Become a My Ocula member for exclusive access to contemporary art and personalised artist recommendations.
Join Us Sign In
The Art World in Focus
Clear
Callum Innes

CALLUM INNES

Four Ingleby 11 April–6 June 2026 Edinburgh
Overview Artworks Location
Request Prices & Availability
Press Release

Colour as Paul Klee famously put it is the place where our brain and the universe meet, which makes it sound like a thing with a concrete presence in the world. Science tells us otherwise however – colour has no physical form - without light, it cannot exist.

And yet, for a painter like Callum Innes, whose career over four decades has insistently explored the relationship between light and colour, there is inevitably an urge to understand colour as a tangible reality. And of course, the medium for this is paint, with pigment applied to canvas or paper and, in Innes’s hands, often then dissolved to leave a trace, as if lit from within.

In recent years Innes has also used light itself as a means to investigate colour in relation to architecture, with projects in Norway and Scotland made possible by the spectral range of electric light. But for this latest project in Edinburgh, Innes returns to an exploration of light, space and volume through coloured pigment in four massive wall paintings. Collectively they create an immersive installation that plays with architectural space and the natural light that floods the gallery in spring and early summer.

Alongside Innes’s site-specific installation, Ingleby has released a folded folio featuring four unique paintings and a new poem by Colm Tóibín.

Read More

Installation Views

Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
Exhibition view: Callum Innes, Four, Ingleby, Edinburgh (11 April–6 June 2026). Courtesy Ingleby.
About the Artist

Callum Innes makes work in a number of different ways, all of which are gradually evolving as each new painting builds on those that have gone before in a subtle but constant progression. Innes has probably become best known for his Exposed Paintings series - made by layering pigments onto the canvas and then removing the oil paint with washes of turpentine - though this concern for the processes of painting is shared by his Agitated Verticals, Resonance, Isolated Forms, and Monologue works. The play between additive and subtractive processes means that the potential for uncertainty is ever present within a rigorous visual language.Callum Innes was born in Edinburgh in 1962 and studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen and Edinburgh College of Art. Innes was short-listed for the Turner and Jerwood Prizes in 1995, won the prestigious NatWest Prize for Painting in 1998, and in 2002 was awarded the Jerwood Prize for Painting. He has exhibited internationally and his work is held in public collections worldwide including the Guggenheim, New York; National Gallery of Australia; TATE, London, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Centre d’Art Pompidou, Paris and The Museum of Modern Art, Fort Worth, USA.

View Artist Profile

Also Exhibiting at Ingleby

All Exhibitions
Group Exhibition
GROUP EXHIBITION Songs Of Innocence & Experience Part Ii Ingleby 20 June–5 September 2026 Edinburgh
John Joseph Mitchell, Joel Tomlin
JOHN JOSEPH MITCHELL, JOEL TOMLIN John Joseph Mitchell & Joel Tomlin Ingleby 19 September–7 November 2026 Edinburgh
About the Gallery

Founded in 1998, Ingleby maintains an ambitious program of exhibitions and off-site projects by established and emerging artists. Over the past 14 years, it has secured a reputation as one of the country’s leading private galleries, renowned for the quality of its exhibitions and publications. The gallery represents artists of international standing, whilst also introducing and supporting artists at earlier stages in their career. We are pleased to advise public, private and corporate clients about buying art, and in starting, building and maintaining collections.

View Gallery Profile
Address
33 Barony Street
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Opening Hours
Wed - Sat, 11am - 5pm
And by appointment
(1)
Edinburgh 33 Barony Street
Ingleby contemporary art gallery in Edinburgh United Kingdom
Ingleby
33 Barony Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
+44 131 556 4441
http://www.inglebygallery.com

Opening hours
Wed - Sat, 11am - 5pm
And by appointment
Magazine Gallery Platform Advisory
Ocula Magazine

A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.

Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.

 Learn more about Ocula Magazine Learn more about Ocula Magazine Ocula Gallery Platform

Showcasing the best of the art world.

Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.

 Learn more about Ocula Membership Learn more about Ocula Membership Ocula Advisory

Specialises in the sale of major artworks.

Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.

 Learn more about our team and services Learn more about Ocula Advisory
The art world in focus