ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
0 ROYAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Queen Street. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2-5pm. Scotland‘s antiquities share premises with the Portrait Gallery. 0 ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound. 325 667]. Mon—Sat 10am—4pm; Sun 2—4pm. Annual Exhibition Until Sun 5 July. Work by members. associate members and selected work from members ofthe public. including sculpture. architectural drawings and paintings. 0 SALTIRE GALLERY Atholl Crescent. Mon—Sat “lam—4.30pm. Twenty-One Edinburgh Artists Until thurs 16July. Fiona Barber. David Cameron. Vera Corstorphine. Camilla Williams etc. 0 THE SCOTTISH ARTISTS SHOP 8 Howard Street. 556 6337. Mon—Sat 10am—4pm. Sun 2—4pm. Charlotte Cheverton Until Sat 11 July. Boatworks. paintings and constructions. 0 SCOTTISH CRAFT CENTRE 1-10 Canongate. 556 8136. Mon—Sat l()am—5.3()pm. A permanent showcase for the crafts ofScotland. 0 THE SCOTTISH GALLERY 9-1 George Street. 225 5955. Mon~Fri 9am—5.3(lpm. Sat 9.3(lani— 1 pm. John Gardiner Crawtord Mon 29 June—Sat 1 Aug. New paintings. An artist best known for his studies landscapes and technical virtuosity. shows new work. Dawn Matthews Mon 2‘) June—Sat 1 Aug. Coloured etchings. An Australian-by birth. Adamson has lived in Britain for over 20 years. Living in a farmhouse near Dumfries. she now shares a printmaking business with her husband. Refined screenprints in this exhibition reflect the landscape oflowland Scotland. Carvings by (iuy 'i‘aplin. Ceramics by James Perryman. Glass by Rachael Woodman and Baku by David Roberts. 0 THE SCOTTISH MINING MUSEUM Lady Victoria Colliery. Newtongrange. Mldlolhlilli. 663 7519. Tue—Fri mam—4.30pm: Sat 'Sun Noon—5pm; Thurs late opening 6.3(l—8pm. Striking Women — Communities and Coal Until Wed 1 July. Last chance to see this emotive exhibition of photographs commissioned by the London Photographers (iallery. lt documents the changing role of women during the recent miners‘ strike. Four women artists were chosen for the task ofcapturing those difficult times. Prestongrange (between I’restonpans and Musselburgh ) 'l‘ue—Fri 10am—4pm. Sat Sun Noon—5pm. Visitor Centre. Historic Cornish Beam Engine and displays showing coal-mining through the ages. 0 STILLS GALLERY 105 High Street. 557 1 1-10. Tue—Sat. noon—6pm. Women Photographers in Britain 1900—1950 Because of the size of this exhibition it will be shown in two parts— Part 1 Sat leJune—Sat 4July: Part 2 Thurs 9—Sat 25 July. Beginning with aristocratic amateurs of the 19th century like Julyia Margaret Cameron. this exhibition traces the work of women from
WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS
Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
Restrictions of space at Stills has meant that the ‘Women Photographers' exhibition will be shown in two parts, the lirst at which opened last weekend. This practical necessity hasthe advantage of being able to take in a lairly complex exhibition covering unlamiliar ground in more manageable doses, but unlortunately some connections and developments may be lost in the changeover.
it you invest in the book published by Virago at £9.95 this will be less ola problem. It is all there, lully illustrated and with a thematically arranged text by Val Williams.
This lirst selection begins with “Photography in Transition’, though watch you don’t miss it and plunge into the Suilragettes too soon. The aristocracy and gentry paved the way for later women photographers with members oi royalty like Dueen Alexandra keen to record their own dynasties and Julia Margaret Cameron perhaps the lirst woman to recognise the medium's potential as art. Mary Hammond and Norah Smyth begin the documentary oi the 20th century in earnest. Hammond’s portraits oi Suiiragettes are published as postcards, some like one at Christabel Pankhurst, surprisingly romantic, others, like Mrs Holmes, with the lorthright eye oi the political commentator. Photographer and sitter are united in one cause.
In contrast are the fashion photographs ol Dorothy Wilding. Betouched with every eyelash sweeping to periection, her subjects are elegant in glamorous Thirties’ couture. But make no mistake, these women have not been modelled to ill lantasy. They are real enough, and like Wilding herseli, many at them sell-made. Helen Wills Moody poses in tennis gear, uncompromisineg strong and beautilul. Documentary is picked up again by a poignant sepia print taken by Olive Edis in 1918— at lirst glance a rustic idyll but on lurther inspection a bombed town bythe river. Elsie Knocker portrays the human casualties at war in stark realism — a French soldier lies decaying on the bank of the Yser, 1914. These women wanted to lind out and describe what was happening in that male preserve in the trenches. 0n the lringes perhaps, but not to be shutout.
By the Thirties there is more innovation in the way the lacts are told. Margaret Monck’s London is described
3- r
-1 Top: Brixton Market by Margaret Monck (mid—1930s)
Bottom: Coverot ‘New Homes lor Dld' by Edith-Tudor Hart(1934).
in the laces she encounters on the street. Sharp contrast and keen close-ups till her compositions with character, light and, in ‘Sailron Hill', even the air olthe place.
Helen Muspratt and Edith Hart also get in close. Muspratt's young,
handsome Moscovite has a clearvision ol the luture in his eyes- in startling contrast to Hart's questioning little girl looking up irom a cluttered East End yard.
Next instalment begins 9July. (Alice Bain)
documentary to pictorialist. Family portraits of Vanessa Bell, photos at the Front during the First World War and the stylish theatrical work of Madame Yevone are included in this important exhibition which wraps photography round a fascinating social history. A video of the Channel 4 programmes on the subject will be played throughout the exhibition.
Children’s Workshops Mon 3 July and Mon 3 Aug. 8—12 years. Workshops
to create photos using only paper. light and chemicals.
Portrait Workshops Mon 20 July and Mon 3 Aug. 12—16 years. Create your own ‘image‘ by bringing along favourite posters. record covers. clothes etc and get your friend to take your portrait.
Discussion Group Thurs 9 July at 7pm. The first gallery discussion on the current show. It is hoped to have a meeting around each exhibition.
o TALBOT RICE ART CENTRE ()ld College. University of Edinburgh. 667 101 1 ext 4308. Mon—Sat. 10am—5pm.
Doug Cocker Until 25 July. Sculpture and related works 1976—1986.
Art into Botany Until 25 July. Botanical illustrations to mark the retirement ofSir John Burnett. principal ofEdinburgh University. 0 TORRANCE GALLERY 29b Dundas Street. 556 6366. Mon—Fri 11am—6pm; Sat l().3()am—4pm.
The List 26 June — 9 July 45