Edinburgh born in 1964, Stephen Mangan graduated with a BA Honours degree from Duncan of Jordanstone Art College, Dundee, in 1988. Following his post graduate diploma in 1989, Stephen Mangan’s work has been acknowledged with many prestigious awards and scholarships over the years and has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the UK, USA, Hong Kong and Holland.
Mangan’s figurative work is particularly distinctive with an otherworldly feel. Favourite themes include racecourses, train stations, beaches, harbours, fairgrounds, cafes and theatres where the busy scenes are almost eerily calm with each figure engaged in their individual, quiet contemplation.
Stephen Mangan says, “I’m interested in the relationship between people and certain leisure environments; how they, or we, fit into the world. I seem to be drawn to people in group situations, yet I paint them as separate individuals who do not look as though they are with other people. It is an odd type of interaction”.
Mangan’s style is methodical with careful consideration given to composition. Razor-sharp lines - as seen in boats masts, racing posts, beach huts and horizons - create a pleasing geometry to guide the eye and provide balance to the roundness of the main figures - the boats, horses and people, for example.
Stephen Mangan’s use of chiaroscuro (light/shade) technique emphasises the atmospheric feeling in his work. “It’s a slow process where the paintings are carefully planned, built-up thinly and glazed often. I use light to create depth, shadows and contrast”. This technique echoes the geometric elements, light coming through a window, for example, or in shadows cast diagonally across a scene.
Mangan’s transcendent work is considered highly collectable and is held in many private and public collections globally including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In addition to Red Rag Scottish Art Gallery, Stephen Mangan’s artwork has been exhibited at other leading British Art Galleries. Each painting at Red Rag Gallery is sourced from Stephen Mangan’s artist’s studio and, like all Red Rag Scottish Art and Contemporary Art, can be shipped worldwide.
