THE FIRST one-man show of Robbie Bushe, post-graduate student at Edinburgh College of Art, is virtually a sellout. Buyers both North and South of the Border reckon that they are onto a winner. One Bath dealer has snapped up seven in one go.
From a distance his paintings, pastels and drawings look like children’s art. There is little perspective, figures are round and chunky, and colours may only be vaguely smudged on the area they are supposed to be. But close up there is a cartoonist’s knack to speak volumes with a few delicate well-placed lines. The colours are strong, but so toned down they never shriek out at you. It’s subtle, it never takes itself too seriously, it’s art for the living room wall. Household Games shows at the Traverse Theatre in the Grassmarket till 29 April. It has been mounted by Shiona Airlie of Artis. She says, “This is most likely to be the first and last show I do for him. It will be London next time round.”
Robbie paints about domesticity – warts, dirty washing, infidelity, couples taking each other for granted – and all. Some of his pictures are busy, each corner stirring up a wealth of thought, in others, images are isolated for maximum impact. His secret of success may lie in the fact that he sets out to be accessible but does it in his own highly original, hugely creative style. Robbie neither views it as an indulgence nor does he paint to make money. “I’d rather exhibit than sell,” he mutters, very quietly. One or two works are still up for sale in Household Games. New works can be seen at Robbie’s post-graduate showing at Edinburgh Art College in the early summer.
By KAY SMITH, The Scotsman, 21 April 1990