Born in 1950, Ivar Mackay studied at Harrow College of Art under Michael Casson and Walter Keeler. He established Shire Pottery in Northumberland in 1982 with his partner Francesca Wedel and since 1998 has devoted himself exclusively on working with thrown porcelain. The Scottish Gallery is delighted to host Ivar Mackay's second solo exhibition 'In View of the Pyrenees'

"The granite and limestone geologies of the Languedoc Roussillon - Pyrenees to the south,  Black Mountains to the north, with their sharp charcoal skylines, snow fields in early summer, deep cracks, caves and potholes - are a striking influence on the matt blacks in the new work of Ivar Mackay. From the mezzanine that he built to look at the mountains Ivar has observed the intensity, too, of the southern French blue skies that turn to deep cobalt in the evening, shot through with golden light. These pieces in hand thrown porcelain - matt blacks with their white rims and wax resist fissuring, frothings of celadon overlay, and the intense and reflective cobalts, silvered and gilded - are a distillation of the strongest elements in the new landscape that now surrounds Ivar Mackay."