moor RICE mum
University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge. Tel: 031 6671011 ext4308
13 Feb— 12 March
IAN HOWARD Paintings, Prints and Related Works
OVERSITE An Installation by Art in Ruins
Tues—Sat 10am—5pm Admission Free Subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council
Hunterian Art Gallery University of Glasgow
DUTCH and F LEMISH OLD MASTER DRAWINGS From the Print Room of the University of Leiden 23 January — 31 March 1988
Glasgow showing subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council
Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm; Sat 9.30am-1 pm Admission Free Tel: 041 330 4221
EDWARD GAGE, RSW BEYOND ILLUSTRATION
Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours from 1950 to the present
6 February — 2 March
l.\l,l rm Mon-Fri 9am—5.30pm
Sat 9.30am — 2pm
94 George Street Edinburgh ,9 g I 031 225 5955 —r——————-:.:_N
COIVPASS GALLERY
TR. 221
THE BROOKLYN CONNECTION Paintings from America and Scotland by James Hardie
6 February— 3 March
Mon—Sat 10am-5.30pm Subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow District Council
ART & EXHIBITIONS LIST
_ WHAT ON EARTH Is THAT MAN DOING?
Fruitmarket, Edinburgh He's writing messages tor his bottle. No, he's sucking a breast on the belly of a huge whale covered in juicy barnacles. No, he’s holding on lordear lite to coconuts which it dropped would destroy the dinosaurs climbing up the carpet. in that one he’s standing on a crooked stool which is attached to a tiny tortoise reading a book. It that tortoise moves, it will pull the string at extinction and all will be lost. What a story!
This is the earth according to New Zealand photographer Boyd Webb—the earth is a painted egg held last in the clenched buttocks ol the universe.
Have your wits about you. What is that toaster doing hanging from a spaceship accompanied by a hank of knitting? The title is First Principles. Food and clothes. Bare necessities. Webb plays with words, winding up tantasy with reality and back again. But apart lrom the title ot each large photograph, the stream ot words and meanings are hidden in a visual text. Recruit—the title at a photograph whose central character is a lump ol
recruit, soldier, bamboo, Vietnam— associations whizz.
Household objects, vegetables, carpets and anonymous people are the kind at props Webb uses lor his phototales. He uses them simply, in uncluttered scenes so translation is clear. His skill, quite apart trom technical excellence, is plucking the essence at an object and allowing it to stand lorthe essence at his message. He does not need to twist your arm or his own to make believe in his llying toaster or plastic dinosaurs.
Like a Hiaku, his dramas have a strict set lormat contained as they are in his studio and within the limitations ol photography, but like those tiny poems, a brilliant complexity underlies the simplicity. The combination of restraint and bursting imagination catapults his photographs into your own mind with a direct hit.
A natural progression, Webb has recently brought some at his photographs to lite on video. it must be seen. The spells become all the more vivid tor movement. Laugh or cringe, they're irresistable. (Alice Bain)
I CARLYLE'S GALLERY North Bridge Egypt2The Romance ot the Pharaohs From 3 Feb. A celebration ofthe 150th anniversary of the travelsof Stockbridge-born David Roberts RA. in Egypt and the Holy Land. with 250 ofhis superb lithographed views.
I CENTRAL LIBRARY George [V Bridge. 225 5584. Mon—Fri 9am—9pm. Sat 9am—1pm.
Ancient Egypt L'ntil end Feb. The library takes a look at pharaohs and pyramids to coincide with the (iold of the Pharaohs exhibition at the City Art Centre.
I CITY ART CENTRE 2 Market Street. 225 2424 ext 6650. Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. Licensed cafe. [1)]
Gold at the Pharaohs Feb—April. £1 (65p). The crash barriers are up in Market Street as the City Art Centre expect even bigger queues for this exhibition than the Emperors' Warriors of 1985. This is the only UK venue which will show the treasures of Pharaoh Psusennes the First who died nearly three thousand years ago. The formula of age plus beauty is bound to attract the crowds to this cultural sideshow.
I COLERIDGE GALLERY 47b George Street.
220 1305. Mon—Sat l()am—5.3()pm.
Wide selection of contemporary British glass. ()riginal prints by contemporary artists and jewellery.
I COLLECTIVE GALLERY 166 I iigh Street. 220 1260. The Collective have moved up the High Street. While it is settling inand organising the new space. the gallery is closed. However. the gallery welcomes interest from artists who would like to show during their 88 8‘) seasons.
I DANISH CULTURAL INSTITUTE 3 Doune Terrace. 225 718‘). Mon—Fri 10am—5pm. GIIZ Johansen 15 Feb—18 March. The life of the Greenland Iiskimo in gouache by Johansen. a Danish artist.
I THE DESIGNER GALLERY 1 l Hasties Close (round corner from 3(1‘)(iallery) Cowgate. 225 2774.
Michael McManus 13Feb—5 March. Romeo and Juliet — Shakespeare‘s words with contemporary photographs.
I EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART Lauriston Place Mon—Sat loam—5.30pm. Belgrade Exchange 16—26 Feb. Cedomir Vasic and Bosko Karanovic from the Faculty of Fine Art at Belgrade University exhibit their work. 50 Special Years 24 Feb—9 Mar. The Scottish Special Housing Association celebrates 50 years of operation. The
44 The List 5 - 18 February 1988