Sesame is proud to present Second Sight, the first solo exhibition of the contemporary figurative painter Marcus Nisbet.

Visionary and allegorical, Marcus Nisbet’s paintings depict scenes of unexpected beauty with striking clarity. His paintings have a strong sense of the moment, suspended in time and existing in an imaginary half-light between consciousness and dreaming. They are defined by a penetrating psychological depth and power.

Nisbet’s work demonstrates a studied understanding of the works of Old Masters, diligently examined through hours in the National Gallery and reinterpreted into contemporary culture. He places great emphasis on technique, the quality of his materials, and the use of striking visual props – a sheet of foil, a chaffinch, a pair of magpies, or a set of fairy lights – to both rupture the serenity of his paintings, and at the same time lend them an air of intense psychological symbolism.

The body of work in Second Sight spans the breadth of Nisbet’s practice. One the one side are tight and constrained symbolic works such as “Narcissa”, the female figure wrapped in foil as if it formed an emotional armour against the outside world. In contrast, visionary works such as “The Story of Rachel” combine his typical painterly style with otherworldly scenes of high drama, set within abstracted geometrical colour contexts that disjoint the otherwise classical scene presented.

Marcus Nisbet is a self-taught artist who has worked for a number of years on private portrait commissions. His personal work has been gradually brought to light through Sesame – Second Sight will be his first solo exhibition.