ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
O PORTRAIT GALLERY Queen Street, 5568921. Mon-Sat 10am—5pm. Sun 2-5pm.
The great Scots of the past and present are collected here in a gallery of faces and figures.
Genial Company Until Sun 12 April. An 18th century view ofthose who not only possessed an inventive mind but also shone at the dinner table and in the drawing room. Nottingham University have organised this exhibition (with sponsorship from Christie‘s) which collects the portraits ofsuch well-known 18th century figures as the actor David Garrick and poet Alexander Pope as painted by Hogarth and Kneller respectively. Few of the pictures have been exhibited before in Scofland.
O PRESCOTE GALLERY 369 High Street. 225 2652. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm.
Eastern Approaches Until Sat 21 March. Sally Freshwater makes paper and silk constructions with a Japanese flavour. Richard Batterham is a fine domestic potter in the Leech tradition and Emanuel Cooper uses celadon glazes from Korea. Exhibition also includes work from Stephen Jones.
New Design for Scotland An exhibition organised by the Prescote Gallery but to be held until 26 April at the Warwick Arts Trust 33 Warwick Square. London SW1.
O PRINTMAKERS' WORKSHOP GALLERY 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Mon-Sat 10am—6pm.
Simon FraserSat 21 March—Sat 18 April. Fraser’s work is published in book and folio form in a series of collaborations with poets. This exhibition shows ‘The Loom of Light‘ with poetry by George Mackay Brown and etchings for ‘The Seeking‘ with Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail.
Etching, Silkscreen or Lithography Courses on the weekend of 28/29 March. £25 (£20 members and concs). Places are limited so book soon!
0 QUEEN’S HALL Clerk Street. 668 3456. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5.30pm and
concert evenings (ticket holders only)
A Point of View Until Sat 5 April. Paintings. drawings and watercolours by James More.
0 RIAS GALLERY 15 Rutland Square. 229 7205. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm. Housing Transformations Until Fri 20 March. An exhibition to coincide with the COSLA housing campaign. BIAS Students Awards and Prizes Mon 23 Mar—Fri 10 Apr. An exhibition of winning architectural studies.
0 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN lnverleith House.
Over the winter period (until April) lnverleith House will be open only over weekends. The three summer exhibitions John Hope 18th century gardener and enlightened figure,
KENNY MAC
_' l
Main Fine Art, Glasgow Kenny MacLellan's exhibition at Main Fine Art is his first solo exhibition and, he admits, his ‘first stab at Fine Arts.‘ Its purpose is to put himself back on the creative map, both personally and professionally. ‘This exhibition is make or break for me. I’ve had such a hard time getting stuff together on my wage,’ says Kenny, who has been working backstage in theatre in London whilst trying to get into theatre design. This follows a highly successful student career at Glasgow School of Art when his theatre work included a much-acclaimed project for Scottish Ballet. He hopes this exhibition might be a backdoor route into design, rather than endlessly sending off his c.v. which, as he knows to his cost, can lead nowhere.
There are strong links between the
LELLAN
exhibition and theatre, not in the sense of narrative or formal argument, but in conception and treatment. Using a set of paintings and a set of drawings, he contrasts two figures who are deliberately stylized and posed— like a ballet. One figure, the aggressor, is a towering presence, drawn from an artificially low angle. It gives an image which is so big it begins to lose stability, and the contrived effect is that of craning your neck to look up at a huge building. These drawings are perhaps the least successful half of the exhibition, feeling already over-familiar and largely derivative, reminiscent of Frank Miller's re-working of the Batman cartoon, for example. In the other half the sense of the artist's discovery is much stronger. These are watercolours with gouache and the figure here is tiny. Set at the base olthe picture, the spectator shares his viewpoint and a huge desolate space, into which light may or may not filter, fills the painting. ‘lt’s a very general idea, big and small — I'm the small person in all ofthem, me without much and trying to get it,’ says Kenny good-naturedly. Determined to work, he admits he has ‘to work completely for myself.‘
In his way of working also, Kenny takes his ideas from the theatre. ‘lt‘s important for the exhibition to be read as a whole. It’s been very consciously designed with high points and bits to relax at. Like music, there are areas of interest and areas of quiet. I start with an idea and then put something against it so it grates. That sets the pattern.‘ What he needs now is a play of a ballet to make it work. (Sally Kinnes)
Hunterian Art Gallery University of Glasgow
FROM BLAKE TO PICASSO A Centuryof Printmaking Print Gallery: 21 February—25 April (CIOSED 17—20 April inclusive)
Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm; Sat 9.30am-1pm Admission Free Tel: 041 330 5431
TALBOT RICE GALLERY
University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge. Tel: 031 667 1011 ext4308
7th March —4th April 1987
WORKS ON PAPER
by John Houston Mon—Sat, loam—5pm Admission Free
StibSIdtsed bv the Scout's: Arts Council
GENIAL COMPANY
An exhibition showing how 18th-century portrait painters A Reynolds, Gainsborough, Romney, Blake and others »- portrayed men and women ofgenius. 20 February- 12 April
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh Telephone 031- 556 8921 OPEN : MON-SAT 10,006.00, Sl'N 2.00-5.00
ADMISSION FREE
The List 20 March — 2 April 35