ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
Blackfriars Church. Blackfriars Street (off High Street). 557 (I707. Mon—Sat 10.30am-6pm.
Images at the Western Isles 12 April—6 May. An interesting exhibition made upof three parts. Portraits oi the Western Edge has come down front the An Lanrttair Gallery (Stornoway) and consists ofwork by Ulrike Kanne and Erik lloffmann (NB this part of the exhibition closes on 2‘) April). And while George Wyllie does interesting things with paper boats for Mayfest. here he presents Seven Spireslor Lewis and the Dancon Spire. The exhibition is completed by Margot Sandeman‘s High Corrie, Still Lives and Arran Landscapes.
I ROYAL BOTAHIC GARDEN 552 7171. Gardens Mon—Sat 9am—sunset; Sun Ham—sunset. Plant houses and . exhibitions (mounted in lnverleith House) Mon—Sat 10am—5pm; Sun 11am—5pm. Due to renovation of lnverleith l louse. there will be no exhibitions at the Botanic Garden until further notice.
I ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound. 225 6671. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2—5pm.
Gallery closed until 22 April.
I SCOTTISH CRAFT CENTRE 1-10 Canongate. 556 8136. Mon—Sat 9.30am—5.30pm.
Travelling Time Until 8 April. A mixed media exhibition by about 150Scottish crafts people who were asked to produce work on a theme oftime. It is eurrentlyon show in the Centre‘s rear gallery and after its stay in Edinburgh it will tour throughout Scotland (plus a quick foray down to Cleveland) in commemoration of the centre‘s 40th birthday. After the show has left town you can still see the broad range of work by the Centre's memberson display and available for purchase.
I THE SCOTTISH GALLERY 94 George Street. 225 5955. Mon—Fri lilant—bpszat 10am—1pm. Gallery closed 17 April. Thore Heramb L'ntil 3 May. Ilerambis arguably the single tnost successful artist in Norway and has inherited the Scandinavian tradition of using brilliant colour. This is his first exhibition in Scotland and. given the growth ofinterest in Scandinavian artists in recent years. it
looks set to be a popularone. Jim Nicholson L'ntil 3 May. Designerand
Art Director for the National Trust for Scotland until turning to painting full-time three years ago. Nicholson. a specialist in watercolour landscapes. is one of Scotland's most collected artists. Here he
presentsa new show called Scottish Islands.
Rings Until 3 MaySome 21 leading British jewellers both new and established exhibit rings making use of a wide range of
materials andtechniqucs.
New Ceramics L'ntil 3 May. Irene Bell specialises in decorative tiles. mosaics and individual plates painted with strong graphic images. In 1%"? she was selected for the Glasgow Style exhibition. Embroidery I'ntil 3 May. l)i (iomery has an inovative approach to embroidery which challenges the traditional limits and subject matter of the form. Ileroriginality was rewarded when she won the Grampian ’I'V’ Prize for a work in a 1987 exhibition called Three Strands.
Art in Scottish industry L'ntil 3 May. See Science I‘estival listings.
The McGrigor Donald Sculpture Prize Artists are now invited to enter this competition. With prize money of nearly £10,000 (first prize £5000), it is the largest sculpture competition in Britain. Closing date for applications is 2 May. For turtherdetaiis
RELEASING THE FORCE
Rose Fraln, 369 Gallery, Edinburgh
In hertirst major solo show, Rose Frain paints with a lite oi experience. She studied at Newcastle in the Sixties under artists like Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton and though she has painted irregularly since then, has not until recent years been able to concentrate her energies entirely on her work. Bringing up two children and a teaching career were a necessary and solar as the iormer is concerned, much valued, part of the in-between years, during which time her paintings almost vanished under a mask oi white paint, restraining the force at her expression.
Now unleashed, that force peaks in paintings like The Black Goddess and the Bed Goddess, two sides at woman taken into a contemporary context through primitive culture. Like the rest, these goddesses seek to rediscover the lemale body.
With the history of painting resting almost exclusively on the male perspective, this is not any easy task and Fraln bravely takes pink as her weapon, allowing it to command the canvas. Figures are abstracted and opened out, becoming more ilame and petal than ilesh and bone.
The colour pink is not isolated here tor a particularly poetic intention. Frain's pink Is an ail-consuming, all-important element in her work— nothing nancy about it. It Is not the kind at pink thrust on baby girls or the pink oi anniversary camatlons. This is the colour oi ecstasy, oi lemale sensuality and power. Parthenogenesls, one oi the best in the show, shows a calm,
ripe lemaleness while Honour, a large
crucifixion scene, crowns woman as a Phoenix-like hero.
In the tradition at artists like the Americanfieorgia O'Keele who used desert skulls and exotic flowers to translate a powertul sensuality, Nancy Spero, a contemporary American who showed her pioneering images and stunning words at the Fruitmarket Gallery last year, and Mary Kelly who manipulates photography and words to achieve a lemale perspective, Rose Frain Is an artist working to chip away at a patriarchlal language, In her case painting, to build something new. She does not hesitate to be called a temlnist and her paintings do not shy away irom her own experiences as mother, lover, irlend and artist.
This is a rich exhibition opening what promises to be a new chapter. Do not be overcome by the sight at so much pink. Luxuriate in it. (Alice BaIn)
Hunterian Art Gallery University of Glasgow
FROM MCTAGGART T() EARDLEY
Watercolours and Drawings f'rom the Scottish (‘olleetion 19 November ~15April I989
Mon-Fri 9.30am—5pm: Admission Free
Tel: 04] 330 S-Ul
Sat 9.30am—l pm
i==1 ‘fi 4* —] HANOVER-FINE-ARTS
.-\ RI'Z‘IR( )SI’I‘X I'l‘IVlC ICXI l l lilll'l( ).\' ( )l" \\'( )RKS BY MURRAY M. TOD, RE, RSW (1909-1974)
\Vatercolours. Draw lugs. l‘ltt‘liings 8: l‘liigi‘ayings \vi'i‘ii SILK 1)R.-\wi.\‘(;s .\.\'1) ii.\'(iR.-\\'l.\'(iS av MARJORIE A. LUCAS, ARCA
Monday lOth—Wednesday 26th April 1989
Mon—Fri I 0.00am—5.30pm; Sat 10.00am—4.00pm
V ‘2 2 A D c is his git: mi"? 5 u i rs" suites": ii 3“ (tiff-sf ‘ if
in E p it o is}: 0'3} 5'6 2
(2pm)
“the most unforgettable of Bellany’s recent works" The Times “striking images of suffering and survival profoundly moving" Glasgow Herald “an extraordinary body of work” The Scotsman
JOHN BELLANY
A RENAIS
SANCE
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
until 30 April - admission free
6 April — 6 May
First British exhibition by one of Mexico’s most prominent photographers GALLERY TALK
‘Graciela lturblde and Photography in Mexico’ by Slrkka Liisa Konttlrten, after her own recent experience of travelling In Mexico.
Admission £1.50 (£1 Friends/UB40/students) 105 High Street, Edinburgh, 031 557 1140 Gallery: Tu&Sat 1 tam—5. 30pm.
WSLil—Is.
luchitan Mexico
insurrection-ll w
ANDBOOKSIKX’
Iturbide
Subsunsvd by the Scottish Arisr '..."‘I|
The List 7 — 20 April 1989 53