ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
Margaret Stone‘s exqusite watercolours and HeatherAngel‘s colour photographs, will be continued during this time.
0 ROYAL COMMONWEALTH POOL Dalkeith Road. Mon—Fri 10am-8pm; Sat. Sun 10am—3pm. Simply Women Mon 30 Mar—Sun 12 Apr. An exhibition by Franki Raffles of photographs from the XIII Commonwealth Games.
0 ROYAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street. 225 7534. Mon-Sat l0am—5pm. Sun 2—5pm. There are many interesting talks. lectures and films currently being held at the museum. (See Open section). Contact the information desk for details.
0 ROYAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Queen Street. 556 8921. Mon—Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 2—5pm.
Scotland‘s antiquities share premises with the Portrait Gallery.
0 ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound, 225 6671. Mon—Sat 10am—4pm; Sun 2—4pm.
0 THE SCOTTISH ARTISTS SHOP
8 Howard Street. 556 6337. Mon—Sat 10am—4pm. Sun 2—4pm.
0 SCOTTISH CRAFT CENTRE 140 Canongate. 556 8136. Mon—Sat 10am-5.30pm.
A permanent showcase for the crafts of Scotland.
0 THE SCOTTISH GALLERY 94 George Street. 225 5955. Mon—Fri 9am-5.30pm. Sat 9.30am—1pm. Lincoln Rowe Until Wed 1 Apr. Scottish Mountain Landscapes.
Sue Jane Taylor Until Wed 1 Apr. Prints.
ht. Powell —Jewellery and Lotte Glob - Ceramics Until Wed 1 Apr. A display
in the foyer.
0 THE SCOTTISH MINING MUSEUM Lady Victoria Colliery. Newtongrange. Midlothian, 663 7519. Tue—Fri 10am—4.30pm. Sat/Sun Noon—5pm.
Prestongrange (between Prestonpans and Musselburgh) Tue—Fri 10am—4pm. Sat/Sun Noon—5pm. Visitor Centre. Historic Cornish Beam Engine and displays showing coal-mining through the ages.
0 SEEDS VEGETARIAN CAFE 53 West Nicolson Street, 667 8673.
Mark Haddon Until Sat 21 Mar. Cartoons and illustrations.
0 STILLS GALLERY 105 High Street. 557 1140. Tue—Sat, noon—6pm. Twenty for Today: Recent British Portrait Photography Until Sat 4 Apr. The fashionable magazines of the Eighties. The Face, The Taller, Blitz and Ritz to name merely a handful. have been important in providing a platform for young. creative photographers like Brian Griffin. Johnny Rozsa and Alastair Thain. This National Portrait Gallery exhibition collects their work in an exhibition full of familiar famous faces. See panel.
Talks:
Thurs 25 March at 7.30pm. Brian Griffin one of Britain‘s most influential photographers. taking part also in the Twenty for Today exhibition.
Sale Until 28 March. Noon-6pm. Photographic bargains to be had at Stills fund-raising sale — equipment. prints, books, frames. posters.
FINDING FORM
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
The abiding impression ofJohn Houston‘s exhibition, Works On Paper, is of an artist who deeply enjoys his medium. He uses watercolour on highly absorbentJapanese paper and the paper almost seems to draw the colour from his brush. it’s property Houston nevertires of, using it again and again to explore the colourvalues and drama of landscape, particularly the sky and the sea.
The exhibition covers a period of twenty-five years, from 1962—1987 and illustrates many stylistic changes. The heavy black outlines seen in Bed Tulips (1966) and the inky-coloured dark influence of Munch in Evening Sky Over The Bass Rock (1964), are later abandoned in favour of a much more fluid effect. If is no accident that he chose a subject such as Sea Haar for his pictures in which nothing is still or
lixed. There is constant movement,
sometimes brooding and dramatic, but always insistent.
In the portraits— all here date from the woos—theme is not the same happy integration of ideas with medium. They almost seem to be experiments, a grappling with different techniques. All this is resolved, however, in the group of four paintings, Head Of A Woman l-IV (1987), where Houston combines his feeling for drama with his power of composition to a very successful effect. The form is boldly stated, almost in monochrome, with a graphic surety. The woman moves, in sequence, from full frame close-up to a hunch-shouldered distance where her eyes and personality are lost in shadow. She seems to move backwards, retreating into the picture frame, losing corporeality as she does so, creating a sense of someone having been fleetineg found— and then lost. (Sally Kinnes)
Anyone wishing to donate I equipment to the Gallery please get ‘ in touch now!
Portrait Sessions Sat 28 March with Ron O'Donnell Have your portrait taken in Polaroid for £6 by this Edinburgh photographer whose work has a distinct quality ofthe bizarre and humourous. Session between 1 and 4pm.
Workshop Sat 28 March. 9.30am—4.30pm. £25. Robin Gillanders, Chick Chalmers, Pradip Malde and Dave Williams will be taking a unique workshop in portraiture at Gillanders‘ Edinburgh studio. Limited places so must book in advance.
Open Show Stills invites Scottish and Scottish-based photographers to submit work for an open show. to be selected by Brian Griffin. Contact Gallery for further details. Deadline for submissions — Mon 23 March.
0 TALBOT RICE ART CENTRE Old College. University ofEdinburgh. 667 101 1 ext 4308. Mon—Sat. 10am—5pm.
John Houston—Works on Paper 1963-1987 Until Sat 4 April. Another in the Talbot Rice series of one-man shows. This exhibition gives a vivid account of Houston‘s
work over more than 25 years. The
works are large and none have been exhibited before.
0 THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 Hamilton Place. 225 7942. Mon—Sat
lliam—Spm.
Perceptions Until Sat 28 March. Photography by the 5.6 Group. For about a year now. Peter Bain, Roland Fortune and Doug Mackie have been showing together as the 5.6 Group. Their work is personal and uses black and white photography ‘straight‘ without gimmickry. O TORRANCE GALLERY 29b Dundas Street. 5566366. Mon—Fri 11am—6pm; Sat 10.30am—4pm. Andrew Binnie — A Year in the Borders Until Sat 28 Mar. Oils and Watercolours. O 369 GALLERY 209 Cowgate. 225 3013. Mon—Sat noon—5.30pm. Bernard Planterose Until Sat 28 Mar. This is the first solo show for Planterose. a West Highland artist whose work is strongly influenced by his environment. 0 WARE ON EARTH 15 Howe Street, 558 1276. Mon—Sat 10am—6.30pm and Suns by appointment. Nicola Godden— Bronzes and Drawings Until Sat 4 April. First show in Scotland for this artist. She is currently preparing work for an important new commission to be
situated by the Hammersmith Flyover in London.
0 WESTERN GENERAL HOSPITAL CONFERENCE CENTRE
Arts Therapy Conference Fri 27 Mar. Organised by the Mandala Art Therapy Project, the conference will include talks from representatives of the British Association of Art Therapists, and Association for Dance Movement Therapy and the Association of Music Therapists. Contact Susan Hogan, 667 0222 for details.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
This section lists special exhibitions held outside Glasgow and Edinburgh. Galleries should contact Alice Bain with information at least two weeks in advance.
0 ABERDEEN ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM Schoolhill, 0224 646333. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm (Thurs 10am—8pm); Sun 2—5pm.
The Japanese Eye Sat 21 Mar—Sat 11 Apr. This exhibition, reviewed in the previous issue of The List, moves from the Collins in Glasgow up to Aberdeen. Historical works by artists like Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige come into contact with contemporary prints for close scrutiny. Sumo wrestlers, courtesans and the Japanese in Victorian costume stand out in this highly delicate exhibition.
0 CRAWFORD CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 93 North Street, St Andrews. Fife (0334 76161 ext 591.
Frances Pelly—A Sculptor’s Progress Fri 20 Mar—Sun 19 Apr. Rich in symbols and allusion, Pelly‘s work draws on historical tradition - 18th-century tombstones and even prehistory. This exhibition presents a survey ofwork from throughout her career.
‘A Man of Excellent Parts. . .’ Fri 20 Mar—Sun 19 Apr. The Life and World of Alexander Edward (1651—1708). Edward specialised in the design of formal gardens working at Kinross House, Hopetoun and the great estates of Hamilton. This is the first exhibition devoted to the man. 0 McLEAN GALLERY 9 Union Street, Greenock, 0475 23741. Mon—Sat 10am—noon and 1-5pm.
Best of the McLean Until Sat 2 May. Cordelia Oliver, art critic. and her husband George. photographer and writer, have been looking through the stores at the McLean and have found many items in the collection of great interest and quality. For the first time these will be brought together in an exhibition. Paintings by Hornel, Fergusson. Ramsay and Raeburn will be shown beside Japanese metalwork, 19th century costume, ship models and silverwork. Hopefully. this will be the beginning of the eollection’s coming to light more often.
0 TRAVELLING GALLERY The Scottish Arts Council’s Travelling Gallery will be touring Kilmarnock and Loudoun/Cunninghame Districts until Sat 18 April. The exhibition Paper Journeys features work by printmaker Jacki Parry and photographer Ruth Stirling. For tour information contact Information Officer on 031226 6051 at the SAC.
36 The List 20 March — 2 April