Kate Downie: Between Seasons Catalogue

Between Seasons is a catalogue that accompanies Kate Downie’s exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh from 3-26 June 2021. At the heart of the exhibition is a series of ten paintings of trees painted throughout the seasons, during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The paintings are all divided by a central horizon line with two representations of a tree in different seasons; the bare branches of winter contrasting with the full canopy of summer. Each painting can be turned through 180 degrees so that one of the the two representations is uppermost, changing the atmosphere of the painting completely – during the course of the exhibition, the paintings will be rotated periodically. In the catalogue, this problem of there being no right way up for the paintings has been solved by having a larger image of the painting on one page and a smaller image of the painting turned full circle on the facing page; some of these images are accompanied by a further photograph showing Kate working on the painting in her studio (often on a ladder) to give a sense of scale – they are vast! 

I have worked closely with the artist on the book along with Tommy Zyw, the director of The Scottish Gallery. Photographs in the catalogue are by Michael Wolchover and it includes an essay by Susan Mansfield. The book was printed by Gomer Press in Wales on Gallerie Art Matt paper. I have typeset the book in a combination of Freight Sans Pro and Freight Text Pro, a clear and understated typeface that, with its unified serif and san-serif versions and a wide range of weights and styles, offers a wide palette of contrasts to design with. The choice of typefaces, combined with the use of white space, has given a clean and contemporary feel to the book that gives the paintings room to breathe and allows them to shine. I have cut out some of the works on paper and given them a subtle drop shadow to amplify the sense of them being objects. The book has a strong physical presence, and, as the artist remarked: “It feels just great ‘in the hand’ as an object. The size is just right.” I’m very pleased with the design of the front cover: the combination of a detail from Kate’s painting and the arrangement of type that I devised for the title treatment works very well, I think, offering a hint of the typography and layout of the book as well as a teaser for Kate’s wonderful series of paintings.

You can find more about the Between Seasons exhibition here.