isual Art
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LIST >l<
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
AS EVANS' WORK GROWS IN STATURE, SWAIN'S GROWS IN CONFIDENCE
Little and large
Alexander Kennedy looks at the seductive surfaces and weighty theories underlying the work of Nick Evans and Tony Swain
t seems l’aul .\'esbit can do no wrong at lnverleith House in the Botanic (lardens. The curator has a back catalogtte ol' excellent exhibitions under his belt. having shown work by some of the most respected national and international artists. liollowing a critically-acclaimcd installation by (ilasgow—based team Smith and Stewart. the galleries will be home to another pair ol' (ilasgow-based artists (although this time HUI a double act i: .\'ick Iivans and Tony Swain. Iivans has continued to reline his approach over the last decade. with work that uses some of the tersest aesthetic theories and philosophies as subject matter. to create impressive sculptures that demonstrate both his mastery over his subject and the ways in which a
faith itt onch approach can escape the tether ol'
explication by simply being ‘good’. The artist brings questions of taste and aesthetic appreciation back to the table tit was only temporarin hiding beneath it). with work that relentlessly forces its presence onto the view er.
These are not small. installed. site specil‘ic. apologetic artworks. but sprawling yet contained pieces that coil across the floor or reach right up to the ceiling. Iivans‘ most recent work has grown in scale (this could he down to the amount of space he is now granted in larger galleries). allowing him to introduce a stronger physical relationship between the work and the gallery goer. This aspect is central to the most recent work — the vertical stance of the viewer — although the pieces would still have a certain impact it you felt the urge to lie down beside one.
As Evans' work grows in stature. Tony Swain's
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painted collages have grown in confidence. Swain recently represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale with a hotchpotch of other local talent. and managed to transcend the lack ol- curatorial vision and
organisation with works that built on a series of
excellent exhibitions. the highlight being his 2()()() show at The Modern Institute. Swain investigates the potential for pattern making and accidental narrative by collaging and painting over areas of colour from newspapers.
Although it is tempting to use words such as
‘random‘ in relation to this approach. there is. of
course. a guiding hand and eye manipulating that apparent randomness. There's no shame in consciously pulling any old oddments of material together. whether newspaper or gold leaf. as long as the end product manages to convince. and Swain‘s work does. His work is at its best when it veers towards total abstraction. but the occasional representational element freed from its original context demonstrates that even our familiar. everyday reality is a collage of repeating patterns that only gives the illtision of stability.
The l‘ormalist issues that Iivans' and Swain‘s works invoke when placed in such close proximity are worth unpacking slowly. even though the ice-cream and pastel colours of Swain's chalky pages and the rnuliticoloured mania of Evans' sculptures have an instantaneous impact.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Feb-Sun 20 Apr.
II! Spencer Sweeney This exhibition of paintings. drawings and sculpture by the New York-based artist marks his return to The Modern Institute after exhibiting at the Whitney Biennale. Sweeney's canvases take the history of Modern American painting as subject matter. The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sat 23 Feb.
III Craig Mulholland: Grandes et Petites Machines An exhibition of paintings, sculpture and a new film by one of Glasgow's most respected artists. Elements of this new work will be shown simultaneously at the GSA’s Mackintosh Gallery and Sorcha Dallas. Glasgow School of Art, until Sat 22 Mar. iII Live Undead An exhibition of paintings by a host of internationally acclaimed artists, including David Bomberg, Walter Sickert, Alex Katz and Andre Derain. Work by local talent such as Alexander Guy and Marianne Greated is also on show in an exhibition that examines 100 years of portraiture. See review, page 95. Transmission, Glasgow, until Sat 23 Feb.
I! Carol Rhodes This survey of Rhodes' paintings features more than 15 years of work. Working slowly in oil on board, she depicts ‘functional’ landscapes manipulated by industry, landscaping and transport. The views are an amalgam of imagined. photographed and observed landscapes. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 24 Feb.