Jackie Mc Allister  The Surgeon’s Photograph

When I first entered Colin Deland's American Fine Arts gallery in NY in 1989, I immediately noticed the bundle of energy behind the reception counter. A young man, almost my age, a bit heavier and not very tall with long, curly, red hair, who typed permanently on the keyboard and did not forget to control all incoming traffic and found a nice word for every guest. That was the Scott Jackie Mc Allister (1962-2012). We got into conversation quickly and subjects ranged from American German Scottish art exchange to theoretical treatises, which should even end with the best Bavarian comedian Karl Valentin. Jackie was not only the gallery's vice director, but also an artist. He showed me his Jackson Pollock-like painting installations, his sculptures made of Lego bricks in the sense of minimal art and it was soon clear that I wanted to do something with Mc Allister in Cologne. A little later on January 11, 1997 we opened his show ‚The Surgeon’s Photograph‘ in Ufa palace space. The exhibition was an ode to the Scottish origin of the artist, the portrait of the sea monster Nessie from Loch Ness (enamel paint on canvas) and a large whiskey picture, painted with Jim Beam, sweet vermouth, Pelican ink, food coloring and acrylic glue were the 'highlights from the Highlands'. Nessie has associations with Pollock again, ref material and form. The whiskey painting has the title "Rob Roy" a Scottish freedom fighter, cattle thief and later honorable member of society, most recently filmed in 1995 with Liam Neeson. Already in 1894 the the Waldorf Astoria in NY served a drink named it Rob Roy, similar to the Manhattan cocktail, but with Scottish Whiskey. (Christian Nagel)