ART & EXHIBITIONS
I THE ENGINE SHED 19 St Leonard‘s Lane. 662 0040. Mon—Sat 10am—4pm. Garvald Centre Edinburgh: 21 Years 8-22 Mar. Crafts. photographs and the history of this centre based on the work ofRudoIf Steiner. I FILMHOUSE Lothian Road. 228 2688. Mon-Sat noon—11pm: Sun 6.30—11pm. Rural Realities Until 29 Mar. Photographs by John D. Rigby and writing by Bill Pearson. both of whom live in West Cumbria. Pearson writes about the contrasts between this industrial part of the country and the traditionally beautiful Lake District. while Rigby photographs children in a public and a state school. I FINE ART SOCIETY 137 George Street. 220 6370. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5 .30pm; Sat 10am-1pm. New Town Artists 1800-1950 Mon 1 l Mar-9
A r. IFELYING COLOURS GALLERY 35 William Street. 225 6776. Tue—Fri 11am—6pm; Sat 10am-lpm. Ian Cook RSW and A. B. Jasinski RSW Until Thurs 14 Mar. Paintings and pastels. Peter Graham 20 Mar—4 Apr. Solo exhibition following Graham‘s stint as arist-in-residence at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. I THE FRENCH INSTITUTE 13 Randolph Crescent. 225 5366. Mon—Fri 9.30am-5.30pm; Sat 9.30am—1 .30pm. La Bourgogne en Bouche: Portraits de Chefs Until Fri 15 Mar. Famous French photographer and gastronome. Jean-Marc Tingaud‘s photographs ofsix chefs from Dijon are accompanied by their reflections on their lives and loved ones. His still-lifes celebrate French cuisine as an art and an expression ofereativity. I GALERlE MIRAGES Raeburn Place . 315 "2603. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat 10am—5.30pm. Chapai: The Art of Hand Block Printing Until 6 Apr. Hand-printed textiles. mainly from India. Raiasthan 7.30pm. Wed 13 Mar. An evening exploring the landscape. people. arts and crafts of the area with Iain Morrison and Herman Rodrigues. Tickets from the gallery. £2.50. I GALLERY OF MODERN ART Beiford Road. 556 8921. Mon—Sat I0am—5pm: Sun 2—5pm. [D] Cafe. The gallery‘s justly renowned cafe is open Mon—Sat 10.30am—4.30pm; Sun 2.30—4.2opm. The permanent display includes a new acquisition - Antony Gormley‘s sculpture Present Time. as well as works by Dali. Magritte and Picasso. Next exhibition Andre Derain: The Late Work starts 27 Mar. I GRAEME MURRAY GALLERY 15 Scotland Street. 556 6020. Tue—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat 10am—1pm. ‘Wiihout Reality, the Crudeness of Art would be Unbearable' Sat 9 Mar-20 Apr. A creative adaptation of what George Bernard Shaw really said. Illustrating the point with works on paper and innovative installations are Iurgen Albrecht. Sol Lewitt. Tessa Robins and Craig Wood. I HANOVER FINE ART 22a Dundas Street. 5562181. Mon—Fri 10am—6pm: Sat 10am-4pm. John Bathgate Until Mon 18 Mar. Scottish landscapes in watercolours and mixed media. I HOLYROOO HOUSE Canongate. 556 1096. Mon—Sat 9.30am—3.-15pm. Windsor in Watercolour Until 16 Mar. From the Royal Collection. 32 drawings and watercolours by Thomas and Paul Sandby. including many of their finest Windsor watercolours. I LADY STAIR'S HOUSE Lady Stair's Close. Lawnmarket. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. A celebration of Scotland‘s greatest literary figures ~ Robert Burns. Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. I MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD 42 I liin Street. I 225 2424. Mon Sat 10am -6pm The best daysof your lile'.’ ons. \idet)s and various kitls‘ bits and pieccsshed some light on how it was for everyone else.
LESS 18 MORE
Perry Roberts/Craig Wood, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow. The minimalist approach, much parodied and dismissed, seems to be undergoing a suitably mini revival in Scotland at the moment, with this exhibition of work by Perry Roberts and Craig Wood at Third Eye, Alan Johnston at Transmission and an upcoming exhibition at Graeme Murray oi tour artists including Wood and one of the genre's original exponents, Sol Lewitt. Roberts’ work is emphatically art about art: our attention is drawn to the construction oi the art object, the fact that it forms its own reality, and by extension the illusionism inherent in any other form of representation and mark-making. Beautifully constructed
canvases are left bare - linen or cotton duck or other bases juxtaposed, creating serendipitous, but subtle and pleasingly sensual colour combinations. Other canvases are painted black or white, abutted to each other or placed with the bare ones. This is minimalism at its best, allowing the viewer to respond on different levels — the appreciation of the crafting, the sensual/tactile response to the materials, the visual response to colour, and the intellectual response to the project of minimalism.
Craig Wood has hitherto responded to the site of the gallery, making ‘pillows' of plastic bags filled with water the same size and shape as the floorboards on which they are placed or in some other way directly responding to the architecture of the building. The effect is to disorientate the viewer for a while, to throw them back upon their experience of the space, while at the same time (because the bags would burst il walked on), disallowing the full use of that space. In this exhibition he has instead made a map of Britain. Each bag is the size of a page from a large-format driving atlas. The coastline has been delineated with a black strip sealed inside each bag, floating unattached to the top or bottom surface. The Scottish islands are for once placed in their correct position. It’s a nice piece, but somehow unresolved. This may have been the result of the blank nature of the architecture of Third Eye - no floor markings, although the skylights offered a point of reflection - or a response to thinking about the state as a result of the Gulf war. Eitherway, to add something to a minimalist way of working is tricky. We will have to wait and see it Wood will develop this or revert to earlier comment upon specific spaces. (Hilary Robinson)
I NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND The Mound. 556 8921. Mon—Sat l0am—5pm; Sun 2—5pm.
Watercolours by Edward Lear Until 28 April. There was nothing nonsensical about the several thousand landscape paintings and drawings produced by Lear during his lifetime. which is probably why they only recently began to receive any recognition. The 42 works on show are from the Collection of Sir Steven Runciman and were mostly painted by Lear during his extensive journeys in the Eastern Mediterranean. particularly Greece and the Ionian islands.
I NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND George IV Bridge 226 4531. Mon—Fri 9.30am—8.30pm; Sat 9.30am—5pm: Sun 2—5pm.
Lairds, Libraries and Lullabies Until Sun 10 Mar. Books. portraits. silver. ceramics. furniture and toys. which reveal the lifestyles of some of Scotland's lairds over the past 400 years.
I OPEN EYE GALLERY 75 Cumberland Street. 557 1020. Mon—Fri 10am—6pm. Sat 10am—4pm.
All exhibitions 82119—28 Mar.
Willie Rodger ARSA: Paintings, Prints and Drawings
Muriel Macintyre: Ceramics
G. L. Brockhurst: Etchings
Ruth Hillier: Jewellery
I PORTFOLIO GALLERY ~13 (‘andlcmaker Row . 220 191 I . Tue—Sal noon ~530pm. Liz Rideal: the Fairy Queen tintii Sat 16 Mar. Rideal uses photobooth strips in her abstract. large scale artworks. In this
series of commissioned works she explores the relationship between music and visual art by reconstructing. on a grid system. the score of Purcell's The Fairy Queen. Booking now for Spring workshops and photography courses.
I PORTRAIT GALLERY Queen Street. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm; Sun 2—5pm. Francis Frith‘s Egypt Until 14 Apr. Victorian photographs of Egypt.
()ne of the great travel photographers of the last century. Frith was the second European to explore the Nile beyond the sixth Cataract. Determined to provide as faithful a representation as possible of what he saw for the folks back home. he braved near impossible conditions and endless rounds ofcrocodile chops. ‘fried and boiled and carried.
I OUEEN'S HALL (‘Ierk Street. Box Office 668 201‘). Mon—Sat I0am—5pm. Cafe.
Fun and Games? Until 30 Mar. Dianne Murphy played with toys all over Europe for this artistic study: 30 works on paper which together comprise an appealing exhibition and an important socio-political study ofchildhood.
I RICHARD DEMARCO GALLERY Blackfriars Church. Blackfriars Street (off Iliin Street). 5570707. Mon- Sat
10am 6pm.
The Many Faces of Richard Demarco.
Works by the Sisters of the Carmelite
Monastery. Ouiddenham.
Edna Whyte: Drawings of Luing.
I ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS Inverleith Row. 552 7171. Mon—Sat9am—sunset;Sun Ham—sunset. Cafe. [D].
Living in a Rainlorest Until 13 Dec. A Borneo-style forest house . containing many south-east Asian artefacts. has been reconstructed in the Botanics' Exhibition Hall. Several workshops and activities accompany the exhibition. phone for details.
Vanishing Paradise Until 13 Dec. Stunning photographs taken in the Venezuelan rainforest by award-winning photographers George Bernard and Stephen Dalton.
I ROYAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street. 225 7534. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm: Sun 2-5pm.
British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year Sun 10 Mar—14 Apr. Straight from the Natural History Museum in London. these 80 winning. runner-up and commended photographs are from an annual worldwide competition open to amateurs and professionals. Entries include a polar bear scavenging for food in Alaska and some ethereal yellow butterflies.
I ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound. 2256671. Mon—Sat 10am—5pszun
2—5 m.
Students Exhibition 1991 Sat 9—20 Mar. An important first opportunity for senior students from Scotland‘s colleges ofart and architecture to show off their painting. sculpture. architecture and printmaking skills.
I THE SCOTTISH GALLERY 94 George Street. 225 5955. Mon—Fri lllam—(ipszat 10am—1pm.
Shades of Scottish Classicism: Paintings by Hugh Buchanan Until 3 Apr. Architecture has always fascinated Buchanan. In this collection he pursues his study of classicisrn. turning his attention to 17th century Scottish castles and palaces: Fyvie. Thirlestane. Glamis. Falkland. Ilolyrood and some well-known Edinburgh buildings. There is a strong. modernist feel to his watercolours.
Peter Bodenham and Ian Ramsay: Ceramics While Bodenham is particularly influenced by the German Expressionists. Ramsay draws on his interest in Spanish Moorish art and Cycladic and Byzantine figures. Both artists addressthe relationship between man and nature.
I SOLSTICE GALLERY 18a Dundas Street. 557 5227. Mon-Fri 11am—5pm13at l0am—lpm.
Jeff McDonald: Recent Works Until Sat 16 Mar.
I STILLS GALLERY 105 I Iigh Street. 557 1140. Tue—Sat Ham—5.30pm.
Jim Miller: Poison Pen — A Story oiWrongful Dismissal Until 30 Mar. A Kellogg's employee for more than 30years. Marjorie Carler lost her job in 1974 for allegedly sending poison pen letters to a Kellogg's manager. In Jim Miller‘s exhibition. Carlyle protests her innocence in typed panels. and photographic panels are combined with period Kellogg‘s advertisements — promoting the company's caring image - to ironic effect. Ross Sinclair: Fanclub Until 30 Mill. Commissioned by Stills. Sinclair looks at the relationship between the ‘artist' and the ‘gallery‘. What does it mean for an artist to promote him or herself through an ‘exhibition'? Visitors to Stills will be bombarded by the artist's ego before they even enter the building — life-size photographs of Sinclair adorn the facade. stairwell and gallery space.
I 369 GALLERY 233 Cowgatc. 225 3013. Mon—Sat 10.30am—5.30pm.
Alan G.D. Watson: Recent Work Until 30 Mar. Well known for his work on Scottish themes — St Kilda. the 19th century whaling industry and the building ofan oil rig in Fife — in this exhibition Watson also looks at the construction of Errochty Dam. His work is boldly figurative and dominated by electric blues and pinks. Worried Landscapes: Paperwork by Jackie Scammell 9—30 Mar. ‘I‘raincd asa painter. Scammcll has recently turned to paper-making and is influenced by the landscape surrounding her in ('umbria.
52 The List 8:21 March 1991