Callanish to Chysauster

Drawings by Philip Hughes

18.02.26 - 20.03.26

Rock lines Birsay: Orkney

The works on view span from the 1990s to recent, on-site drawings made in 2025, and present drawing as a continuous and foundational element of Philip Hughes’ practice.

Callanish to Chysauster refers to three drawings in the exhibition. The two works that depict Callanish (Isle of Lewis) were drawn in 2025, and the drawing of Chysauster (Cornwall) in 2000. Both drawings were undertaken on-site in the presence of the stones. Hughes records precisely when he made his drawings at Callanish, the first at 4:00pm and the second at 4:45pm, both on the 12th of October 2025.

Philip Hughes was born in Holloway in North London in 1936 and his work is represented in many public institutions such as The British Library, The British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.   

BRINK presents drawings by Hughes that demonstrate an enduring fascination with the ancient landscapes of Britain. His line traces those elements of the land that endure and disregards all else. Stone, tracks, coastal shelves, the line of a ridge. In choosing these elements of the land to draw, Hughes’ work presents a timescale that reaches beyond the individual; a distant human past beyond our comprehension, converging with a larger, indifferent geologic timescale.

Lochan, close to Reef, Lewis

Chysauster: House 7