Galleries - August 2014

Dovecot Studios where Dalziel + Scullion’s installation Immersion turns part of the gallery into an experimental space of sound and touch in order to examine the multi- sensory bond between mankind and the world of nature. The more traditional mediums of paintings, etchings and tapestries, as supremely mastered by the late Craigie Aitchison, are also on display. At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery there are also two contrasting exhibitions. Showing along with Luke Fowler’s new hour-long archive- based film profile of the Marxist social historian EP Thompson, is John Byrne’s highly entertaining Sitting Ducks. Byrne, an artist/writer of many successes – including the hilarious award winning TV series Tutti Frutti – has also produced over the years a remarkable body of outstanding portraits. Around thirty of these will be shown including those of his great pals, Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Gerry Rafferty and his ex-partner Tilda Swinton. As a celebration of the City The Laurel Gallery is mounting a group show focussing on different artistic impressions and interpretations of Edinburgh, which include those of Susan Reid and Gwen Adair. This year The Scottish Gallery is presenting an all- women Festival event. Holding centre stage is Victoria Crowe’s Real and Reflected – an exhibition of evocative work prompted by the artist’s highly personal and poetic expression of her feelings towards the inspiring settings around her three studios in Venice, Edinburgh and rural West Linton. Accompanying it is Modern British Heroines which is a celebration –without, we are assured, any feminist agenda – of the highly varied achievements of women modern artists such as Joan Eardley, Elisabeth Frink and Anne Redpath. The Open Eye Gallery is mounting a half century survey of the work of Leon Morrocco entitled appropriately Recollection , which retraces the artist’s many visits to his favoured locales around the Mediterranean and throughout India, along with his most recent studies of his home city of London. Up the road there is an attractive fund-raising exhibition – including the works of Barbara Rae, Alan Davie and John McLean – at the Atticsalt Gallery in Thistle Street. This is organised by the charity Art in Healthcare which seeks to brighten the walls of hospitals and care homes with original artworks. Finally, as an antidote to this all-pervading Scottishness seek out The Sutton Gallery which is showing the work of the Russian painter Kirill Sokolov, whom they have been rightly championing as an artist deserving much more critical consideration and wider appreciation. Bill Hare edinburgh When I was an art student in the 1960s I looked forward to the big Edinburgh International Festival exhibitions where you could see the outstanding achievements of the great Modern Masters such as Braque and Rouault. In the vi- sual arts however that interna- tional dimension has markedly declined over recent times, and – in this year of the independence referendum – the art on offer is decidedly home grown. Scottish galleries are awash with the ubiq- uitous ‘Generation’ programme of “over 100 artists, 60 venues, 1 country, 25 years of Contempo- rary Art in Scotland”. So, working under the assumption that you can’t have too much of a good thing, here are a few other ‘Generation’ shows that can also be seen as part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival. At the City’s premier contemporary venue, The Fruitmarket Gallery , Jim Lambie’s witty and inventive sculptures and installations, made from ready available materials, are on display – including his celebrated floor piece Zobop where op art meets funk to eye-dazzling effect. Over the road at the City Art Centre Urban/Suburban looks at the different ways Scottish artists have engaged with modern cityscapes, including Nathan Coley, Carol Rhodes and Kenny Hunter. Another contribution to Generation is being made at the AUGUST 2014 GALLERIES 9 scottish art the best for the edinburgh festival & the summer season D alziel + Scullion ‘Mist’ 2014 at Dovecot Studios

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