Garry Brander is enjoying a new life-phase, exploring the world.

In this show, he gives us an interesting insight into both his mental and physical journey: perhaps a journey that we all make or have made at some point in our lives.

The insight is based on a recent trip in November 2024 to Japan. The land of the rising sun. A country that rejected the outside world and still seeks to preserve its ancient culture including its Geisha, Samurai, Temples and its notorious personal discipline.

Brander travelled to Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Osaka and Kyoto.

In his view, modern Japan, while it embraces elements of Western Culture, remains very insular; everything (the people and environment) is very formal and ordered. You get a sense that everything is practical and efficient - from the volume of electric cars to the organisation of space (housing and infrastructure). Respect for cleanliness, people and the rules is very evident. The scale of its industrial power, including technology, semi-conductors, electronics, gaming, copiers, automobiles and motorbikes is very visually apparent along the coastline around Osaka. In Kyoto, you still see the evidence of Geisha dressed in their traditional Kimonos. Geisha is, literally, the professional ‘Art Person’ who would entertain wealthy male clientele in teahouses and restaurants, flower arranging, singing, dancing, playing the ‘samisen’ (lute-like instrument) and making polite and entertaining conversation.

As an observer, Brander said that there were so many rich cultural (human and man-made) textures, experiences and influences that he could pick up on from his trip but, he has essentially selected two artistic challenges – the representation of the stunning Geisha’s together with the Japanese tradition of ‘Hanami’ or 'flower viewing', which goes back for centuries. Under a canopy of pink blossom, families, friends and colleagues gather for picnics to appreciate the fleeting beauty of the blossom. The Japanese spirit of ‘Hanami’ is designed as a reminder to us all to slow down, connect with nature and to savour the present.

It is a further signal of Brander’s exceptional artistic abilities that he can adapt and face these project-developmental challenges – (1) Figurative, (2) Still life, floral representations (with finer brushstrokes than his normal broader brush, expressive style) and (3) he has even innovated by extending the floral show-theme into his Scottish landscapes.

Garry has a huge following and this allows his collectors (old and new) to either extend their collections or to enter his fan club. This body of work demonstrates how art can probe and offer us an insight into the human condition. By examining his own consciousness within a certain situation, in this case his travels within Japan, the artist highlights and reminds us of some of the traditions of human presentation (our pre-occupation with beautifying ourselves - the exaggerated Geisha’s) and through his illumination of ‘Hanami’, why it is important that we should sometimes pause and be guided by what nature is telling us.

Brander (b.1983) studied at GSA (2007-11).