his characters continue to tell their stories. He often highlights individuals caught in moments of contemplation, introspection and even melancholy.
Stephen acknowledges a debt to various artists who have inspired him over the years - Seurat, Vermeer and Hopper especially - all artists similarly preoccupied with people and the spaces they inhabit. Through his imaginatively thought-out compositions and slow, meticulous approach to painting, Stephen creates a world with arresting presence, at once familiar and otherworldly. Using oils to create bold canvases, Mangan also makes masterful use of geometry within his compositions. There is an elegant stillness to these scenes emphasised by his almost effortless skill in deploying chiaroscuro shading techniques to bolster the emotional atmosphere.
Eileadh Swan, director of Morningside Gallery said: “We’re really excited to welcome Stephen to the gallery on Friday April 4, for a Private View ahead of the exhibition launch the following day. The ambiguities in Stephen’s work invite a great deal of interpretation from viewers, giving them an irresistible and inimitable allure and we are drawn to ask who are these characters? What stories do they have to share? Lots to talk about and lots to enjoy in the gallery with this much-anticipated new exhibition.”
Based at Church Hill in Morningside, the gallery will display 25 new paintings for the exhibition, which can also be viewed online and toured as a virtual exhibition for anyone who can’t make it to Edinburgh.
The exhibition will run in the gallery from Saturday April 5-26, and is open to the public. There is an opportunity to meet the artist in the gallery on Friday April 4, from 6pm-8pm. For more details or to attend the Private View, contact the gallery via morningsidegallery.co.uk.