Art
PAINTlNC what they would look
FRANK AUERBACH like National Gallery of Modern Art, '
Edinburgh, until Sun 12 May
One thing’s for sure about Frank Auerbach: he loves a lot of paint technique can on his paintings. Squeezing layer sometimes upon layer onto the canvas, camouflage the
Auerbach squishes, drags, smears image under too much gloop, making surface and then scrapes most of identification only possible through the painting’s title. For example Camden Palace is a jumble of colours too dense to
and slashes the paint across the
it off to begin again.
This obsessive process is repeated over and over until Auerbach is satisfied that he has achieved a physical depth to represent his encounter with the subject. The fourteen paintings on display in this exhibition are representations of the area in north London where he lives and
see through.
have posed for him. Up close, these paintings are slightly sickening as you see the squiggles, peaks and troughs of
From a distance the 0.. splurges of colour start to take shape although Auerbach‘s
Primrose Hill is a favourite subject of Auerbach who has
like twisted sculptures created
features. Again some of his
thick paint; a visual gluttony where golden browns of autumn, making portraits are impenetrable while
the paint becomes coloured
toffee and burnt sugar. If Willie Wonka created paintings this is
MlXi D lvll. DIA SURROUND Free Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 24 Feb 000
The second show froii‘. the recently refurbished Free Gallery deals with urbz h habitats. combining a "ange of responses from art. desigi‘, and architectural practitioners. The space itself — gallery. hair salon and alternative therapy clinic ifreguented by stressed-out city '.'.'orkersi - is a typical 21st centuiy urban habitat.
Kate Beaugie's painting. depicting a lone train passenger in a darkened carriage. echoes ti‘aii‘ company hard-sell where carriages are presei‘ited as temporary offices and living rooms. She heightens the sense of \.'oyeui‘ism with a glass-fronted box-frame. creating depth and space betx'xeen two ‘.".’|ll(l()‘.'/S.
Away from shampoo smells and laminate flooring. Melinda Stradling's work demands active participation. successfully examining hov.’ people negotiate their passage through different spaces. You enter the installation. which is hidden from view. through narrov.’ doors. immediately precipitating the classic "should I? shouldn't |’?' moment. Beyond the doors. your eyes guickly adjust to reveal a road at night. lit only by fluorescent road markings. Iii plac:ng us alone ()l‘. an anonymous highu'xay. Sti'adling gently toys with instinct. anXiety and urban living.
S“.‘.’|SS-l)EiS(}(l architectural practice N presents N Pod. an unrealised design concept for a mobile homeless shelter that can be parked and packed up anywhere. While it is interesting rand laudablei to see architects approaching such l)l()l(}(IiES. this has been done before. and better. Comparisons with the innovative design of heated. inflatable homeless shelters by US—based artist Michael Rak()‘.'.iit/_ exemplary in both imagination and practicality. are difficult to avoid. iSusahnah l'hoiiipsohi
Barcode Housing by N2 82 THE LIST '-'- l «'1,
these paintings appear more
meringue, stodgy porridge, molten controlled and accessible. Auerbach is renowned as a
fastidious painter pouring a lot of distance. (Isabella Weir)
to be viewed more than once to see the image. Just keep your
iii M M hi only/.ANcl JACK GOLDSTEIN
The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Fri 22 Feb 0...
Some Butterflies, 1 975
Peopit: s p .'.'c.._;‘ t'ienet. l'. "(lLIXT' I).Vi>(1'\t.'t:ivrl'l(l
t)\l']]t) (LN‘KJ. J(1(,'\ (l<)'(’ftt'\flr . t, 't,’ .)(,f,(lf‘, \/ ‘. {)Ill' (livl (2\.(1'\..
gld'flf: .Ill .'l‘.(tK(:'. (11,” :1”I‘(:"(/(;(lll‘f). z'."( l)<l.";:}i'. .'.'(lf> ()l‘it: ()l
“(380.
,.‘\o,, A, ,\",o," fo,.',\,-',‘ .,,, . c" .n’ “.6, .o, ,1 l ism. cx. :3 .t, .: ss 0!. ts'i‘ii io'i
y “in , . _«,. , I, , . _( ,,.,. ..,;,. ,.,.',.‘ ,,,\',. ., \/\ i)'t,.../(.'t,. 2:)l" (llti .J/t) t) .1, . ..l,\,(>.'ll,1,f)i/K,U.<U".
‘.'.’l‘(}ll l f4, "()tlefil .ll{tf1K(l()l\". {f i31)£l(7(:£tf$ 'Jlfr [\ACEH'ZE'"
.w (,.,,.o,, .... , .,...,.,,.,.,,,...,,,, lintntlt'w. lt/ \l.).'t,r .3. H' ..\) '\ “(105) .\i.(1| at, f‘, t/ti it, “(x '\
‘.'.’l‘i‘.‘:‘."(2l .nc ».'.'a:; ‘ei‘cii‘g " I'?E: dark (I(?‘.(:’~f}(l " 'Ctioresc-c-nf baths '7'.'.’e [officers ‘97.“): or creating .'.'e "c: Ma"s::"es:it.-:3 iC'ar'es "of Manyn soi‘gs :3.lLI" at: ‘lyl..":le". l"-:- f3?‘()'.‘.'(l£ii$l"§l :t‘ ." s: “or: A": sho'ls a‘.'.'a,:: ‘.'.::"-\e:: :" (Z()fl5.i"(lil()'l t" these megs-sis.
l’ftjl'i' are ter of its best. l:'oc-c'.e<i ontc a "(3:3 wa t" a
"z(;I(inl\/‘\lyl(i .. K1, f)\l\‘ill"\/ .(,1.:\l"'\ K \,\:"'.,‘:>::/.)l‘\i ..t
()oloste'hs LJS "‘sta.l.it»:>"s. l' ‘. (Mfr l)_,.<.- ‘-:,'i o (Jottstei'
l)""l<}f§ ‘foiiie the chaotic c" ‘.'.’()"r\ "it: ‘.'.'°..'l ti"- 'iials and glitz/cl :li ., is at .,i,.i.:..<; has. if or lvlblv‘ s "(;.;t:'it()"<
l'he rea:|‘. excef eh’. ‘.'.'::'»\ 'l(:l-(:. misnomer. :1, abort na'fv.ay
tl.ro,ig'. the f>'l(,'.."(."\fl. A Haw? .w or ‘9. t).7,’7/(,' Hafc'fies
51E)l.5)i{Hid[3().’Tl,’(;’7i'){: ltli't’i (l'-::{I"‘-Lllf§"“,.'il".:;:'417l§?(}l\
t:xtit.s.<: i,;<,-t,<.-:, n on cellulii .i". sit ness. /' t.’/\' Eli.»
and [he (,‘l‘aii ‘:)i':': are lllt‘i't: :it'f;:..‘. itecesfiiit'y gutxi
into a ia!’ er earnest t.ih(.~ case.) artn l)!"'(i.'"i‘tl' .,t~ ,'.l\}|.i\7'i
(xi! ."(I".'.’£l'(l.l‘-tl a the san‘e. 1);, sing. to f“-::- i:"itl o‘ the firiai'
thirteen second film. Hre ./..rrr;> ‘éli'E-i . w'iicl‘ naye you
\‘Jo'ifle'v‘g tl‘is gi fled '.t‘-t<:i;ii‘ artist .'..i:; r‘eyei (,(ill‘ll Elfif>"(:'l'.’.)(l(i.':t:..i.:f.’.().'["t‘[).1.Tlltfiitnlutz'VUM.
l’a:i'[)a'-::
Primrose Hill, Spring Sunshine, 1961-62/64
physical effort into his paintings. Some of his portraits have taken returned to it time and time again several years and hundreds of over twenty years, capturing the works, and portraits of friends who changing seasons. In these paintings he restrains the colour to match the seasons: the greys of winter, the yellow hues of spring, the greens of summer and the
sittings to be completed. They are from paint. It takes a while to see
the faces as only a slight slash of black or streak of red denotes the
others are visual puzzles that need
INSTALLATION URSULA NISTRUP AND CAMILLA LOW Switchspace at Offshore, Glasgow, until Sun 3 Mar 0..
Glasgow chool of Art graduates Nistrup and Low are the latest artists to exhibit as part of S‘HllCllSleCC. an artist— ru.n exhibitior programme with a history of hosting intriguing exhibitions in alternative spaces. The basement of Offshore Cafe is the setting for ‘.'.y'()"k which initially appears to be another higli-minimalist. highly aesthetic group of randomly placed autonomous ODJOCIS. Such austere aesthetics otter: call for a purely forma; resi.)onse. but closer inspection of the '.'.ior:.< reveals that this is far from the case in a body of work almost taihol'y reliant on a dialogue will: the site. Loy/"s ‘.'.'o"k. ll‘. one half of the gailery. consists of smooth surfaces and l)’(}(22.lll()LlS balanCing acts fl‘ high-gloss. reflective materials. Against a fresh. t'lat white wall these scat >turai forms are placed to cast shadows and tatint §.lll'L‘t\.’li\,i’. A deiicate tension is mazntained in objects ‘.'.’l‘.l(,‘l‘ rest against Onc- another and the psychological effect of approaching these ‘.'.'orks is a si'iiiia" balance of (Iétlll‘ and zii_)pi'eliei‘.Sion. Nistrup's work. like Lows. is informed by the {lill‘iCSl.lll(E."lC senditions o‘ the space — dan‘p. gratignt. light and teiiii_)erature. The work :i"a'.'.'s attention to architectural details and geographical location and the reciprocal arrangement x-xhic'n ()"SuCS :s such that the site itseif takes on an anzni'oi)ornorpl‘ic dimension. )(XIOllllllg co‘laborator in the creat'on of the work .tself and insep; rab'e fron‘ it. :Susannah Tinon‘ihsoni
Camilla Low’s balancing acts in high-gloss