Following Ross Watson's successful Toronto Exhibition, the artist and his partner Stephen Morgan, visited Spain. The inspiration for this arresting and magical new painting was provided for the artist on a bright warm morning in the beautiful gardens of Seville's Royal Alcazar.
Morgan looks skywards into the strong sunlight as he rests against one of the garden's maze walls. A solitary red umbrella slowly descends before a backdrop of silhouetted trees. Watson has incorporated a red velvet barrier rope - which he had seen in the superb Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba - converting it to a dramatic contemporary outdoor sculpture.
The historical evolution of Seville in the last millennium is held within its walls and gardens, amalgamating influences starting from the Arabic period, late Middle Ages Mud̩jar right through to the Renaissance, Baroque and the XIX century. Watson's choice of location for this outstanding artwork seems fitting then, given his art, which for almost thirty years, has fused imagery from various periods to create and explore something anew.
