Scott Lawrie Gallery

Scott Lawrie Gallery UK-based gallery practice that connects hearts and minds to the liberating power of art - via shows, public projects, and critical essays.

At last year’s Degree Shows, one young artist at Edinburgh College of Art instantly stood out to me. Thomas Arnold’s wor...
01/06/2026

At last year’s Degree Shows, one young artist at Edinburgh College of Art instantly stood out to me. Thomas Arnold’s work was tough, edgy and gnarly. Darkly sensual, it felt uncompromising, but never gratuitously so. As a genre, identity has felt tired for ages. But this was different. And unusually for me, I offered him a show there and then.

There Is So Much Inside of Him is a new body of work which pushes for new forms and expressions of q***r identity. The show embraces all the usual signifiers from shame and desire to rage and tenderness – not as mere illustration, but a strangely intimate architecture of becoming.

Which all sounds very neat and presentable, until you experience the work.

Just like the artist, the works stubbornly refuse easy categorisation. Through painting, sculpture, writing and installation, we can grasp the origins of a story, one which pieces together mosaic-like fragments of personal experience – dreams, remembered conversations, body parts, names, dates, historical ghosts – all of which, collectively, refuse the temptation to become voyeuristic spectacle. Paintings act more like private messages. A strange urgency unsettles us. Expressions become indelible.

This is not clean, polite representation. Because q***r identity isn’t clean or polite. It’s messy. Fluid. Brave. Infuriating. Liberating. Honest.

And necessary.

See you at the opening on Thursday 5-7pm, Thomas will be there!

There are just two days left to catch Michael Skeen’s stunner of a solo show, “Clean Slate” at the gallery in Chuckie Pe...
28/05/2026

There are just two days left to catch Michael Skeen’s stunner of a solo show, “Clean Slate” at the gallery in Chuckie Pend. It’s a vibe in itself - new, experimental paintings that simultaneously contrast and champion Michael’s graffiti based work. It’s a unique exhibition, which explores if a gallery can even begin to contain the pure, unadulterated expressive freedom of art “out there” in the wild.

Open 11-6pm until Saturday. See you there!

Pictured: ‘Sidestep’ and ‘Confinement’ (both household emulsion and aerosol on stitched canvas, both 2026).

Michael Skeen’s work begins in the street. His graffiti art is made in the open, under pressure, outside the boundaries ...
20/05/2026

Michael Skeen’s work begins in the street. His graffiti art is made in the open, under pressure, outside the boundaries of institutions. It is usually temporary, and painted with the knowledge that it may be gone by morning. So it sort of arrives, interrupts (irrespective of it being seen, or not) then disappears. I find that really interesting in itself.

But a gallery show changes everything.

Having been invited in to the confines of the neat and tidy gallery in Chuckie Pend, the work is no longer “outside the system”. Here, it has been clevery installed (by Michael), lit well, and contained for presentation.

Michael’s paintings in this context are not graffiti pretending to be something else. Far from it. They still embody the energy, rhythm and chaotic visual language of “the street”, but also chuck a heap of questions at us; what changes? What’s gained? What’s lost? What new meanings are made when a temporary mark on concrete becomes a painting made for contemplation?

It’s a fascinating show, where Michael brings the outside in, albeit in a very original way. And our eyes - not least the gallery walls - are all the better for it.

Clean Slate is open Weds to Sat 11-6pm until 30 May.

Some nice installation shots by Michael Skeen of his current solo show ‘CLEAN SLATE’ which runs until the end of the mon...
13/05/2026

Some nice installation shots by Michael Skeen of his current solo show ‘CLEAN SLATE’ which runs until the end of the month.

An experimental show which explores the concept of confinement and containment - perhaps even the changing role of what a gallery can and connot do? It’s terrific work, with a lot of hand stitched canvases and surface planes that allow the eye to go on a bit of a wild urban adventure, while standing in one spot.

Installation and shots by the legend himself 🙌

Gallery is open this week Weds to Sat 11-6pm. Pop in for a look, it’s powerful, exciting work.

Monique Lacey passed away peacefully on Tuesday after a relatively short illness. It came as a bit of shock; turns out s...
13/05/2026

Monique Lacey passed away peacefully on Tuesday after a relatively short illness. It came as a bit of shock; turns out she barely told anyone about it. That was Monique. Fiercely private. Quietly determined. Restlessly independent. She never stopped working even after I’d returned to the UK, the terrific teams at and others taking up the baton. Her work - and the aura it still radiates - can be found in countless homes in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and further afield. People responded to her magically transformed crushed and munted boxes - artifacts which were often allegories; not quite what they seemed, and occasionally, surprisingly political in nature. This large gold pillow work ‘Nanny State’ rested in the final silo of The Confessions; a much needed respite from the angst elsewhere, a wee bit of easy salvation. A place of transfiguration and peace. I hope you find yourself there now Monique - thank you for everything you brought to the arts, to your work, to the gallery, and to all of us. You’ll be sorely missed.

With deep condolences to John and the family, and all of her friends.

Scott

I find opening up about my experiences (with addiction especially) cathartic for me and on the very rare occasion, even ...
07/05/2026

I find opening up about my experiences (with addiction especially) cathartic for me and on the very rare occasion, even useful to others.

To me, Scotland feels a little behind in terms of where the conversation around mental health needs to be - especially for blokes.

So it was really good to have such open and supportive conversations at the opening tonight, thank you. You all know who you are.

I’ve always been blessed with really lovely supporters - from the first day I opened my gallery in New Zealand - to now, here in Edinburgh.

If anyone is struggling, or just feels like a blether - let me make you a cuppa to British Standards (Pantone 16-1324) and we can look at the mad, and mad clever, art on show. If nothing else, I promise it’ll take your mind off things for a wee while.

Sorry for the lack of posting - been lots going on; a bit of travel, lots of writing (on !) aaaaand this really punchy ...
07/05/2026

Sorry for the lack of posting - been lots going on; a bit of travel, lots of writing (on !) aaaaand this really punchy show of new work by young artist Michael Skeen.

Michael is a “street painter” - mostly painting on abandoned buildings and unusual liminal spaces under motorways and that sort of thing. I wanted to explore how his work would translate to a gallery environment, and in doing so, transfigure into… well, something else.

Does it work? Yes and no.

Yes, because it embraces all kinds of formal painting traditions (modernist vibes, compositional competence, surface depth, painting as object, materiality etc) all garnered from his time at the

But also, no.

When any work is placed in the gallery, it suddenly has a “value” that adheres more to a business ontology that obsesses over easy aesthetics. I reckon this seemingly benign neoliberal framework - which most commercial and institutional galleries have wholeheartedly adopted - is speeding up the irrelevance of art, rather than reversing the trend.

Ah well. Hats off to the lad. He nailed the installation - and the work - and I’m incredibly proud of him.

Pop in and have a look and a chat. It’s fascinating stuff. You can see more of it at

Show opens Weds to Sat, 11-6pm until 30 May.

Image: Cupid De Locke, 2026
Household emulsion and aerosol paint on canvas. 145 x 114cm.

It’s the last day to see The Spell of the Sensuous - a showcase of recent work which also marks the return to painting “...
18/04/2026

It’s the last day to see The Spell of the Sensuous - a showcase of recent work which also marks the return to painting “full-time” by Henry Rogers, after his long and distinguished academic career.

For this show we chose recent and new works - include the two featured here - but the origins of this body of work (which now numbers into the 100’s) goes back almost two decades.

Gallery is open until 5.30pm today. All welcome (if you can’t make it in, get in touch for hi-res images and a catalogue).

1st image:
The Migration of Colour and Form (CobaltPink) 2022. Oil on canvas (diptych) each panel 120 x 90cm.

2nd image:
The Migration of Colour and Form (Reverberation) 2020. Oil on canvas, 180h x 120cm.

Thank Goddess for blessing our eyes and minds with paintings such as these, cascading into our lives with unapologetic e...
16/04/2026

Thank Goddess for blessing our eyes and minds with paintings such as these, cascading into our lives with unapologetic effervescence.

Self-contained, Henry Roger’s paintings carry the presence of experience and the weight of tradition, alongside a giddy lightness. This is a joyful show - I’ve loved bathing in the aura of it all - but it’s also the last weekend to experience it. So do pop in to the gallery at Chuckie Pend to see ‘The Spell of the Sensuous’ for yourself.

Show open 11-6pm until this Saturday when it closes.

Shown here:
‘The Migration of Colour and Form (Transfiguration)’, 2023.
Oil on Canvas, 180 x 120cm.

Newly retired from his role as Professor at the Glasgow School of Art, Henry Rogers has raised plenty of eyebrows (and s...
09/04/2026

Newly retired from his role as Professor at the Glasgow School of Art, Henry Rogers has raised plenty of eyebrows (and smiles) with what’s really only a glimpse of a massive body of work that goes back a couple of decades.

Immersive, nuanced, shimmering this is painting at its most alive - from the immersive large scale colour field world to the intimate smaller works, they offer us a place to escape into the sensual for a while (little wonder I chose Sally Gabori for the artist talk at Henry’s opening last week!)

Open Weds to Sat 11-6pm this week and next, it’s definitely worth a visit. Get in touch if you’d like a price list and images.

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