art@list.co.uk
PHOTOGRAPHY
GERED MANKOWITZ AND PAUL SALTZMAN
Street Level, Glasgow, Tue 10 Feb-Sat 20 Mar
Timing, they say, is everything. If proof of that was ever needed then look no further than here. Two men armed with cameras found themselves in fortuitous circumstances and came away older, wiser and with armfuls of historic film.
Paul Saltzman was very much someone in the right place at the right time. He went to the Maharishi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India hoping to learn meditation. Blissfully unaware that the Beatles were already resident, he camped outside the front gates for eight days until he was finally admitted. Saltzman’s photographs showed the band resting, relaxing and writing: four of the most famous men on the planet completely away from the frustrations and stresses of Western life.
Gered Mankowitz took the more conventional route, as a budding photographer who befriended and photographed emerging pop starlet Marianne Faithfull. So impressed was Faithfull’s manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, with Mankowitz’ work that he suggested he would be perfect for another new project he had taken on - a nifty little R&B outfit called the Rolling Stones. This led to a close and fruitful relationship which lasted three years, during which he shot the
band live on stage, in the studio backstage and for album
covers.
‘Oldham was keen to get away from the high gloss that David Bailey had done with the band up until that point,’ Mankowitz explains. ‘He wanted to capture the real band.’
So capture them he did. Mankowitz' pictures illustrated
The Rolling Stones photographed by Gered Mankowitz
‘And at this time, the Beatles were incredibly polished.
That’s something people seem to forget - they were the
kind of band your Granny would like. The Stones were the complete polar opposite and the two reflected very distinct areas of youth culture at the time.’
What Saltzman and Mankowitz’ photographs share is a
a vital development period for the Stones from 1965-67. This is not to say that these photographers owe
everything to a lone lucky break. Mankowitz went on to
shoot a raft of rock’n’roll names over the following 39
candid view of men in the public eye. There is an incredible degree of closeness reflected in the pictures. Conscious of not using flash, Mankowitz paints grainy, edgy portraits of a band only half aware of their powers.
years, including Jimi Hendrix and Kate Bush.
‘For all intents and purposes, for a time I was the seventh Rolling Stone,’ he says. ‘When they went to America on tour it was the band, Ian Stewart [Stones’
piano player] and me.’
FILM/PHOTOGRAPHY
NEW EUROPE AND THE BALKANS
Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, until Thu 4 Mar 0...
a ‘ "-a.’ 1 '
Alla Georgieva’s self portraits
' . I: " 9' .' x . 4‘ ~ :th ' " I i , -
‘When it comes down to it, it was about trust,’ he says. ‘The band were happy to have me there and knew I wouldn’t exploit them. I think that’s something that is reflected in both sets of photographs. Today, artists would
never show that level of trust.’ (Mark Robertson)
'Why should we subsidise intellectual curiosity?‘ It’s been a long time since Ronald Reagan barked his reSponse to the idea of funding the more challenging arts on the campaign trail in 1980. But it's a phrase that comes to mind when faced with the performance art. photography and Video work of seven contemporary artists from the Balkans. As voyeurs of the bloody division of that collection of tribal states. our expectation of art that comes out of the Balkans is depressive at best and intellectualised condemnation at worst.
New Europe and the Balkans is anything but, and makes grand intimations towards the art of among others Cindy Sherman. Andreas Gursky and Willie Doherty — but political or sectarian comment is hardly high on the agenda. Luckily humour is.
The exhibition opens with Ukrainian/Bulgarian artist Alla Georgieva's hilarious self portraits Alla '3
Secrets. Alla herself poses in various stages of braSSiere undress: lying on. kneeling in or kneading down frikadeller meatballs. cucumber and peppers and flour respectively. Vladimar Martek's sweet cartography themed The Book. the Balkans and the Comb follows but it is really Igor Gubic's stunning photography set Silence that really astounds. A hymn to love. loneliness and despair, all suffused in dreary burgundies and Gulag greys.
Of the rest of the work Vladimir Nikolic impresses With his film Rhythm (five people in a row genuflecting to house musicl and Auto Portrait 2002. a contemplation on the artist's opinion that the Balkans are a major dumping ground for old cars. Mladen Stilinovic's Buried Pain photo series and Breda Beban's Little Films to Cry About are also recommended. A refreshing trickle of new work from the cross roads of Europe. (Paul Dalel
Dalziel + Scullion’s fake steel trees
DALZIEL + SCULLION HAVE WON the decorative category of the Colour Coated Creativity Awards 2003 for their garden of imaginary trees which is currently being installed in the courtyard of the new Royal Children's Hospital in Aberdeen. Sponsored by Highland Colour Coaters Limited and organised by the Royal Incorporation of Architects, the Dundee-based duo have replicated the Scots Pine. Birch and Rowan varieties using powder coloured coating on galvanized steel. The sculptural forms are inspired by the traditional renderings seen in children‘s fiction and in contemporary computer graphics. ABERDEEN-BASED PAINTER Euan Gray has been awarded the Alastair Salvesen Art Scholarship award of £10,000. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art and Slade School of Art, the scholarship will enable Gray to travel to the South Sea Islands following in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson. A solo exhibition of his work will be on show at the Royal Scottish Academy Building in 2005. For more information about the award, contact the Royal Scottish Academy on 0131 225 6671 or email info@royalscottish academy.org
A-N MAGAZINE ARE ORGANISING two networking initiatives in Scotland over the next two months. On Saturday 21 February at Cove Park in Peaton Hill, the event explores contemporary practice in rural locations and features artists' presentations and debates. On Saturday 13 March at GeneratOr in Dundee. alternative strategies for exhibiting is the topic with contributions from Magnifitat and Cabin Exchange. All events are free but places are limited. To book call 0191 241 8000 or email quiana.capes@a-n.co.uk APPLICATIONS ARE INVITED FOR the Molly Haslund Award 2004 which awards £100 to an artist’s project deemed to show great commitment. For further information write to The Molly Haslund Award, Flat 1/2, 21 St Wncent Crescent, Glasgow, G3 8L0 or email mollyhuslundaward @hotmail.com. The closing date is Saturday 14 February 2004.
:3— ‘El tel) 7004 THE LIST 89