Robbie Bushe studio portrait, photo Helen Pugh
We are delighted to announce Robbie Bushe RSA and Elaine Woo MacGregor as the recipients of two new awards funded by the RSA Blackadder Houston Bequest.
The £20,000 RSA Blackadder Houston Mid-Career Painting Award intends to enable a committed painter to devote themselves exclusively to painting for a period up to 26 weeks. The inaugural recipient, Edinburgh-based artist Robbie Bushe’s practice centres on the depiction of detailed, suggestive narratives, frequently set within expansive architectonic constructions.
He intends to use the funds to embark on a speculative visual journey around the abandoned plans for an inner ring road in Edinburgh. Through archival research and improvisation, Bushe’s complex, large-scale panoramic paintings will playfully re-enact what the plans may have been.
Bushe said: ‘I am thrilled. Since graduating in 1990, I have covertly woven my art practice around intensive academic commitments. This opportunity to make work uninterrupted for an extended period is an absolute dream come true. John Houston was my studio lecturer in my fourth year at Edinburgh College of Art, which was also John’s last year of teaching. His quiet and paternal approach brought out the best in me, and his voice and advice have stayed with me over the last 30 or more years.’
Elaine Woo MacGregor, the recipient of the RSA Blackadder Houston Mid-Career Travel Award will receive £5,000 to carry out research, development and production of a new body of work through a period of international travel.
MacGregor paints stories and memories of people based on personal experience. She plans to use the award funds to visit Hong Kong and Shanghai, revisiting places from her childhood, reconnecting with her Chinese heritage to bring a stronger personal narrative to her new work.
Elaine Woo MacGregor said: ‘Being recognised for my hard work and dedication means the world to me. This motivates me to work even harder towards achieving my goals. I look forward to embarking on my adventure to China with my sketchbooks and camera.’
We are honoured to enable these significant awards for contemporary painters on behalf of Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA and her husband John Houston RSA and we look forward to seeing the results.
