VISUAL ART BEST OF 2013
VISUAL ART
Three Glasgow School of Art graduates – Corin Sworn, Duncan Campbell and Hayley Tompkins – made an impres- sive mark on the international art scene in Scotland’s presentation at the 55th Venice Biennale. Their acclaimed range of work at the Palazzo Pisani – Scotland + Venice – was curated by Katri na Brown and Kitty Anderson from the Common Guild in Glasgow, where all three artists will present their work in 2014 for what will be anticipated solo shows.
The Edinburgh Art Festival, meanwhile, presented some of its most interesting exhibitions and commissions to date, under director Sorcha Carey. Among a long list of innovative shows, performances and installations were the stand-outs Transmitted Live: Nam June Paik Resounds at the Talbot Rice Gallery and Peter Doig: No Foreign Lands at the Scottish National Gallery. Also part of the Edinburgh International Festival, Transmitted Live celebrated the 50th anniversary of Paik’s first solo exhibition from 1963, ‘Exposition of Music – Electronic Television’. Curators at the Talbot Rice demonstrated how the Korean artist brought television into the realm of art for the first time and highlighted the influence his work still has on contemporary art. Showcasing a far more traditional medium, No Foreign Lands displayed the continuing relevance of painting in the art world today, and also of Edinburgh-born Doig, showing him to be at the peak of a career that has already spanned three decades.
Two Edinburgh galleries col- laborated to present a retrospec- tive of Louise Bourgeois’s work in 2013. With I Give Everything Away, the Fruitmarket concen- trated on the late French artist’s works on paper, while Modern One presented A Woman Without Secrets – a sensitive and evocative collection of her two- and three-dimensional work.
At the Tramway in Glasgow, Lucy Skaer returned from New York to present Exit, Voice and Loyalty – her largest and perhaps most impressive show since the Turner Prize exhibition in 2009. (Rhona Taylor)
132 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014
LAST CHANCE Exploring The Lion King Until Sun 12 Jan. Interactive exhibition in which you can explore the remarkable designs created by Julie Taymor and her team for the stage version of Disney’s movie. Walter Geikie Until Fri 28 Feb. Paintings, drawings and prints from the deaf artist. ■ COLLECTIVE GALLERY City Observatory & Dome, 38 Calton Hill, 556 1264. Tue–Sun 11am–5pm. Gallery closed Fri 20 Dec–Fri 10 Jan. Goldin + Senneby: Anti-VWAP Until Sun 26 Jan. Artists Goldin + Senneby, with playwright Rob Drummond, anthropologist Philip Grant, sociologist Donald McKenzie, set designer Anna Heymowska and computer scientist Ybodon, develop an algorithmic market trading model using the infrastructure supporting an art exhibition.
■ THE DANISH CULTURAL INSTITUTE 3 Doune Terrace, 225 7189. Gallery open Mon–Thu 10am–4pm. LAST CHANCE Inge Lise Westman and Emil Westman Hertz: Star Sailor Until Thu 19 Dec. Paintings and installations by Danish artists who happen to be mother and son.
■ DOVECOT STUDIOS 10 Infirmary Street, 550 3660. Mon– Sat 10.30am–5.30pm but individual exhibitions may vary. Gallery closed Mon 23 Dec–Mon 6 Jan. LAST CHANCE Selected Until Sat 21 Dec. Daily 10.30am–5.30pm (incl Sun). A Christmas selling exhibition of work by 40 Scottish designers and craftspeople, the perfect opportunity to pick up some unique gifts.
■ EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Tue–Sat 10am–6pm. Gallery closed Sun 22 Dec– Mon 6 Jan. LAST CHANCE The Written Image Until Sat 21 Dec. Collaborations between printmakers and poets, in a project curated by Edinburgh Printmakers and the Scottish Poetry Library. ■ FRUITMARKET GALLERY 45 Market Street, 225 2383. Mon–Sat 11am–6pm; Sun noon–5pm. Gallery closed Tue 24–Fri 27 Dec and Tue 31 Dec–Thu 1 Jan; open Sat 28 Dec & Mon 30 Dec 11am–6pm and Sun 29 Dec noon–5pm.
Hugonin, Sean Scully and Alison Watt, as well as selected objects from antiquity and beyond. NEW Ellsworth Kelly Sat 11 Jan–Sat 22 Feb. Prints from the veteran colour field artist, one of the giants of postwar American art. ■ INVERLEITH HOUSE Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place/ Inverleith Row, 248 2971. Tue–Sun 10am– 3.30pm. Gallery closed Thu 28 Nov–Fri 17 Jan; open Sat 18 Jan 1–4pm. NEW Alex Dordoy: persistencebeatsresistance Sun 19 Jan–Sun 30 Mar. Two large wall paintings, a sculpture and an installation by the artist who graduated from GSA in 2007. See preview, page 134.
■ LEITH GALLERY 65 The Shore, Leith, 553 5255. Mon–Fri noon–5pm; Sat noon–4pm. LAST CHANCE Christmas Exhibition Until Mon 30 Dec. Mixed exhibition by gallery artists. ■ LEITH SCHOOL OF ART 25 North Junction Street, 554 5761. Opening hours vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. NEW Jacqui Higgs: Frigates Mon 6 Jan–Fri 14 Feb. Daily 10am–4pm. Paintings based on a maritime motif.
■ MCNAUGHTAN’S BOOKSHOP 3a & 4a Haddington Place, Leith Walk, 556 5897. Tue–Sat 11am–5pm. LAST CHANCE The Artist Book Group bound: unbound Until Sat 21 Dec. Artist books and wall-based works from Felicity Bristow, Jennifer Bruce, Liza Green, Susie Leiper, Jenny Smith, Lynda Wilson and Susie Wilson.
■ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street, 0300 123 6789. Daily 10am–5pm. Museum closed Wed 25 Dec; open Thu 26 Dec, Wed 1 & Thu 2 Jan noon–5pm. Creative Spirit: Revealing Early Medieval Scotland Until Sun 23 Feb. A major exhibition revealing the creativity of Scotland in the early medieval period, including digital reconstructions of pieces that only exist in fragmentary form, as well as actual reconstructions by modern craftspeople of ancient artifacts, such as a Pictish drinking horn, a bronze and iron hand bell, sculptured stones, manuscripts and other items.
Kabuki: Japanese Theatre Prints ●●●●● Until Sun 2 Feb. An exhibition showcasing the museum’s enormous collection of Japanese woodblock prints, focusing on those depicting kabuki – the elaborately stylised form of dance drama that thrived in Japan between the 17th and 19th centuries.
■ OPEN EYE GALLERY 34 Abercromby Place, 557 1020. Mon– Fri 10am–6pm; Sat 10am–4pm. Gallery closed Wed 25 Dec–Thu 9 Jan; open Tue 24 Dec 10am–noon. LAST CHANCE Christmas Exhibition Until Mon 23 Dec. A Christmas show of selected work by invited Open Eye artists. LAST CHANCE Claire Malet: Metal Until Tue 24 Dec. Metalwork vessels from Hertfordshire-based artist inspired by natural forms. LAST CHANCE Invited Artists: The Drawing Room Until Tue 24 Dec. Exhibition focusing on the importance of draughtsmanship, with drawings from Alberto Morrocco, Glen Scouller and John Byrne, among others. LAST CHANCE Jewellery: Objects of Desire Until Tue 24 Dec. Handcrafted jewellery from Disa Allsopp, Natalie Vardey and Teena Ramsey. LAST CHANCE On A Small Scale Until Tue 24 Dec. A5-sized artworks by all of the Open Eye artists. LAST CHANCE The Print Room: 20th Century Printmaking Until Tue 24 Dec. A look at 20th century printmaking, with examples from Victor Pasmore, Ben Nicholson, Sandra Blow and Henry Moore. NEW Invited Artists: Abecedarium Fri 10–Wed 29 Jan. In response to the William Nicholson show in the same gallery, 26 gallery artists have been invited to produce a letter of the alphabet. NEW William Nicholson: An Alphabet Fri 10–Wed 29 Jan. Lithographs from the artist’s 1897 An Alphabet. ■ THE QUEEN’S GALLERY Palace of Holyroodhouse, 556 5100. Daily 9.30am–4.30pm. Gallery closed Wed 25–Thu 26 Dec. High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson Until Sun 2 Mar. £6 (over 60s & students £5.50; under 17s £3; under 5s free). Thomas
✽ Louise Bourgeois: I Give Everything Away Until Sun
23 Feb. Drawings and prints from the legendary French artist and sculptor, taken from her prolific late period: Insomnia Drawings, When Did This Happen? and I Give Everything Away.
■ GALLERY TEN 10 Stafford Street, galleryten.co.uk Tue– Sat 10.30am–5.30pm. LAST CHANCE Winter Exhibitions Until Tue 24 Dec. New work from Spektrum Collective, jewellers resident at Silverhub Studios and gallery artists. ■ INGLEBY GALLERY 15 Calton Road, 556 4441. Mon–Sat 10am–6pm. Gallery closed 22 Dec–5 Jan. Billboard for Edinburgh: David Austen Until Fri 7 Feb. On view 24h. The latest billboard on the exterior wall of the Ingleby Gallery is David Austen’s Love Town. Limited edition screenprints are available from the gallery. LAST CHANCE Once Upon a Time and a Very Good Time It Was . . . Until Sat 21 Dec. Taking its title from James Joyce’s modernist novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, this extensive exhibition features works from the likes of David Austen, David Batchelor, Howard Hodgkin, James
JACQUI HIGGS: FRIGATES Exhibition of paintings by the Edinburgh-based artist Jacqui Higgs. The work, which relates to frigates and tankers, is largely based on drawings of the North Sea made on site. ■ Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, Mon 6 Jan–Fri 14 Feb.