The surface is the landscape, a landscape in fragments, a place with the illusion of timelessness. What hovers above and what hides beneath the surface? The land is shifting underneath our feet. Stitched up, named, numbered and overseen. Places that are torn up, surveyed, abandoned, fragile in existence. Places without names or solid foundation. Places with a stark horizon, the gap between heaven and earth, the gap where the unexpected can happen.

Compass gallery is presenting a special exhibition for one of Glasgow School of Arts most successful graduates, John MacFarlane. John is regarded as one of the world’s leading designers for Opera and Ballet and has international status. This solo show demonstrates his crossover into the visual arts and will be his first Scottish exhibition. Throughout his career he has continued with his painting and drawing practices. At this stage in his career he wishes to develop his skills as a fine art practitioner of drawing and painting. Often a transition is difficult to make so Compass Gallery, where he first began exhibiting his drawings in the New Generation Show immediately after graduating from Glasgow School of Art, seems fitting and also that it is his first Scottish exhibition takes place here in Glasgow particularly when the city is focussing on the Visual Arts and its creative sons and daughters.