PAINTING THE AGE OF TITIAN
Titian’s Diana and Actaeon
Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, Thu 5 Aug—Sun 5 Dec 0000
‘Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.’ So wrote Willem de Kooning in 1950. And by taking a cursory glance across the flesh-bedecked walls of the Royal Scottish Academy, you could be persuaded. The inaugural exhibition signalling the opening of the Playfair Link between the RSA and National Gallery - where cylindrical glass lifts sweep you from one gallery to another, is grand in its scale and ambition. Taking several key Titians which form one of the strongest components of the National Gallery of Scotland's permanent collection as its core, the show reflects a rich plumbing of Scotland‘s public and private collections of Venetian art. Dukes and Marquises across the country are eating their breakfasts
with a big, gaping space on their walls.
The exhibition follows a chronological route which really starts off by making the point that the inception of oil was all. Its introduction into the palettes of Venetian artists from the Netherlands was revolutionary and embraced by painters so that textures could be modelled, fabrics could shine, skin could glow and jewels glint. By launching with a series of Bellinis (Titian’s predecessor) who used egg tempura, the
difference is thrown potently Into relief.
While the build up of the show is subtle, you know they’re coming, and suddenly there they are - the biggies. Immense and fleshy, Titian’s Diana and Actaeon among others, hangs proud against big, deep maroon walls. Tucked away at the corner of another room sneaks an altogether more ambiguous painting that‘s worth looking out for. St Agatha by Giovanni Cariani is most intriguing. She sits, holding a bowl which contains a pair of severed breasts like smooth, jelly implants and a martyr’s palm which rises up from between them. Her expression is hard to make out - wary and stoic or is that teasing and seductive?
What could have been overbearing is given space and what could have been lost is drawn out. This show places Scotland firmly on the banks of the Mediterranean. (Ruth Hedges)
VIDEO INSTALLATION
STRINGS BY SAM TAYLOR-WOOD (PART OF BLACKBOX, EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL)
Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, 221 6000, until Thu 26 Aug, .000
In Sam Taylor—Wood's new painting wrth film. Strings. dancer Ivan Putrov hangs from wires above a string guartet. As they begin to play. he follows wrth a halting series of movements. He twists his body slowly. reaching out towards the cello. then the violin. as If attempting to capture the music that surrounds him. There Is no hint of Interpretation here: instead the dancer Is engaged In an unthinking. physical response to sound. It's as If Putrov Is In a fugue state. relying on the sense memon of past performances to Inform his gestures.
It Is almost enough to make you look away. as If Taylor-Wood Is exposing a sacred rite. one we were never meant to see. The performance Is so engrossing that It Is easy to become lost In It. but look to the periphery and Strings reveals Itself to be a densely layered work. Draw a horI/ontal line across the screen. for example. and the film becomes a diptych meditating on youth and age. Above. Putrov's slow moves are an adolescent mix of COnfident pOIse and awkward movement. his response to the music Imiriediate. unsopliIstIcated. Below. the players sit stiffly In formal dress. each one a decade older than the next. and all methodical In their movements. working hard at the task In hand
16 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 5y ‘2‘ Aug 11111-2
A still from Strings
like musical mrmeographs. laylor'--V‘/ood also returns to past motifs: when Putrov bends his body Into an Inverted cruciform. the scene briefly turns Into an homage to Renaissance p'etas. while the setting Ia bar III the Royal Opera House» calls to mind the Baroque sources the artist has turned to throughout her career.
Strings. then. Is a rather remarkable film. thanks to Putr‘ov's enthralling engagement with the Tchaikovsky piece played below him. {Il‘.(l Taylor Wood's subtle accumulation of themes. revealed In turn as subtly and slowly as the dar.cer's gestures. IJack Mottrami
PAINTING
PAST THINGS AND PRESENT: JASPER JOHNS SINCE 1983 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, until Sun 19 Sep .00
Jasper Johns Is a big hitter. Part of the American east coast. post WWII gang of artists who wowed the world. he pioneered new territory alongside musician John Cage. choreographer Merce Cunningham and fellow painter Robert Rauschenberg. Their work and others“ reflected the age — Johns' popped into pop art with Instant celebrity. creating rich gallery icons of the American flag. targets and stencilled letters. Those seminal paintings of the late 50s are thick and determined. the drawings hatched out thoughtfully In deep black. Even now. they have potency and a magnetic mystery.
Ventriloquist, 1983
Past T/rI/rgs and Present. Johns' first exhibition In Britain for (30 years. does not contain any of these excitements. Originating from the Walker Art Center. Minneapolis. It showcases several bodies of work. all made since 1983. Fans must take the greatest hits of this old rocker along with them In their heads.
Although his name Is triumphantly stencilled In the trademark lettering at the entrance to the galleries and on the banners outside. the mood Inside Is sombre. A green and orange flag and some slivers of stars and stripes appear In the still life series t/e/ItrI/ogI/Isf. but mostly new obsessions haunt these works. And In these it seems that the brass neck of the artist who could transform a coat hanger out of the ordinary has been replaced by the cosy mantle of reflection. An Edwardian family photograph and a boyhood Halloween outfit take lead roles In the Unfit/ed series. while the traced—out shadow of his own body. skewed vulnerany at an angle. stands grey and featureless In The Seasons. as If Johns himself. now In his 705;. has become a target.
Oiiiet and dignified. the work Is witness to the artist's continurng exploration of Image. hitting a more personal note than before. But despite a little Intrigue here and some lovely lines there Iparliciilarly In the recent Cate/Ial'y series). it seerris to have lost the knack of dancing to the tune of the /eitgeist which the old stuff does In spades — perhaps the best has already been done. (Alice Barn)