Michael Fullerton (b.1971, Glasgow) is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose practice places portraiture at its core. His work engages with complex figures, exposes socio-political power dynamics, and brings to light hidden or forgotten histories. Drawing connections between seemingly disparate sources, Fullerton weaves networks of ideas and images that form new constellations of meaning. Through this process, he examines how information is produced and circulated, how science and technology shape public narratives, and repositions individuals that have been misrepresented or overlooked.
For this exhibition Fullerton has created a new series of paintings of individuals he met whilst working in the Hilltop Hotel in Carlisle, Cumbria. For five months in 2023 he lived and worked in the hotel - then serving as accommodation for people seeking asylum in the UK. Initially employed as a general assistant and later working in the hotel's kitchen, Fullerton got to know and befriended the members of the temporary community, who hail from various countries and all had their own stories on how they found themselves there.
Alongside these new works is a survey of over 20 years of Fullerton's printmaking practice. Often working with silkscreen on newsprint, at large-scale and in multiples, he has consistently used printmaking as a counterpoint to his painting - exploring and exploiting the medium's inherent ephemerality and potential for mass-production.
Fullerton has also been commissioned to produce a new screenprint on the occasion of the exhibition. Responding to the City Art Centre fine art collection, he has created a gold reproduction of John Thomson's 'Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott' (1828). The work reflects on the Romanticism fostered by both the artist and writer, and on the enduring influence of Thomson and Scott's legacies in shaping Scottish national identity.
