In the dozen years since he left his native Scotland and moved to New York, Thomas Lawson has built a significant critical and artistic reputation for himself. Yet, with the exception of his inclusion in a group show at Nigel Greenwood’s gallery in London in 1980, this is the first time that his work has been shown in Britain. It was interesting, then, to view this show in the light of his belief in the “negativity” of British culture.

As in his most recent shows in New York (“Civic Virtues,” 1986, and “The Party’s Over,” 1987), Lawson painted the walls to create an environment for the paintings