Art Space Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of works by the Scottish artist Henry Kondracki, his first solo show since joining the Gallery in 2007.

Bill Hare has written of his work that “…with deft subtlety of art and craft, passing itself off as simplicity of effect, Kondracki merges form and content in his paintings to miraculously create and reveal a new pictorial world – not the usual one of our dulled consciousness, but another, which magically transports us back to our most treasured memories and cherished dreams.”

Whether his subject matter is New York, London or his native Edinburgh and the Scottish countryside, his paintings are amongst the most lyrical to have been produced in Britain in recent years. The places he paints are places that feel real and familiar: hazy views over the city, rain sodden streets, bus stops, shop fronts, the orange glare of street lights, children’s playgrounds and well known beauty spots. But along with his unerring eye for reality Kondracki shapes the world into his own vision and weaves into it a rich narrative where childhood and family memories and past associations infuse the work with a deeper meaning that transforms the commonplace into a poetic vision full of the dramas of life and the passage of time.

This exhibition presents works as yet unseen in London that are his observations of urban life on visits to New York and London. But the core of the show offers us a wry and witty account of the quotidian world of Edinburgh: the streets and parks by day and night – usually in inclement weather - trips to the races or days spent with his young children at the swimming baths and their treks to the heights of Arthur’s Seat to peer down on the City and look out over the vastness of the surrounding countryside.

Born in Edinburgh (1953) of Polish-Scottish descent Kondracki left school and followed his father into the restaurant business before travelling to London to study at Byam Shaw 1981-82 and the Slade 1982-86. He has shown regularly in London and Edinburgh as well as New York and Australia and has work in private and public collections world wide.