Simon Reekie grew up in
Dundee and completed a degree in Biotechnology before
researching in the field of molecular biology in
London
. Simon's passion for art increased while in London, and
he returned to Scotland in 2000, and was awarded a first
class honours degree from Duncan of Jordanstone College
of Art in 2004. Since graduating he has been awarded
numerous prestigious prizes including the Royal Scottish
Academy's John Kinross Scholarship, the Sandra
McNeilance Memorial prize, and most recently, the highly
coveted Fulbright Scholarship, which is the United
States' premier academic scholarship. The Fulbright
Scholarship will allow Simon to study for an MFA in
painting at the School of Art Institute of Chicago,
which is regarded as the best art school in the
United States
. With only 6
UK
scholarships on offer, Simon defeated competition from
all academic disciplines, including medicine, law and
journalism to become the only artist to receive a
scholarship in 2005. The last Scottish artist to receive
a Fulbright Scholarship was Stephen Campbell.
Simon has painted over 40
self-portraits over the last 10 years. Each
self-portrait shows Simon searching for, and attempting
to document, the truth about himself a reality.
Self-portrait (Painter) shows Simon in the painting
clothes and state of mind that he inhabited throughout
the hectic fourth year of his degree course. The more
recent Self-Portrait (School Uniform) documents a
recurring dream Simon has been having. Simon's theories
and ideas regarding self-portraits can be found in his
first class honours dissertation 'The Search for the
Self in Self-Portraiture'.
In Simon's other three
paintings in this exhibition, his molecular biology
background is evident. His forensic attention to detail
produces an often disturbing view of reality. His work has
been termed 'Neurotic Realism' by one critic. His
cartoonish hyperreal portraits address the ideas of body
to scale, of narratives to objects and his work can be
seen to examine notions of the gigantic as an expression
of the exterior self. Simon's forensic attention to his
paint surface and quality means that he is in the studio
every waking hour. This man's work ethic could not be
bettered. |
