Mythologies - The Scottish Gallery

MYTHOLOGIES | 33Looking at Reid’s painting Odysseus on the Island of Circe,there is a sense that this scene is being recorded, whetherthe scene is a contemporary re-enactment or some kindof parallel universe under our noses, it still convinces usthrough the power of its realism. The care and attentionReid lavishes on his elements, from the humble turnipto the smoke billowing beyond Odysseus to the highlycharged detail of the spectacles on the shirt, that seemto hint at much more contemporary incarceration, makethis scene, wherever it is taking place believable. Thereare many associations reverberating through Odysseus onthe Island of Circe, I am reminded of Velázquez’s Forge ofVulcan: the sense of air and light, the wonderful surprisethat Velázquez imparts in the young blacksmith’s face,and how the tools on the floor of the forge gently createinterest and a guiding structure. Reid’s tour de force ofstill life painting in the vegetables echo Velázquez toolsperfectly. The vegetables also lead me to William YorkMacgregor’s great realist work The Vegetable Stall, whichin turn takes me to the naturalism of Bastien Lepage andthe French Realist School. The painting also brings tomind the scene in Lindsay Anderson’s 1973 film O LuckyMan!, with the scene where the main character, MickTravis discovers a man with a pig’s body in a hospital bed.Anderson began his film career making documentariesand it is his clear-eyed realistic approach to filming thatcreates a stark and believable truth. Film is somethingthat I feel resonating in Reid’s work and it does notsurprise me that he has a strong following from thegaming industry.Derrick Guild, RSA