Born in Luton in 1951, Mary Mabbutt attended Luton School of Art (1970-71), Loughborough College of Art & Design (1971-74), and the Royal Academy Schools (1975-78). She lives in Falmouth in Cornwall, where she moved in 1979 to work as a tutor in painting at Falmouth College of Art. Self-portraiture is at the heart of her creativity. She says, ‘ I have probably used the self-portrait more than any other subject as the starting point for my paintings. I paint what I do, where I am. In the making of my paintings, there is a tension between, on the one hand, desire to work from a memory and, on the other hand, a realisation that the memory does not hold enough visual interest – so I find I also need to work from observation as part of a process of live visual discovery.
‘I am keen to avoid the ‘stare’ of self-portraiture. I am not scrutinising my appearance or my expression in a ‘search for truth’. I am trying to make a painting where I can explore composition, space, light, colour, and how to fit incident into the whole but also maintain my grasp of the initial subject. The 2011 Self-Portraitdepicts me as a painter, in my studio. On the back wall are postcards indicating some different approaches to painting – Barnett Newman, Edgar Degas, Philip Guston, Peter Doig, Chardin, and Chris Offili. The context of the red studio is a nod to Matisse. A number of small studies were done from life to help me make the larger painting.’
Mabbutt’s paintings are in the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Arts Council, London; The Usher Gallery, Lincoln; and Falmouth Art Gallery.
‘I am keen to avoid the ‘stare’ of self-portraiture. I am not scrutinising my appearance or my expression in a ‘search for truth’. I am trying to make a painting where I can explore composition, space, light, colour, and how to fit incident into the whole but also maintain my grasp of the initial subject. The 2011 Self-Portraitdepicts me as a painter, in my studio. On the back wall are postcards indicating some different approaches to painting – Barnett Newman, Edgar Degas, Philip Guston, Peter Doig, Chardin, and Chris Offili. The context of the red studio is a nod to Matisse. A number of small studies were done from life to help me make the larger painting.’
Mabbutt’s paintings are in the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Arts Council, London; The Usher Gallery, Lincoln; and Falmouth Art Gallery.
RSS Feed