Mangan’s figurative work is particularly distinctive, with an otherworldly feel. Favourite themes include race courses, train stations, beaches, harbours, fairgrounds, cafes and theatres, where the busy scenes are almost eerily calm, with each figure engaged in their individual, quiet contemplation.
Mangan said ‘I’m interested in the relationship between people in certain leisure environments; how they, or we, fit into the world. I seem to be drawn to people in group situations, yet I paint them as separate individuals who do not look as though they are with other people. It’s an odd type of interaction’
Mangan’s style is methodical, with careful consideration given to composition. Razor sharp lines, as seen in boat masts, racing posts, beach huts and horizons, create a pleasing geometry to guide the eye and provide balance to the roundness of the main figures - for example, the boats , horses and people. Mangan’s use of chiaroscuro (light/shade) technique emphasises the atmospheric feeling in his work. He said ‘It’s a slow process, where the paintings are carefully planned, built up thinly and glazed often. I use light to create depth, shadows and contrasts’. This technique echoes the geometric elements, for example, in light coming through a window or in shadows cast diagonally across a scene. Mangan’s transcendent work is considered highly collectable and is held in many private and public collections globally, including in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
COLLECTIONS AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Dalgetty Dunn Award for Painting 1988
Midlothian NHS Trust, Edinburgh Miller Homes Paris Scholarship 1989
Munich Reinsurance Company, London John Murray Thomson Award, RSA 1996
Prudential Corporation, London The Guthrie Award, RSA 1997
Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), Edinburgh Saltire Society Purchase Award, RSA 1998
Walter Scott, Edinburgh City Sites Estates Art Award, Royal Glasgow
Watson Phillips, Dundee Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) 2007