Next to them, on the left, there is a composition of three rectangles in earthly blue, green and red. Turning around, I discover two other paintings, hung in more unexpected corners. Their colours are bright, almost frantic, and their composition as candid as the others.

I cannot help but feeling challenged by this presentation of the young Scottish artist Fiona Mackay. Her paintings are not always beautiful, her lining can be crude, the use of colour un-harmonious. The works are somewhat unsettling; they do not offer any handlebars by which they can be interpreted. In fact, Mackay rather plays with ambiguities and subtleties that perturb the viewer.
For example the painting Lemons, it depicts two orange ellipses on a blue-squared background. The title tells me I am looking at lemons lying on what could be a tablecloth. The shape makes that plausible, but their colour tells me something else. I realize Mackay doesn’t paint what she says she paints, and her titles are often misleading. In this case it seems as if the painter did not want to decide what it is she has painted and left the decision to the audience. Oranges, or lemons, or nuts, or cats eyes staring back at us; the longer I look, the more options present themselves and the harder it becomes to settle on what I am actually looking at.

The title of the duo Green Blue Jug and Blue Green Jug clearly indicates that Mackay painted jugs, which one easily believes on first sight. But while looking a little longer, one starts wondering, is this what a jug looks like? And why would a painter nowadays want to paint an old-fashioned looking jug? The images do not seem to be modelled after an actual jug but rather attempt to capture the ‘idea’ of a jug, an idea that is shaped by the recollection of hundreds of other painted jugs that were created in the course of art history. Moreover, there is an intriguing tension between the two painted jugs here. While one of them seems firm and resolute, the other one looks squashed, the lining seems more hesitant and there are blue paint stains all over it. If one painting represents the firm idea of a jug, the other shows the uncertainty, the instability of that idea, it is a demonstration of the ‘second thought’.

Just like the ‘jugs’, Cross also holds reference to the history of painting. The geometric composition is reminiscent of De Stijl’ and Bauhaus’ modernism. Yet in the middle of the painting Mackay has left part of the canvas untouched, which immediately undermines this reference. At closer inspection one recognises that the composition is actually about the vivid and emphatic brushstrokes that constructed it, they go in cross-wise directions. This painting emphasises that the making process, the technique of painting, is a central focus of Mackay’s work.

The most unambiguous painting of the series is Untitled. The composition of a zigzagging grid could be a dreamy reference to the aslant roof windows of the garage-space, while the illuminating white and yellow was inspired by the daylight. Through these gestures, Untitled may be the least unsettling composition and the most site-responsive and thereby it offers a framework that unites the show. Untitled seduces the viewer to start making spatial connections between the different paintings.
All of a sudden, the five paintings seem intrinsically related: Green Blue Jug and Blue Green Jug are thematically connected with Lemons, while the blue-squared table-cloth of the latter corresponds with the geometry of Cross, which in return is related to the grid of Untitled. The garage-space is not empty anymore, but fills itself up with an exciting visual choreography incited by the five works on the wall.

3,5 weeks, the title of the presentation by Fiona Mackay at Lokaal 01, is an oddly busyness-like title for a presentation of paintings that are as expressive and singular as this one. It is a plain reference to the length of time that Mackay spent in Antwerp, during which she disciplined herself to paint everyday, and which resulted in these five paintings. The title of the presentation thus puts the focus not so much on the subject-matter of the works, but rather on the way they are created: the artist at work in her studio, producing ideas, building up compositions, experimenting with colour and form, until she feels the result is worthy of being presented to an audience.

In speaking about her practice, Mackay often uses terms as “letting things evolve”, “testing the image” or “destroying the painting so it becomes something else”. “There should be a reason for the painting to be a painting. It goes beyond being a mere image”, says Mackay. During the three-and-a-half weeks Mackay worked on at least twice as many paintings. All of them were careful steps on a trail, moments of conviction followed by doubt, firm decisions that were countered, finally leading to the well-considered spatial arrangement of the final five. The paintings of 3,5 weeks may seem swift and spontaneous, but they have all been subjected to second, third and fourth thoughts. They are part of a deliberate plan. This is why they hold and maintain the compelling ability to challenge, confuse and intrigue.

In 2010 nodigt Lokaal 01_Antwerpen jonge kunstcritici uit om de kunstenaars tijdens hun werkperiode te volgen. Zij zullen een publiek gesprek leiden met de kunstenaar en een kritische tekst schrijven in relatie tot de presentatie van de kunstenaars. Door jonge kunstcritici een plek te geven om zich te tonen wil Lokaal 01 bijdragen aan de ondersteuning en ontwikkeling van jonge beeldende kunstkritiek.

www.lokaal01.org