VISUAL ART
Making History Until Sep 2014. Work by Sandy Stoddart, Sculptor in Ordinary to the Queen, who was commissioned by the Portrait Gallery to make a monumental figure representing History, intended to stand outside the gallery from autumn 2014. NEW Modern Portraits Thu 2 Jan– Sun 11 May. A wide selection of 20th and 21st century works of portraiture, from artists as diverse as Stanley Curister, Robert Heriot Westwater, Victoria Crowe, Maggi Hambling and William McCance. LAST CHANCE Out of the Shadow: Women of Nineteenth Century Scotland Until Tue 31 Dec. Depictions of women between the late 18th and early 20th century, from Newhaven fishwife Elizabeth Hall to ruler of the British Empire Queen Victoria. Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport Until Dec 2014. Images of how sport was transformed by social and infrastructural changes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Reformation to Revolution Until Dec 2016. Portraits of Scottish people from the turbulent 17th century. The Age of Improvement Until Dec 2015. Portraits from Scotland’s great transformation, 1750–1850. The Nation // Live | Work, Union, Civil War, Faith, Roots Until Tue 6 May. A major new exhibition examining national identity. Tickling Jock: Comedy Greats from Sir Harry Lauder to Billy Connolly Until 25 May. Portraits of Scotland’s funny men and women. Viviane Sassen: In and Out of Fashion ●●●●● Until Sun 9 Feb. Retrospective of major Dutch fashion and fine art photographer.
■ SPACE ARTWORKS 410 Morningside Road, 07870 799407. Tue 11am–2pm; Wed, Fri & Sat 11am–5pm; Thu 11am–3pm. LAST CHANCE Birds and Beasties Until Tue 24 Dec. Arts and environmentally friendly crafts from artists with long-term health issues. ■ STILLS 23 Cockburn Street, 622 6200. Daily 11am–6pm. Gallery closed Sat 21 Dec– Sun 5 Jan. Constructions of Landscape: Work in Progress 2 Until Sun 19 Jan. Photographs by Massimiliano Gatti, David James Grinly and Daniele Sambo examining the constructed landscape in the urban environment.
■ SUMMERHALL 1 Summerhall, 0845 874 3001. Daily 11am–6pm. Galleries closed Wed 25,Thu 26 Dec and Wed 1 Jan; open Tue 31 Dec 11am–3pm and Thu 2 Jan noon–3pm. Deirdre Nicholls: Beyond Surface – In search of the soul Until Fri 24 Jan. Portrait work by figurative sculptor Deirdre Nicholls, who set up a studio in Summerhall in July 2013. James Lee Byars: Q: When Is a Book not a Book? A: When It Is a Question Until Fri 24 Jan. Sculptures and objects made by one of the most dandyish and elusive of 20th century artists, James Lee Byars (1932–1997).
✽Jerry Gretzinger: Jerry’s Map Until Fri 24 Jan. Fictional map 50
years in the making. See preview, page 128. Julie Howden: Obsessed About the 50s Until Fri 24 Jan. Photographs documenting the recent revival of interest in 50s style, featuring large colour images, clothing, jewellery and records. Phenotype Genotype (PhG) ●●●●● Until Fri 31 Jan. Exhibition of 400 avant-garde works from 1900 to the present. Ryoko Tamura: Funch Until Fri 24 Jan. Illustrative art. Sally Webber: An Inexact Science Until Fri 24 Jan. Sculptural work made with found materials. The Dark Would Until Fri 24 Jan.
134 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014
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PREVIEW MIXED MEDIA ALEX DORDOY: PERSISTENCEBEATSRESISTANCE Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Jan–Sun 30 Mar
There’s a sense of delving into the past in Alex Dordoy’s upcoming show at Inverleith House. Instead of the intense, photorealistic paintings he has exhibited recently, for this show the GSA graduate has returned to painting on objects. He has been working with items including an old photocopier, from which he has taken a series of silicon ‘skins’. ‘It’s not obvious where they’re from or what they are; they’re just these ghostly, fleshy objects,’ he notes.
‘There’s something weirdly charming about photocopiers and there’s also something quite human about them.’
Dordoy also brings something of his own past into the show, casting a work from a bust of Karl Marx that his
father, a retired sociology lecturer, carved when he was in his twenties. ‘It was in my house when I was a kid; I grew up with it there. You can see the chisel marks in the bust and how dad’s done it: there are traces of his action on the surface.’ Dordoy has reproduced four of the Marx heads to create ‘a kind of a weird totem pole’ which, like the photocopier, explores ideas about reproduction and the afterlife of objects. Also on show will be a series of intricate jadeite plinths, based on the patterns used on ancient artefacts found on Chinese graves. These are, he says, ‘an inversion. Instead of the object taking the time to make, it’s the plinth’. All the objects will be placed against a backdrop of wall paintings which, Dordoy says, make the space more inclusive. ‘It’s important not just to make objects that people feel distant to, but to create a situation that people can feel a part of. With a wall painting, you’re playing with the idea that these objects are trying to create an environment, and the viewer is part of that.’ (Rhona Taylor)
Major exhibition of work by text artists including Jenny Holzer, Richard Long, Susan Hiller, Tom Phillips, Simon Patterson, Richard Wentworth, Caroline Bergvall, Erica Baum, Fiona Banner and many others. See preview, page 127. Two Little Birds: Boys Keep Swinging Until Fri 24 Jan. Work from a male perspective curated by Paul Darling and Peter Gwyn. ■ SUTTON GALLERY 18a Dundas Street, 07854 972930. Tue– Sat 11am–5pm. LAST CHANCE Winter Exhibition Until Thu 19 Dec. Work by gallery artists including Gordon Cheape, Laura Gressani, Janet Freeman, Philip Maltman, Georgia Peskett, Rosie Playfair, John Slavin, Peter Standen, Rose Strang and Jim Woodman.
■ TALBOT RICE GALLERY University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, 650 2210. Tue–Sat 10am–5pm. Gallery closed Mon 16 Dec–Mon 6 Jan.
✽ NEW Claire Barclay: Another Kind of Balance Tue 7 Jan–Sat 15 Feb. New sculpture from the highly regarded Scottish artist.
✽ NEW Mark Dion: 200 Years, 200 Objects Tue 7 Jan–Sat 15 Feb.
Work by US artist with a long-standing interest in ecological themes.
■ TORRANCE GALLERY 36 Dundas Street, 556 6366. Mon–Fri
11am–6pm; Sat 10.30am–4pm. Gallery closed Wed 25 & Thu 26 Dec and Wed 1–Fri 3 Jan. LAST CHANCE Christmas Exhibition Until Sun 12 Jan. Works by over 70 gallery artists, including jewellery by Sheana Stephen. NEW Jolomo: The Light of the Inner Hebrides Sat 18 Jan–Sat 8 Feb. Colourful landscapes from the popular artist. ■ UNION GALLERY 45 Broughton Street, 556 7707. Mon–Sat 10.30am–6pm; Sun noon–6pm. LAST CHANCE Christmas Exhibition Until Mon 20 Jan. A cross- genre exhibition of pieces by a selection of contemporary artists, including Audrey Grant, Joyce Gunn Cairns and Philip Braham, and taxidermy by Samantha Boyes.
■ WHITESPACE 11 Gayfield Square, 07814 514771. Opening hours vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. LAST CHANCE Sally Fisher: Cattle Thu 12 Dec, 10am–6pm. Oil paintings of cows. NEW Martin Metcalfe: Picturemaker Sat 14–Thu 19 Dec, Mon–Thu, Sat & Sun 11am–6pm. Debut solo exhibition of paintings by the sometime frontman of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
■ DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN University of Dundee, 13 Perth Road, Dundee, 01382 345330. Opening hours vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. Gallery closed Tue 24 Dec– Sun 5 Jan. LAST CHANCE Georgina Starr: Before Le Cerveau Affamé Thu 12 & Fri 13 Dec, 9.30am–5pm. An installation (the title means ‘The Hungry Brain’) by the artist who became famous as one of the so-called Young British Artists. ■ DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS 152 Nethergate, Dundee, 01382 909900. Mon–Wed & Fri–Sun 11am–6pm; Thu 11am–8pm. gallery closed Wed 25 & Thu 26 Dec and Wed 1 & Thu 2 Jan; open Tue 24 & Tue 31 Dec 11am–3pm. LAST CHANCE Hiraki Sawa: Lenticular ●●●●● Until Sun 5 Jan. Haunting, dream-like video works, from London-based Japanese artist. LAST CHANCE Winter Print Exhibition Until Sun 19 Jan. The DCA hosts an exhibition of all the artists who use their printing facilities. Everything is available to buy (just in time for Christmas!), and includes prints made from all manner of techniques.