Carol Rhodes monograph explores 'edgelands' paintings with essays by Moira Jeffrey and Lynda Morris

Skira Editore published a 196-page monograph on painter Carol Rhodes in 2018, edited by her longtime dealer Andrew Mummery. The book features 116 color illustrations and includes essays by Moira Jeffrey and Lynda Morris, plus a dialogue with Rhodes herself. Rhodes, born in Edinburgh in 1959 and raised in India by missionary parents, later based herself in Glasgow. She was a founder of the cooperative gallery Transmissions and taught at Glasgow School of Art for many years. Her paintings depict 'edgelands'—terrain used for transit, storage, mineral extraction, reservoirs, and landing strips—a term coined by environmentalist Marion Shoard. These landscapes show human exploitation rather than habitation, with compositions invented from aerial photographs. Rhodes' work combines documentary and fictional elements, described as both delicate and diffident. Her bird's-eye perspective often reveals dainty, toy-like structures in unpeopled vistas. Two paintings by Rhodes are in the Tate collection, including 'Airport' from 1995. The monograph includes reproductions of preparatory cartoons that Rhodes had previously been reluctant to exhibit. Despite illness slowing her output in recent years, Rhodes produced a thoughtful, original body of work over an industrious career. The book enriches appreciation of her singular artistic vision.