ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
interesting or curious acquisition ofthat year. The enormous range includes the poignant last letter of Mary Queen of Scots. the Gutenberg Bible. the war diaries of Earl Haig and a 1985 edition of
the smallest book in the world.
I NETHERDOW 43 High Street. 556 9579. Mon—Sat 10am—4.30pm and evenings when performances. Cafe.
The Carrying Stream Until 31 Sept. A photographic record of the work carried out by the Scottish School of Studies. an institution dedicated to preserving Scotland's oral history and heritage. in support of its appeal fund. Theircollection houses 10.000 prints. at large slide collection and a growing number offilms and videos. but more importantly it isthe invaluable collater of Scotland’s oral history which. with the aid of the money raised by the appeal fund. they hope to make more accessible to the public.
Avid Images Until 2 Sept. Colin Javie and David Scheismann combine their respective skills to form an exhibition of photographs.
I OPEN EYE GALLERY 75 Cumberland Street. 557 1020. Mon—Fri 10am—6pm.Sat 10am—4pm.
Veronica Polyblank Until 21 Sept. Contemporary jewellery in gold. silver and labradorite.
Hazel Nagl 1—2] Sept. Trained in Glasgow. Nagl paints landscapes and interiors in watercolour.
Elli Pearson l-2l Sept. Pearson runs her own pottery in Orkney where she produces functional porcelain and stoneware ceramics in soft colours. PORTFOLIO GALLERY AT PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ~13 Candlemaker Row. 220 191 l . Tue-Sat Ham—5.30pm.
Helen Chadwick: Lumina Until 2 Sept. in the most interesting photographic exhibition ofthe Festival. Chadwick creates portraits which delve beneath the skin using polaroids and backlit transparencies. Meat. offal and electric lightbulbs form the basic elements in this series of clever still life photographs. which deny any separation between body and cosciousness.
Baby Sittings 9 Sept—l4 Oct. inspired by the formal aspect of 19th century portrait photography. Sue Packer has evolved a collection of humorous. large-scale portraits of babies under the age of 18 months.
I PORTRAIT GALLERY Queen Street. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm: Sun 2—5pm. William Adam Tercentenary Exhibition Until 8 Oct. The leading architect ofearly Georgian Scotland. not to be confused with his even more famous son Robert. has his finest work displayed in the formof scale models and original drawings. Between the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 he designed ambitious buildings for some of Scotland's leading lights. some of which are sadly no longer around. the buildings that is.
Patrons and Painters Until 8 Oct. The Exhibition covers the period from the late 17th century. through the period ofthe Act of Union to the rising of 1745. atime of political turmoil. when the patronage of men ofpower was as important in the arts world as it was in the political sphere. Some of the best known Scottish painters of this period are represented. The patrons range from the Anglocracy in the South of Scotland to the Grant of Grant. a traditional Highland Laird who had his entire court recorded on canvas by Richard Waitt.
I PRINTMAKERS WORKSHOP GALLERY 23 Union Street. 557 2479. Mon—Sat 10am—5.30pm.
Madrid Prints Until 16 Sept. Eleven Spanish artists loosely affiliated to the new Realist School of Madrid and interested in the print medium. are gathered together in this delightful exhibition. which includes the work of Roberto Gonzalez Fernandez. who divides his time between
Old King Cole printed in Paisley. officially
.1 369 Gallery, Edinburgh. What struck me first, and disappointed me most about this show was a sense of its predictability. I had prepared myself for some surprises and deliberately put aside images of glaciers, fjords and above all the spectre of Edvard Munch (who alter all has been dead for almost half a century), before going along. On the evidence of this show, however, it would seem that increased urbanization, affluence and international contact have created in Norway a tendency towards traditionalism in an attempt to combat the perceived threat of cultural dilution. The danger of this is amply illustrated by the works on show, which dutifully reflect Munch's overpowering sense of despair without sharing his great strength, namely the ability to be both personal and universal, international and distinctively Norwegian at the same time.
A warm golden light from the paintings was what drew me first to the work of Kiell Erik Killi Olsen. His densely populated scenes borrow directly from the Norwegian tradition of illustrations to both folklore and mythology. Their companion pieces, a series of shadow-like sculptures, suggest that his underworld is one of post-Freudian dream images. A dreamlike atmosphere also suffuses
THE NORTHERN SPIRIT
the symbolist pictures of Kiell Torriset, his gloomy figures added to my growing sense of foreboding. I began to think of the long Northern winter and how I once read that it was linked with abnormally high rates of depression and suicide. These thoughts were compounded by the landscapes of Bjorn Sigurd Tufta and Hanne Norchgrevink which complete the show. Tufta’s works speak of the domination of darkness over light and his Black Sun suggests a forgetting of the quality of sunlight that must surely symbolise the loss of hope. More naturalistic are the scenes of Borchgrevink focusing on the peculiarities of northern light, simultaneously intense and cold. Mankind is represented in traces and by the presence of simple houses submerged in a sense of isolation. These works are the most direct and touching in this imported exhibition. (Alison King)
Northern Horizons — Art From Norway, Coldhouse Group; Revolutionary Furniture by Ian Hamilton Finlay, Studio Artists Exhibition, 369 Gallery, until 2 Sept.
The Coldhouse group is a Chicago-based arts foundation which adapts disused urban structures for
exhibition spaces whilst aiming to broaden communication and reflect upon their Chicago roots. The underworld of organised crime, American heroes and the politically-purged all feature in the painted images of Timothy Anderson, which reflect the world as seen through the eyes of a global American for whom recent history provides a wealth of interesting individuals. Kim Soren Larsen uses photgraphy and painting togetherto manufacture confusion of meaning in a crude use of religious imagery ranging from the Madonna to Kurt Waldheim whilst the expressive paintings of Peter Hurley recall the veneratlon of a medieval saint, the application of paint itself imitating an act of religious frenzy.
Philosophical question marks and subtle subversion are to be found in the Revolutionary Furniture of Ian Hamilton Finlay, also on show. Creating parallels between the Dutch group De Stiil and the ideology of the Jacobins during the French Revolution, Finlay, in his crate furniture and sandwich boards, has created perceptual disharmony, which,
through form and language, mocks the easily affronted idealism of the former and the liberal intolerance of the latter —for whom the reality of the guillotine was as unacceptable as revolution in action.
Also of interest here is The Studio Artists Exhibition featuring the work of Olivia lrvine, Rose Frain, Rob McLaurin, Phil Duthie, Rob McCarthy and Callum lnnes with Chicago guest artist, Catherine Doll. (Lorna J. Waite)
Scotland and Spain. and Carlos Diez Buntos.
I OUERCUS If) Howe Street. 2200147. Everyday l0am—5.30pm.
From Our Woods Until 2 Sept. Some ofthe finest hardwood furniture. turned bowls. boxes. carving and domestic ware designed by contemporary British designers.
I QUEEN'S HALL Clerk Street. Box Office 668 2019. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Cafe. Vintage '89 Until 2 Sept. A selection of Scottish artists have produced work specifically for this exhibition on the theme ofsummer.
Body and Soul Until 5 Sept. Black and white photographs by Edinburgh photographer Marc Marnie. which attempt to capture the spirit of jazz and include shots of many Queen's Hall regulars.
Captive Commuters 6—30 Sept. Anne Hodge encapsulates the loneliness ofthe long distance commuter in her paintings. 10RIAS 15 Rutland Square. 229 7205. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm.
AWild Romance Until 22 Sept. An
exhibition of the work of Frederick Pilkington. 1832-1898. who was once named as one of the ‘rogue architectsof the Victorian era‘. Pilkington designed tenements. private houses built in the central belt of Scotland and churches. including the wonderful Barclay Church which presides over the west side of'l‘he Meadows. His energy and imagination were considered outlandish in his day and made him the subject of much ridicule. It was said of Barclay Church that it was ‘the most disorderly buildingin the city. . .It looks like a congregation ofelephants. rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses. with their snouts in a manger and their posteriors turned to the golf players on the links‘.
I RICHARD DEMARCD GALLERY Blackfriars Church. Blackfriars Street (off High Street). 557 0707. Mon-Sat 10am—6pm.
Contemporary Art From The Netherlands Until 5 Sept. A collection ofnine Dutch artists present their recent sculptures and
paintings.
The Gallery will take a short breather after the hectic pace of the Fringe until lndependentSchools Art 16-29 Sept.
I ROYAL BOTANIC 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. Sioerd Buisman Until 10 Sept. Buisman‘s work takes a new direction since the works shown Fruitmarket in 1979. Huge paper spirals and bronze spires are concerned with an analysis of plant structure and growth. aptly exhibited in the Victorian Herbarium situated in the middle ofthese luscious gardens.
I ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound. 225'6671. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. Sun 2—6pm.
Young Spanish Painters Until 3 Sept. Seven artists from Catalonia. who use such diverse material as Coal. plastic and wire mesh in their paintings. feature in this exhibition organised by the RSA in conjunction with the Spanish Government. After the young Spaniards‘
The List 1—14 September 1989 63