Artists directory

Margaretann

Bennett

Margaretann Bennett is drawn to the beauty of the abandoned and forgotten — mossed stone, rusted metal, verdigris, and fading photographs found in Victorian cemeteries and crumbling old buildings. From her home in Glasgow, she seeks out these small pockets of history, which offer a quiet, contemplative atmosphere and inform both her abstract and figurative work. Close studies of tombstone imagery inform larger canvases that echo the worn surfaces of time and nature. Her figurative paintings connect closely with the vulnerability of human experience, reflecting on identity and the tension between inner and outer selves. Twin imagery and elements of alter ego recur, exploring how women present themselves and how they are perceived. The physical making of the work is central to her practice. She prepares bespoke surfaces by embedding aggregates into gesso and weathering the ground, so the canvas carries traces of erosion. Through this process, her paintings become reflections on time, memory, and the persistence of love in the face of loss and change. Born in Scotland, her practice is shaped — but not confined — by place. She has worked from her Glasgow studio for over twenty-five years, with new work continually evolving.

Disciplines: Painting

Location: Glasgow

Materials: Acrylic, Assemblage, Monoprint, Oil, Paper, Pen & Ink, Pencil
Margaretann Bennett is drawn to the beauty of the abandoned and forgotten — mossed stone, rusted metal, verdigris, and fading photographs found in Victorian cemeteries and crumbling old buildings. From her home in Glasgow, she seeks out these small pockets of history, which offer a quiet, contemplative atmosphere and inform both her abstract and figurative work. Close studies of tombstone imagery inform larger canvases that echo the worn surfaces of time and nature. Her figurative paintings connect closely with the vulnerability of human experience, reflecting on identity and the tension between inner and outer selves. Twin imagery and elements of alter ego recur, exploring how women present themselves and how they are perceived. The physical making of the work is central to her practice. She prepares bespoke surfaces by embedding aggregates into gesso and weathering the ground, so the canvas carries traces of erosion. Through this process, her paintings become reflections on time, memory, and the persistence of love in the face of loss and change. Born in Scotland, her practice is shaped — but not confined — by place. She has worked from her Glasgow studio for over twenty-five years, with new work continually evolving.

Previous Experience

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2024 New Work, Green Gallery, Stirling 2018 New Work, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow 2016 The Untold, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland 2014 New Paintings, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow 2012 Fellowship Exhibition, The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh, Scotland 2011 New work, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow New Works, Panter & Hall, London, UK 2009 Inverarity Travel Award Exhibition, RGI Kelly Gallery, Glasgow 2008 New Work, The RGI Kelly Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland Feathers and Friends, Hanna’s Contemporary Gallery, Dundee 2004 New work, The Leith Gallery, Edinburgh Winter Lands, Kranenburg and Fowler Fine Art, Oban, Scotland 2003 Weather Moods, RGI Kelly Gallery, Glasgow New Work, Tolquhon Gallery, Aberdeenshire 2002 Land Rhythms, Fellowship Exhibition, The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow, Scotland 2001 New Paintings, Tolquhon Gallery, Aberdeenshire 1997 Margaretann Bennett, Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine

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