Contrapuntal Painting (3/25), 2025

James Lumsden  

A work by the Scottish artist James Lumsden. This piece is divided horizontally: the upper section is a vibrant, fiery red, while the lower section unfolds in a deep midnight blue. The highly contrasting colors nevertheless possess a translucent and luminous quality.

By choosing a title from the world of music for this series, the artist wishes to establish an analogy: "The paintings do not speak of music, but they aspire to achieve its condition: I hope that the viewer will react to the paintings as they would to a musical work, without needing words. As with music, I hope that the work evokes an emotion in the viewer."

James Lumsden's abstract paintings explore the themes of light, color, and depth. His creative process involves layering dozens of thin coats of acrylic paint and glossy gel onto the canvas. This mixture is then worked with specific tools to reveal or conceal certain marks and textures. Layer upon layer, the artist manages to create an illusion of depth and light, immersing the viewer in a mysterious and captivating world.

Traces and marks of color meet on the surface but seem to emerge from within the canvas, in what the artist defines as "a frozen act of movement." Translucent and vibrant hues are juxtaposed and blended to create combinations that are at once delicate, bold, and contrasting. Through this pictorial technique, which skillfully blends chance and mastery, the physical support is transformed into a poetic work imbued with emotion.

“I want to see something come to life, the fruit of effort, bearing its own story and the time spent creating it. My aim is to produce something positive and affirmative, filled with both light and darkness, contrasts, hesitations, and contradictions—open paintings that allow the viewer's imagination to search, wander, or react freely." — James Lumsden