Inverness Museum and Art Gallery to exhibit work by renowned Scottish artist Ken Currie inspired by Outer Hebrides

Haunting works by internationally-renowned Scottish artist Ken Currie are to be exhibited at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery.

The exhibition, The Crossing/An Turas, features a series of paintings inspired by the landscape, history and people of the Outer Hebrides.

It will show from October 11 to November 29.

• Inverness Museum’s 200-year journey

• Museum and art gallery invites families to explore festival of Samhainn

Currie is renowned for his unsettling portrayal of the human figure, with the artist’s rich, luminous paintings depicting narratives on mysterious rites, rituals, and faith, offering a meditation on humanity and violence in its many guises.

The Crossing/An Turas exhibition depicts an unknown archipelago, characterised by its desolate and barren islands and towering sea stacks populated by a community which endure a precarious existence without shelter.

Kirsten Body, visual arts programme curator at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, said: “We are delighted to be hosting these vast emotive paintings which will transform our art galleries into a darkly imaginative space.

“Ken rose to attention within a generation of painters known as the New Glasgow Boys in the 1980s and this new work has a particular resonance with our own histories in the Highlands and Islands.”

The exhibition preview on Friday October 10 from 6pm to 8pm and is open to all although due to the nature of the imagery it may not be suitable for younger children.

The museum is also hosting a sold-out conversation and book signing with Ken Currie and art historian Tom Normand centred on the publication, Ken Currie: Paintings and Writings.

It is hoped to stream the event live on Instagram at 2pm on Saturday October 11 and copies of the publication can be purchased from the museum shop.

Currie’s work is held in many major public collections including Tate, London, the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, New York Public Library, the Imperial War Museum in London, Campbelltown Arts Centre in New South Wales, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and the British Council, London.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.