Robert Reddick, one of the more senior artists at Project Ability, has drawn and created his whole life. His family remember him from an early age as constantly producing work and being enthralled with the results but it wasn’t until ten years ago when he was in his 70’s and started attending classes at Project Ability that his work became more widely seen and enjoyed by bigger audiences.
Robert was a thoroughly good artist with a prodigious output which belied his advanced years. His distinctive shaky lines had an eloquent fluidity over which he had precise control. He worked at great speed his line revealing and rearranging forms and shapes. His characteristic understanding of structure, as he filled sheet after sheet with crowded lines, could almost obscure the detail of the composition until he pulled it back to order and the form surfaced. At other times his line was sparse and elegantly positioned within an empty space.
Robert contributed to many exhibitions. Highlights include his first solo exhibition at Project Ability in 2006. “Recalling Lines” Robert’s second solo show took place in 2010 in Project Ability’s Gallery in Trongate 103. In 2009 his work was selected for the 2009 “Outsider Art” biennale in Sweden. In January 2010 he showed work in the Collins Gallery as part of the international exhibition Myscape. In November 2010 Robert had two drawings selected for the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition.
Robert a kind, gentle, hardworking man had an enormous talent for drawing. His family were immensely proud of him and so pleased that in his later years people could see and enjoy his work. We will remember Roberts’ quiet determination, his love of all things Scottish from Robert Burns to the Broons, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, trams, Scottish Castles and ancient monuments; his strength and singular determination to capture his surroundings and record his memories in pen and ink.
His work will be seen in the forthcoming exhibition “The Highway Code” at Project Ability’s gallery in Trongate 103 from the 1st March to the 14th April 2012.
