A new exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery casts a compelling eye over the vast machinery and human endeavour that have come to define the Granite City’s modern identity. Art and Energy, which opened on Monday, 30 March, brings together decades of artistic responses to Aberdeen’s role at the heart of the United Kingdom’s energy sector.
Drawn largely from the extensive holdings of Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums, the exhibition presents works on paper spanning from the 1970s to the present day. Visitors will encounter a varied collection of drawings, prints and photographs by artists including Donald Addison, Tony Clayden, Kate Downie, Fay Godwin, George Mackie, Kate Steenhauer and Sue Jane Taylor.
What distinguishes this exhibition is not merely its subject matter, but the manner in which it was created. Many of the featured works stem from close collaborations between artists and those working within the energy industry itself. Nowhere is this more evident than in the contributions of Sue Jane Taylor, a graduate of Gray’s School of Art, whose career has been defined by rare access to offshore installations. Her work, often produced in environments closed to the public, offers an unvarnished view of the engineering feats and human labour underpinning offshore energy. Included in the exhibition are her working drawings from the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project—pieces that quietly interrogate the relationship between industry, environment and artistic interpretation.
A centrepiece of the exhibition is a newly commissioned large-scale charcoal drawing by Kate Downie. Funded by the National Fund for Acquisitions and the Aberdeen Art Gallery Trusts, the work—titled Feng Shui—draws its name from the Chinese concept of “wind-water,” an apt metaphor for a city navigating the balance between industrial progress and environmental responsibility. Downie’s composition captures Aberdeen’s evolving renewable landscape, weaving together imagery of Aberdeen Bay Wind Farm, the Donside Hydro, and testing facilities at the Wind Campus in Altens. It is both a visual document and a quiet provocation.
Elsewhere, Kate Steenhauer’s etchings reflect her dual perspective as both artist and trained coastal engineer. Her work focuses on the logistical choreography required to sustain offshore oil and gas operations—transporting personnel, equipment and supplies across often inhospitable conditions. The result is art that feels as technical as it is contemplative.
The exhibition is further enriched by a digital dimension. Visitors can hear directly from Downie, Steenhauer and Taylor via the Bloomberg Connects app, offering insight into the processes and philosophies behind their work.
Shona Elliott, Lead Curator at Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums, noted that the exhibition forms part of a broader effort to bring more of the institution’s collection into public view. With over 13,000 works on paper in its care, the gallery continues to explore new ways of presenting Aberdeen’s story—one that is inseparable from the energy industry that has shaped it for decades.
Art and Energy is on display in Gallery 16 at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, and is open daily with free admission.
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