ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
GLASGOW BACKOROP
Collins Gallery, Glasgow In the largest photography commission ever mounted in Scotland seven photographers were asked to look at the city in their own way. The briet was left wide open. The project was ambitious in its scope, taking two years to come to fruition. But the final selection, though a wide-ranging and interesting look at the art of Scottish photography today, just does not seem big enough to satisfy the demands of its title Perspectives— Glasgow, A New Look. The city appears in varying degrees through chinks in the artists’ own ideas and techniques. Though inspriation for some, it is an anonymous background for others. Fine, except that the title is rather misleading. Glasgow seems a passive element in this experimental exercise. Andy Goldsworthy linds autumn gold in Pollok Park. The bright leaf sculptures have disintegrated and the photographs remain. Never having been to Glasgow before be made for a spot close to his country preferences. Thomas Joshua Cooper too is a country person. His exquisite exposures glimpse at the outskirts of the city, a place which is neither urban nor real country. Ron O'Donnell’s work sets its
names in 20th century Scottish art — Gillies. Redpath. Eardley and Crosbie as well as figures from the ‘Glasgow School‘ like Melville. McGregor and Paterson. But the list does not stop there. This modestly sized gallery will also be showing Ceri Richards. Christopher Wood. Peter Lanyon and Bernard Mcninsky. 0 COMPASS GALLERY 178 West Regent Street. 221 637(). Mon—Sat “lam—5.30pm. Douglas Thomson- New Paintings Until Thurs 28 May. Thomson is a sculptor-turned-painter. His studies of heads are less portraits than examination of form — he has exchanged a three-dimensional surface for a flat one and cuts his texture from paint. Since graduating from Glasgow School of Art. he has taken up restoration as well as painting. One-man shows have been held in Edinburgh. Glasgow and Nuremberg. Strong. confident painting especially the larger works. See panel. 0 FINE ART SOCIETY 134 Blythswood Street. 332 4027. Mon—Fri 9.3(1am—5.3()pm. Sat 10am—1pm. Spring ’87 and Steaming Through the Glen Until Tue 2 June. Speed and streamlining is not all. and the romance ofsteam travel has never quite got out ofthe British public‘s system. This exhibition remembers the days when trains criss-crossed across Scotland taking passengers to the golfcourses of Gleneagles and St Andrews and the wilderness of Glencoe and steamers chugged up the Clyde with holidaymakers. A series of posters commissioned by shipping lines and railway companies ofthe 19305 illustrate in sophisticated graphics the pleasures to be found in travel. See Springburn
own boundaries. His inspiration appears totally self-generated. Glasgow is invisible in his tongue-in-cheek fabricated sets. Glyn Satterley searched high and low for a way into Glasgow. He ended up high on the Red Road flats and other elevated spots in order to find his perspective. Ruth Stirling was attracted to water, places like the Turkish baths and the Clyde while Stephen Lawson strips the familiar drive from Edinburgh to
Museum for details ofanother type oftrain journey and the history of locomotive building in Glasgow. Spring ‘87 is an exhibition of the Fine Art Society‘s latest acquisitions. The ever-popular Scottish Colourists form the core of the group with fine paintings by Cadell. Peploe and Fergusson. William McTaggart. who was lightening his palette before them. is represented by a painting of Carnoustie and can be compared with the alternative Scottish tradition in the work of George Paul Chalmers. John Fleming and John Philip. 0 GLASGOW ARTS CENTRE 12 Washington Street. 221 4526. Mon—Fri 10am—9pm. Sat 10—5pm. Constructed Narratives, Photographs by Calum Calvin and Ron O’Donnell Until Sat 23 May. Calum Colvin pictures Venus after Botticelli with a goldfish bowl and Action Man. Ron O‘Donnell puts a giant-sized lizard in a fur shop. Both use photography to create surprising works of art. Colvin, a sculpture graduate from Dundee makes scenes in his studio. transforming old pieces offurniture with paint into reclining lovers and giant faces. Toys from his own childhood and other nostalgic mementoes decorate the set and the whole thing is recorded before it is dismantled. O‘Donnell also builds his pictures. setting up Ajax pillars in derelict buildings. Surf arches in the woods and hieroglyphs in an old flat. Last shown at Stills Gallery in Edinburgh. this exhibition shows a Scottish photography beyond the heathery hills. Much recommended. Ron O‘Donnell is also showing in the group show at the Collins Gallery.
Glasgow into thin coloured slices and pastes them back together again in a superticial, but fun collage. Alan Dimmick, a young Glasgow unknown, took a shy look at the city’s parks.
The whole adds up to a fragmented Glasgow, which in trying so hard to avoid the clichés and celebrated the new confidence, gets caught up in other issues. Perhaps it is just too soon. But worth seeing for a taste of new possibilities. (Alice Rain)
0 GLASGOW PRINT STUOIO 128 Ingram Street, 552 0704. Mon—Sat 1(1am—5.3()pm.
Elizabeth Blackadder and John Houston — Paints and Paintings Until Sat 6 June. Two senior artists. married for many years and based in Edinburgh. are showing for the first time together in Glasgow. Blackadder and Houston are known individually for their painting — Blackadder for her delicate. oriental flowers and haphazard objects, Houston for his land and seascapes. almost abstract in their sensation. For three years now they have been working at the Glasgow Print Studio and this exhibition brings together their etchings. supported by oils. watercolours and drawings.
0 GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART 167 Renfrew Street. 332 9797. Mon—Fri 9.30am—8pm.
Art in Exile Until Sat 30 May. Work by painting graduates of Glasgow School ofArt — Karen Strang. Alison Harper, Margaret Hunter and Mary Maclean — who have recently lived and studied abroad. Though they left Scotland for economic reasons, — it was easier to get a grant in another country usually with the help of the British Council.
0 GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Hillhead. Mon—Fri 9. 15am—9. 15pm; Sat 9. 15am—12. 15pm.
Theatre Royal Indefinite. The Scottish stage before 1900.
O HAGGS CASTLE 100 St Andrews Drive. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2—5pm. Glasgow‘s museum for children.
0 HILLHEAO LIBRARY 348 Byres Road. 339 7223. Mon—Fri 9.30am—1pm. 2—8pm; Sat 9.30am—1pm and 2—5pm. Closed Wed Jim Tweedie- Paintings Until Fri 29
May. At the Open Circle (a small gallery in the library run by writers, artists and composers) Jim Tweedie‘s surrealist paintings can be seen in his first one-man show since 1981. His work is known internationally and he has shown with the Open Circle group abroad regularly. 0 HUNTERIAN ART GALLERY University ofGlasgow. Hillhead Street. 3305431. Mon-Fri 9.30am—5pm. Sat 9.30—1pm. The Northern Renaissance Print Until Tue 16Ju1y. From their fathomless collection ofprints. the Hunterian‘s latest theme looks at the etchings, engravings and woodcuts of northern artists from Germany. Holland and Flanders during the fertile period between the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Diirer will be highlighted in recognition ofthe Nuremberg Festival which begins early June. Others include Lucas van Leyden. Altdorfer. Cranach and Bruegel. The Mackintosh House Gallery: Open as above but closed for lunch 12.3(1—1 .3()pm. 5()p admission on weekday afternoons and Saturdays. A reconstruction of the architect‘s home fitted with original furniture. Graphics of the Art Nouveau Era Until summer. A style of line par excellence. the art nouveau movement is represented by the work of E. A. Taylor. Aubrey Beardsley. Jan 'I‘oorop and others. 0 NUNTERIAN MUSEUM The University ofGlasgow. 339 8855. Mon—Fri 9.3(1am—5pm. Sat 9.30am—lpm. Twice named Museum ofthe Year. the Hunterian Collection includes objects ranging from Captain Cook‘s Pacific treasures to the Bearsden Shark. Fighting for Life Until Sat 20June. Founded in 1937 the Wellcome Trust (who established the Wellcome Unit forthe History of Medicine in the University). commemorates its 50th anniversary with a display ofcurrent medical research. 0 IMAGES GALLERY 74 Hyndland Road. 334 5311. Mon-Fri 9.3(1am-5.3()pm. Nineteenth and twentieth century watercolours and etchings. O J. O. KELLY GALLERY 118 Douglas Street. 248 6386. Mon—Fri 1().3()am—5.3()pm; Sat IOam—12.3()pm. O JOAN HUGHSON GALLERY 1 Cleveden Gardens. 334 2473. Tue-Sat Noon—3pm and 7—9pm. lain Patterson: Across Hungary Until Sat 23 May. Drawings and porcelains. O LILLIE ART GALLERY Station Road, Milngavie. 956 2351. Tue-Fri llam—5pm and 7—9pm; Sat and Sun 2—5pm. Prints by Elspeth Lamb and Brian Kelly Until Sat 16 May. Gallery 1. Permanent Collection Until Sat 30 May. Galleries 2 and 3. 0 MAIN FINE ART The Studio Gallery, 16 Gibson Street. 334 8858. Tue—Sat 10am—5pm; Sun 2—5pm. Cats and Other Creatures Until Sat 30 May. Main have invited young painters to work around the subject ofthe cat. a creature important to human symbolism for thousands of years.
42 The List 15- 28 May