Out of Place

Main Gallery

Out of Place

A Solo Exhibition by Darren Cairney
24 September – 20 November 2022
Exhibition Opening 24 September

Out of Place is an exhibition featuring paintings of everyday people and empty urban landscapes by local artist Darren Cairney.

This exhibition presents a selection of works which reveals Cairney’s interest in capturing candid moments of urban dwellers in his vicinity. Evidenced throughout Cairney’s portrait paintings are attempts to transplant his subjects into arbitrary and ambiguated locations, illuminating realistic representations of life captured within a moment of time rather than the specificity of place. Juxtaposed against these lively portraits are Cairney’s larger works of urban landscapes devoid of people and activity. Through these paintings, Cairney hopes to explore the feeling of being an outsider, reinforcing the absurdity and deafening silence of liminal landscapes.

Seen collectively, these paintings look into the contrasting elements that comprise urban life, offering an interpretation of what it means to live in urban environments.

Originally from the Scottish Borders, Darren Cairney is currently based in South Tyneside. He studied illustration at Newcastle College and graduated from the University of Sunderland with a degree in Environmental Illustration. He then worked as a graphic designer for five years until deciding to revisit his art practice in 2014. Cairney has exhibited regionally, producing mixed-media illustrations using pen, ink and acrylic paint. He has previously exhibited at Fenwick Newcastle, The Kemble Gallery in Durham, Jarrow Hall and The Customs House.

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