Keen readers of Fine Art Collector will remember that we gave you the first look at Stuart’s latest collection, Lost Lives//Split Personalities , in our Spring/ Summer issue earlier this year. It won’t surprise you to hear that it caught the eye of not only keen collectors, but of art critic, writer, lecturer and broadcaster, Estelle Lovatt FRSA. Read her essay, entitled, The Rock and Rock Wall of Fame here:
“As I write this, we are in one of the most challenging periods of our time as unexpected events are happening with Brexit, Megxit, Greta, Trump, BoJo and Coronavirus. Finding peace in art, I can only applaud the impact of McAlpine Miller’s new collection. Each portrait, a zealous testament to the life of an iconic rock star no longer alive, except through their music. All-immersive, these portraits are moreover an exposé of you. A self-portrait of you; you becoming part of the picture through personal reflection and identity. When you look at them you’ll hear your favourite hall of fame pop star song in your head. Reliving your younger early teen years, in your mind’s eye you hear each portrait miraculously pitch a melody, hum in tune, purr with harmony, tinkle tones, wax lyrical, bang drums, strum and pluck guitar strings and heart strings. You get
the feeling you’re backstage in a dressing room, a private moment before the rock star goes live on stage. As McAlpine Miller says, “The emotion that music can reveal can allow the listener to transport themselves to a time, a place and a feeling. Art can do the same. We just have to open our minds. I felt a shudder when I heard [t]his music and that feeling still lives with me today”. McAlpine Miller takes Kandinsky’s synaesthesia to a new level. Mixing Pop Art with pop music, using his paintbrush like a conductors baton, his pencil like Spotify. As McAlpine Miller says, “I generally listen to music by these musicians while painting. Each creates a different emotion and I would imagine my work in the same kind of context as the music I was listening to. Music is an emotion, a feeling and a state of mind. Expression is key.
94 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 95
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker