It could be said that Simon Laurie's paintings need no introduction for the simple reason that they communicate so strongly, so successfully, they speak for themselves, and so, does one need to add any narrative?

But I have to convey my strong enthusiasm together with some background on Simon for the more curious. His paintings are so 'up front', or graphic, it would be easy to make the mistake of thinking that they are simple, or easily achieved, and this, I know, cannot be the case.

The fullness of his colour and the clarity of his compositions could add to such an assumption, but look more closely and one can discern great subtlety. Without this delicacy – a combination of tender mark making and outstanding colour sense, allied to inspirational juxtaposition and sense of abstract composition – these works would not convey such outstanding resonance.

I am not alone in finding that the directness, lucidity and diversity of Simon Laurie's paintings is remarkable, they are a total joy, and to be able to produce work with such freshness, on a regular basis, is a remarkable achievement,

Behind this talent lies six years of training at Glasgow School of Art culminating in an Honorary BA.  Simon's CV also lists many major awards over the last eighteen years, as well as works held in both significant public and corporate collections. He was born in Glasgow in 1964. A full CV is available on request from the gallery.

                                                                                    John Davies  December 2009