Ishbel Myerscough

This painting is a portrait of Fraser, Myerscough’s son. Fraser’s face covers the whole surface of the painting giving us the opportunity to discover every freckle and even the emergence of a faint moustache. Wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt, he looks to the front with eyes wide-open. It is easy to guess the existing relationship between Myerscough and her model through both the way the artist depicts his face in such detail and the depth of his gaze.

Myerscough’s portraits are a gentle interrogation of the psychology of the person depicted. Her interest in small details such us hair, wrinkles, spots or freckles, have made her style, together with a studied brushwork, very realistic and natural. She explores her curiosity about the human body and relationships through painting her children, her friends’ children and other members of her family.

Myerscough’s work is a journey through time, maternity and womanhood. She has been a friend of Chantal Joffes since their time at Art School. They have painted each other, and each others families, for more than 20 years, exploring the changes in their bodies as well as their friendship.

Ishbel studied at Glasgow School of Art and the Slade School of Art in London. In 1995 she won the National Portrait Gallery’s annual BP Portrait Award. Her first solo show was in 1992 at the Anthony Mould Contemporary Gallery, London, where she has been exhibiting for more than twenty years. She has exhibited in group shows nationally and internationally at the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre (Karlsruhe), the Flowers Gallery (New York, USA), The Art Wynwood Pavilion (Miami, USA), the London Art Fair (London), The Metropolitan Pavilion (New York), the Browse & Darby Gallery (London), the No.4A Gallery (Malvern), the Royal Academy of London, London, the Jerwood Space (London) and the Die Kraft Der Bilder (Berlin).