ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST _, l 29 April. Painting by Scottish
THE UNKNOWN MOFFAT
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Keith Mclntyre is a tailed guddler. As a young boy he visited the Borders town of Mottat, where his uncle was water bailiff. He and his mates took lessons in the art of tickling trout from this expert, butthe skill was neverwithin his grasp.
In Glasgow, autumn ‘85, McIntyre painted ‘The Guddler‘ — an ambition on canvas. The large hand of a boy patiently waits under the motionless body. Almost monochrome, glimmers of green on scales and leaves lurk in the shadows of the painting. The economy 01 colour is matched by an economy at line. The boy's rounded back simply mirrors the shape of a smooth river rock and his naked skin is dappled by the pattern of leaves camoullaging him from his lishy prey.
The same boy appears several times in Keith McIntyre‘s exhibition ‘Mottat Suite‘ (369 Gallery, Edinburgh). In all at them he dabbles in Mottat's watery past. The bill streams, the spa waters 01 Victorian times, the drinking lountains ol today and the water diviner ol the past. The boy seems to lead McIntyre to the sources of his memory olthe small town. He is perhaps the memory at McIntyre as a child and artist and even the spirit ol the town itsell.
Mclntyre‘s work is sculptural, on a grand scale—unusual loran artist
using a rural stage. There are no recognisable portraits ol Mottat locals or purple views olthe rolling hills. His observations of the town go deep into its traditions. His shepherd lad and lass of a long past gala preside on a throne 01 black and white Moltat weave, like pagan rulers. Heirs to that throne, the present-day couple are less comlortable in their role and have discarded the tinery olcostume, allowing the tradition to dissolve through the years.
Attertwo years living in Mottat, McIntyre discovered that a herd of goats roamed wild in the hills around the town.Few people knew at their existence, and even fewer where they could be lound. But McIntyre stumbled across a carcase which he used as a model for his largest and most powerful work ‘Beettub Conllict'. Two goats head each othertoward a tense battle. They stand on a tiny bridge across the treacherous Devil's Beeltub, a natural corral bordered by steep hills and once used by the Border Reivers to graze their spoils. Such an image goes tar beyond describing the Mortal that the casual tourist would visit for its woollen mill and quaint town centre. It encapsulates the strength and history at those hills in the bodies olthe sinister beasts. (Alice Bain).
0 FORREST MCKAY .38 l IUWL‘ Street. 226 2589. Mon l’ri 10am-6pm. Sat 10am—1pm. Scottish Paintings lrom 1800 onwards Rugs and porcelain. General display throughout April. 0 FRUITMARKET GALLERY 29 Market Street. 225 2383.'1'ue——Sat 10am—5.30pm. (‘losed Sun ck Mon. Licensed cafe. Reconstructions: Avant Garde Art in Japan 1945-55 L'ntil Sat 5 Apr. The frustrations of censorship and lack of materials. together with the catastrophic losses of the war itself. led artists like Fukasawa to paint nightmarish visions of attack and defeat in the late 40s and early 50s. the large. densely symbolic paintings downstairs contrast with the work of the abstract and neo-Dadaist artists ofthe 60s upstairs. Lecture: Japanese Theatre Past and Present Sat 5 Apr. Noon. Free. Professor Masaru Sekine ol’ Waseda University. Japan and visiting professor at Trinity College. Dublin investigates the influences of traditional and Western drama on j recent Japanese theatre.
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NATO’s Gamma City Sat 19 Apr—Sal
17 May. A forthcoming exhibition of visionary and anarchic architectural plans. drawings. constructions and interior design.
0 GALLERY OF MODERN ART Belford Road. 556 8921. Mon~Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2—5pm. Rest. [D] Stanley Spencer: The Passion Until Sun 27 Apr. A small display of Spencer’s religious works. including the gallery‘s own Christ Delivered to the People. 1950. have been brought together in Scotland for the first time. A videoon the artist will be shown throughout the exhibition.
0 GLADSTONE'S LAND GALLERY 483 Lawntmrket. 226 5856. Mon—Sat l0an‘. 4.30pm. Sun 2—4.30pm. A
spt ing re—opening for this small gallery with a group show. Philip and Brenda Campbell‘s collection of silverware and jewellery. Ella Neustein‘s batik and Margaret Smytb‘s and Lindsay Keir‘s paintings. The exhibition runs until Mon 21 Apr.
0 HANOVER FINE ARTS 104 Hanover Street. 225 2450.
i Spring Mixed Exhibition Mon 7—Tue
contemporary artists including Barbara Balmer RSA. Ken Lochhead. Bet Low RSW. Nigel Mclsaac. Ella Neustein. Jim Nicholson. Ethel Walker.
0 HM GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE Princes Street. 556 6585. Mon—Fri 10am—4pm.
Watch This Space Until 25 April. An exhibition of historic advertising. interesting not so much for the designs. but for the wealth of sociological detail it contains.
0 ITALIAN INSTITUTE 2A Melville Crescent. 2263173.
Bologna - Photography, Time and Space Tue 8—24 Apr. Photographs by Ian Rosenfeld ofthe Italian city. An exhibition from the Barbican Centre in London.
0 MCDONALD ROAD LIBRARY 2 McDonald Road. off Leith Walk. ‘Our Place’ Until Sat 19 April. An exhibition of maps. photographs. paintings and objects brought together in a community exhibition by the Gayfield Association.
0 MERCURY GALLERY 28 North Bank Street. 225 3200. Mon—Fri 10am—5.30pm. Sat 10am—1.00pm. Victoria Crowe Until Sat 12 Apr. Wispy. nostalgic paintings of trees and cluttered mantelpieces. This exhibition is mainly ofportraits of places. Her faces (R. I). Laing. Jenny Lee. MP) were specially commissioned by the Portrait Gallery and can be seen there.
0 NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND The Mound. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2—5pm.
Figure Drawings—The Study of Mankind Until Sun 27 Apr. Mainly preparatory studies for larger compositions. these drawings from the gallery’s permanent collection span three centuries and show that ever-intriguing subject — our own form — draped, clothed. nude. Sheer elegance.
0 NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND George IV Bridge. 226 4531. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm. Sat 9.30am—lpm.
Fifty Years On —The Saltlre Society 1936—1986 Until Fri 21 May. The aims olthe society are ‘to preserve Scottish traditions and to widen the Scotsman‘s knowledge of his own country. past and present.‘ It is also involved in architecture. literature. education and the environment. This exhibition gives an overall view of the society in a display ofbooks. housing designs and other objects. Karl-Erik Forsberg Until Wed 21 May. This exhibition. the first outside the Scandinavian countries. looks at the work of this outstanding calligrapher and typographer and includes watercolours ofilluminated alphabets and bookjacket designs.
0 NETHERBOW 43 High Street. 556 9579.
A Grimm’s Fairy Tale Until Sat 5 Apr. Silhouettes. shadow puppets and embroideries tell a fairy story. This exhibition by Lee McCalister has been organised in association with the Edinburgh Puppet Festival. Matrix— Image and Text Wed 9 Apr-Sat 3 May. Poets Lawrence
Butler and Gerald Loose combine
1 with artist Kathleen McGee to create
artist‘s work in Scotland.
_ 10am—6pm. Sat 10am-4pm. [D] Jerzy Marek and Jeanette Lassen — ; Paintings Until Thurs 17 Apr.
‘ Ceramics Until Thurs 17 Apr.
The Hiddell Collection Until Sat 13
2 Apr. In his years as a collector. Peter f Riddell amassed thousands of
' photographs and related objects
Portrait Gallery by his family after
Free. a Cityscapes Wed 9 Apr—Sat 3 May.
this unusual exhibition. Words and images explore the theme town and country. The exhibition is opened by a special poetry reading featuring Bob Cobbing. sound poet. 8pm.
Oils and watercolours by Martin Waterhouse. First showing of this
Claire Blackwood Wed 9 Apr-Sat 3 May. Mixed media. First exhibition for this young Edinburgh artist includes animal studies and a series ofdrawings ofSt Giles‘ Cathedral.
0 OPEN EYE GALLERY 57 Cumberland Street. 557 1020. Mon—Fri
Irma Demianczuk and Don Ewen—
. PORTRAIT GALLERY Queen Street. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2-5pm.
(estimated at 10.000), given to the
i his death last year. 80 ofthe best
I summer. A small display.
examples are on display. Costume in Scottish Portraits Until
O PRINTMAKERS' WORKSHOP GALLERY 23 Union Street. 557 2479. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. . From‘ Three Sides Until Sat 19 Apr. The work of three Scottish photographers Robin Deas. David Morrison and Owen Logan. QUEEN’S HALL 5 Hope Park Crescent. 668 3456.
From Staten Island to the Battery: drawings and photographs Until Mon
I 28 Apr. Work from the past eighteen
months by Jonathan Brown.
0 RIAS GALLERY 15 Rutland Square.
i 229 7205. Mon—Fri 9am—5pm.
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VIEWFINDERS
d collieries
and Sikh weddings are worlds apart. = Perhaps. But in the exhibition at the
Printtnakers workshop they join temporarily in a collective show of the work at the three Scottish 1
' workot three Scottish photographers.
l I
‘ nature’s power and beauty, Robin
; Dea’s scenes at urban decay in his
native File and Owen Logan’s revealing : faces, are brought together in a show
David Morrison's caretul studies at
diverse in subject and style.