Martin Kinnear: 'Possibly the best one-armed painter in Wensley'

His landmark inaugural show, Regeneration, opened this month at The Bowes Museum. A visual record of the North and how it seems to the artist to live here now, and in our time, it's also a powerful and moving take on the year the world came to a halt and the life-affirming power of change. It’s about beauty, hope and the restorative power of contemplation. At its centre is a six-metre high animation, inspired by High Force waterfall in Teesdale.

Kinnear is already familiar with the museum in Barnard Castle after spending time there as artist-in-residence during the popular retrospective of another famous son of the North, the late Spennymoor miner-artist Norman Cornish.

Paralysed on his left-hand side by a stroke at the age of 34, Kinnear is actively and passionately committed to the role of art in therapy and regeneration. Describing himself as "possibly the best one-armed painter in Wensley", he is a supporter of several stroke societies and champions personal development through art in his capacity as founder of the Norfolk Painting School.

Wensley, in the Yorkshire Dales, is where he lives and has studios. "Take a two-minute walk from my studio and the place simply throws beauty, sublimity and visual interest at you," he says, a visual overload which goes some way to explaining his painting style. Somewhere between realism and abstraction, Kinnear's works are impressions and experiences of the North, based upon "memory, recollection and the orchestration of recalled instances".

Here, the artist tells the D&S Times more about his life and work.

In the studio painting Summer On The Tees Valley

What does it mean to you to be a Northerner?

I’m incredibly lucky to have been born in the industrial heartlands of the North and am proud to call myself a Northerner. I think that where we live determines who we become, and making the best of yourself and your circumstances is a central theme in my paintings. I love the energy and resilience of the North and, in particular, the contrasts between its industrial towns and breathtaking wild spaces. It's alive, and it makes me feel alive.

What is your show at The Bowes Museum about?

Regeneration is about facing the crucible of change and coming out of adversity stronger. That’s the story of the North, my story as a man who became suddenly disabled at the age of 34, and – I hope – the story of this pandemic. As an artist I know that the subject chooses you, so you could say that I’ve been working on Regeneration since I started painting, but it really kicked off in 2017 when I moved back North to paint how I felt about this place. By 2018, those paintings won the medaille d’argent for painting at the Paris Salon, which took me again to Paris in 2019. Then it was picked up by The Bowes Museum and, following the election, by Downing Street, because Boris wanted a picture of The North to remind the Cabinet who put them in power. So Regeneration took three years – and 48 more – to paint.

Landscape

Were you familiar with the museum?

I have greatly admired The Bowes Museum since I first went there in 2017, because of the philanthropic vision of its founders, and the commitment of people running it today to make the best arts and crafts in the world accessible for everybody.

As a painter, I’m familiar with the artists on display, but am still working my way through the objects from textiles to furniture and ceramics. It's a treasure house of ideas, and I love seeing the families who come to be inspired by it. It was a huge privilege to work with the curators and be artist-in-residence at the Norman Cornish show. The best bit was chatting to folk watching me paint, and hearing their views on art and how much it all meant to them; it's very humbling to be in such a privileged profession.

Pieta of the North

You say the show is 'about how the places we choose to inhabit determine who we become'. How is living in the Dales changing you?

As a kid growing up in Lancashire, I learned first-hand how amazing it felt to get out in the Pennines and Dales when I went to camp school. I know it sounds daft, but being in the Dales even at the age of 11 or 12 gave me a sense of my place in the world; seeing those massive ancient rocks, scarps, cliffs and rivers located me. The people who set up the National Parks knew that we needed those places, but they couldn’t have known how important they would become. The Dales have changed me – or maybe they’ve allowed me to see who I am – you’ll have to see Regeneration and make your own mind up. A bloke I knew said that the Dales have become where we go now we don’t go to church. I think there's truth in that: natural cathedrals. My work is full of those ideas, but you don’t need to figure all of that out to enjoy it; it's not the Turner Prize.

You’ve been hailed as the 'natural successor' to Norman Cornish. How have you been influenced by him?

There was a piece that said that, but I don’t see myself that way. Norman did what he did, and nobody respects him as an artist more than me, but I do my thing. Norman was a working class Northerner and so am I, so I guess we both had that same experience of living in industrial communities, and we shared a love of art, and we were both self taught, but beyond that, I don’t know. I remember one guy wrote in to say I shouldn’t copy Norman, but that was never the point of my residence at his show in The Bowes Museum. He was very 'Old Master' and I’m really not interested in that, so it was fascinating to me to work his sketches up into paintings my way. But copy him, or become Cornish? No, that was never the point. It’s hard enough to be myself without trying to become another person. If people see similarities, then I’m flattered, but I hope if they come to Regeneration, they’ll see who I am.

How do you like living and working in Wensley?

My wife Jane and I became tenants on the Bolton Estate three or four years ago. Starting with a cramped flat, we’ve moved three times, and at last they’ve rented us an amazing place with a studio. I love living and working on the estate, mostly because of the community. Will I be staying? The North is my home, they’ll carry me out in a box!

Regeneration by Martin Kinnear, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until April 25

thebowesmuseum.org.uk

makinnear.com

Martin Kinnear's favourite places

For a walk…

I’m disabled so I don’t walk far or fast, but you don’t need to go far to get an amazing view. Bolton Park has stunning views of Penhill.

For a pint…

You can't beat your local for a pint, so the Three Horseshoes in Wensley, but if it's a dressing up do, then the Blue Lion at Witton does a cracking pint, or The Saddle Rooms, or the CB in Arkengarthdale, we’re spoilt for choice.

For a meal…

In game season, The Blue Lion at Witton does a cracking menu, or The Saddle Rooms for Sunday lunch. Tennants Garden Rooms is incredible value for amazing food. Again, we're spoilt for choice, but I’m still looking for a pub which does' stew and hard' Lancashire-style.