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‘THE ROMANCE IS OVERWHELMING'
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Shades of Gray
REVle Alexander Kennedy looks at work by Alasdair Gray which was painted over 30 years ago but is now on show for the first time
ometimes it’s more fun to ignore the l explanatory gallery text and have a good look a at the work. This seems an obvious enough 1 way of dealing with an objects, but usually makes for
lazy viewing and reviewing on the part of the critic.
But it is impossible to ignore the story behind Alasdair
Gray’s exhibition Now and Then at Sorcha Dallas.
These large works on paper and board are the result
of an unfinished collaboration that took place over 30 years ago between Gray and Glasgow poet Liz
Lochhead. The poems were written and the images ‘ finished, but the film that was to unite them fell through. The film was to tell the story of a doomed
love affair, with the images acting as flashbacks or
memories. As resurrected memories (love letters, love
images from the past), the love story continues. The romance is overwhelming.
The exhibition brings together nine paintings, all : using watercolour, pencil, acrylic, oil paint on brown paper and board, and were painted in 1972. It also unites influences that range from William Blake to early Craigie Aitchison, CR Mackintosh and David Hockney. But the style is Gray’s: it’s there in the i
simplified intricacies of the materials and pattern he
paints, the emphasis on flatness, and the sexy i
voluptuous folds. All of this is played out in these
figurative paintings, illuminated drawings that expand and contract in a dramatic, over-emphasised mid- ground. Gray’s dynamic perspective acts as a
telescope into an imaginary past, bringing his whole career back to us. One painting was found on a
100 Till LIST 24 Apr-8 May 2008
midden out the back of a tenement (‘The New Room’), another was left to buckle and waste in a barn (‘The Rainbow’), yet all they all still look fresh. It’s a treat to see all of these images together. and hopefully they will be sold as such now that they have been reunited. There are masterpieces within this
collection, but the whole story needs to be told.
‘Snakes and Ladders’ is an obvious show-stopper. as is “The Rainbow’, both large works that play with imagined. layered space. yet give themselves up totally to the viewer standing in front of them. In ‘Making Pictures’, time and space also bend and Van Gogh-inspired sky-scapes and pop art sofas are brought together in the same room. ‘Still life with Buddha’ is a quieter piece. but the crowded composition and buckled perspective manages to
penetrate and hang awkwardly inside your head.
Gray is undoubtedly one of the most important artists alive in Scotland today. He has been for the last half decade. It’s too easy to see him as a liminal figure, as some kind of outsider. He just isn’t. That’s why it was so shocking (yet wonderful) to see the only Scottish retrospective of his work in the dark basement of Cafe’ Cossachock last year. It is still slightly shocking to see his work in Sorcha Dallas’ gallery. It shouldn’t be. of course: quality work should be brought together irrespective of mere fashion or even personal taste.
Alasdair Gray: Now and Then, Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, until Sat 17 May .0000
LIST
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
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at: Kalup Llnzy Playing with the idea of ‘public and private’ that acts as the unifying theme for this year’s Glasgow International, the New York- based performance artist, filmmaker and painter presents work that explodes in the place between all such binaries: male/female, good/bad. gay/straight. See review, right. Washington Garcia, Glasgow, until Sun 27 Apr.
2%: Alasdair Gray: Now and Then An exhibition of work by one of the most significant yet overlooked artists living and working in Scotland today. Works that were originally created to accompany poems by Liz Lockhead in 1972 are brought together and shown for the first time. exhibiting all the sensuality and charm that we have come to associate with Gray’s work. See review. left. Sorcha Dal/as, Glasgow, until Sat 17 May.
«is Jim Lambie: Forever Changes This Glasgow— based, Turner Prize—nominated artist brings elements of pop art and pop music together in works that, well, pop. A quiet riot of colour and materials fight it out in sculptural works that take hair styles and art historical styles as their inspiration. See review, page 102. GoMA, Glasgow, until Mon 29 Sep.
at: Print the Legend: The Myth of the West This group show brings together film, sculpture, photography and installed elements to explore the idea of the American Western, using various political and social theories to unpack issues surrounding the genre. Cornelia Parker and Douglas Gordon are amongst the artists exhibiting. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 4 May