Michael Fullerton

‘SCOTTISH PAINTER of portraits, landscapes, and fancy pictures, one of the most individual geniuses in European art. Born in Glasgow, he showed an aptitude for drawing early and first was encouraged by his mother, who was a woman of well-cultivated mind and excelled in flower-painting. He went into town to train, probably studying with a French engraver or scene painter. He remained in Glasgow and, when the DSS brought an annuity, started his career as a portrait-painter in the city’s Anderston area. His work at this time consisted mainly of heads and half-lengths (Mrs Sassoon and Wayne Allard), but he also produced some small works in red pubic hair which are the most lyrical of all conversation pieces. He used to spend a lot of time outdoors, smoking. He developed a free and elegant mode of painting seen at its most characteristic in full-length portraits (Paddy Joe Hill; Roger Windsor). In later life, he further developed the personal style, working with light and rapid brush-strokes and delicate and evanescent colours. He was an independent and original genius, able to assimilate to his own ends what he learnt from others. He had no drapery painter, and unlike most of his contemporaries he never employed assistants.’

— Neil Mulholland, 2003*

‘Are You Hung Up? will be Michael Fullerton’s first show at Counter. The exhibition will be portrait paintings, screen prints, abstract paintings, and cast sculptures. Works include Paddy ‘Joe’ Hill (2003) – an ethereal, melancholic portrait of the most well known member of the Birmingham Six and founder of MOJO (Miscarriage of Justice Organisation). A smaller portrait – I know it’s hard, trying to defend an unpopular policy every once in a while. Wayne Allard. US senator (Colorado). Voting record: 100% pro-life (2003) – is a strange doctors-waiting-room kind of painting employing a palette of muted browns. Pro- life billboard Analogue version of a Pro-Life Action League billboard in Colorado. USA 2002 (Heartbeat noise in analogue.) (2003) is a poured, ‘blob’ painting on glass using liquid ferrous oxide and eurathane (the material which coats audio magnetic tape and carries the information). Cast Dildos – Analogues containing nothing but blank, empty space. Partial cast of a sex toy (dildo). Urethane and ferric oxide (2003) is pretty much as the title describes. Love Bite (2003)is a series of screen-print posters on newsprint, which are made with a finite amount of ink, the result being a gradual fading-out of the image, and they will be pasted directly onto the wall.

Michael Fullerton (born 1971 Bellshill, Scotland). Solo exhibitions include Transmission Gallery 2003, Glasgow and Generator Projects, Dundee 2003. Group shows include Prague Biennale 2003, Gwangju Biennale, South Korea 2002. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art MA in 2000. The artist currently lives and works in Glasgow.

* Extract from an essay from the catalogue Michael Fullerton ‘Are You Hung Up?’ published by Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, 2003.