Bank Street Gallery

 

Rudyard Kipling spent a great deal of time pondering the description of an elephant - easily recognisable but very difficult to describe!  The same is true of Michael Marra. From his insightful songwriting and earthy performances to his lived in apparel and everpresent black beret, those who know him believe they have him nailed.  But do they?

 

Currently a little more of the layering that makes up Michael Marra is unpeeled at Bank Street Gallery.  His profesional life has inevitably brought him into close contact with the great and the good of a wide cultural scene and some of them - probably unknown to them - have been the focus of Marra's artistic endeavours over the last few months and years.  From Lesley Riddoch, broadcaster, to John Harvey, writer, many have undergone the repackaging which is  Michael Marra's portraiture style.

 

This delightful exhibition is not only good to look at but it also gives us an insight into how his brain works.  There is a couthiness behind the gravelly voice and we see in these portraits the awe and esteem in which Marra holds the sitter.

 

Michael Marra's portrait show - with no words or music! - runs from Saturday 18th October 2008 to Friday 28th November 2008