Galleries - August 2013

automobile. Church’s keenly observed oil sketches are seen in relationship to his epic masterpiece Niagara Falls, from the America Side which is one of the star paintings of the NGS’ own Collection. As a complement to the Church show the NGS have, at the RSA Gallery, Peter Doig/No Foreign Lands. This highly regarded transatlantic conceptual painter is showing work from the past 10 years, with particular focus on his use of serial motifs and recurring imagery. A Scottish contemporary of Doig is Ken Currie who is exhibiting at the SNPG where a number of his important paintings, such as The Three Oncologists have gone into the National Collection. The work for this new show will preferred the first option. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery for instance are offering a photography exhibition of Man Ray Portraits covering the innovative work from his early Dadaist days with Lee Miller through to his later high-style fashion portraits of celebrated artists like Picasso and such beauties of the silver screen as Ava Gardner. Another, though less well known, American artist is also being hosted at the Scottish National Gallery with Through American Eyes: Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch. Here the subject is the natural scenic beauties of the 19th century American landscape before the freeway reduced it to a backdrop to the ubiquitous passing 10. GALLERIES AUGUST 13 Since its inception after World War Two the Edinburgh Festival has continually expanded in scope until now it is unquestionably the most important annual arts event in the world. Yet there has always been a Mountain/Mohammed debate as to whether the Festival should be used primarily to bring great international art to the attention of the Scottish public (who make up the majority of the ticket buyers); or should the Edinburgh International Festival be an opportunity to promote the best of Scottish art to a vast multi- national visiting audience? With this contentious question in mind I note that the exhibitions on offer this year are pretty evenly divided on this issue. On the whole the publicly funded institutions have Bill Hare at the 2013 Edinbur G h Festival PAUL TEBBLE Barely Scratching the Surface 25 Years at The Meadows Pottery 2-23 August 2013 The Meadows Pottery 11a Summerhall Place, Edinburgh EH9 1QE 0131 662 4064 www.themeadowspottery.com Mon-Tues 10-7, Wed-Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5