Flock, Stock and Two-Legged Mammals: paintings by Northumberland-based artist, Gavin Watson.
With titles such as 'Rawhide', 'Pigmartyr' and 'Waiting for Dogot', the work reflects my interest in the physical and emotional bonds that exist between people, animals, and the spaces they share. I portray animals as spiritual beings capable of both humility and wonder.
I draw on the cultural heritage of Northumberland's border Reivers whose strong kin-ties and relationships with the land and its livestock defines what has been romanticised as England's last wilderness.
Migration and displacement are recurring themes in the work, which portrays wild and domestic animals against emblems of the English country house, such as flock wallpaper, which itself references the landscape.
Rawhide,
Oil on canvas 42” x 40” 2011
The Last Tupper,
Oil on canvas 42” x 40” 2011
Buck Passing,
Oil on canvas 50” x 40” 2011
Call of the Child,
Oil on canvas 50” x 40” 2011
Pigmartyr,
Oil on canvas 30” x 18” 2011
Waiting for Dogot,
Oil on canvas 40” x 32” 2011
Duck Down,
Oil on linen 34” x 30” 2011
Dogmartyr,
Oil on canvas 32” x 28” 2011
Ugly Suckling,
Oil on linen 18” x 14” 2011
Northern Soul,
Oil on linen 18” x 14” 2011