EXHIBITIONS
PHOTO FINISH
(ieorge Wyllie is back. In 198(1. the Straw Locomotive. born at
Springburn. an area of (ilasgow once
famed for its loco making industry. hung gloriously from Finnieston (‘rane giving Mayfest its most enduring emblem yet. This year Wyllie launches the Paper Boat. a huge ship made in the shape of the kind of boat every child has made and tried to float.
Wyllie's comment on the (‘lyde is without doubt the visual giant of this year's Mayfest. but this year‘s exhibition programme. while still not boasting a major event. has several items to look out for. With an interest in photography riding high duringthe lSllth anniversaryofits invention. Mayfest includes two solo exhibitions by young Scottish photographers who have made it their business to travel.
Ruth Stirling ((‘ollins(iallery). as part of her £4.()()tl Richard Ilough Photography Award (adminstered by the Scottish Arts ('ouncil ). flew away on a journey to the Arctic and Igloolik. Faced with 2-1 hours of darkness in the depths of their winter and armed with a battery of vitamins (the Inuit get their dose primarily from seal. a meat indigestible by fresh Iiuropeans). Stirling photographed the life of the community challenging the ways Western eyes interpret it.
()wen l.ogan ('l‘hird liye ('entre ). who has just won joint second prize in the BB(‘ Scottish Photography Awards. travelled for the first time to Morocco live years ago. returning there every year. His illuminating one-man show is accompanied by his first book of photographs. a major initiative in 'I'hird liye's publishing programme. This issue. a photo-feature looks at his work.
Photographs of a very different kind can be found at (ilasgow Arts (‘entre. where Berlin dadaist .lohn Ileartfield's anti-nazi photomontage presents a hard-hitting portrait of his times. while at the llunterian. the remarkable work of Scottish Victorian photographers. l lill and Adamson. is shown as a tribute to 150 years of photography.
While photography seems to be the hot property this year. there is still room in (ilasgow for some painterly interest. And when the room runs out. new doors open. This year. a group of Scottish artists have found themselves a venue in Blackfriars Street. a disused warehouse they have dubbed. The Shed. Matthew Ingles. David l.inley. Alastair Strachan and Donald Lirquhart are worth seeking out there. (ilasgow Print Studio continues a rich run of exhibitions with a solo show by Neil Macl’herson. who. though resident
THE LIST
in (‘aithness. paints in the expansive. colourful style most associated in recent years with (ilasgow. where he graduated from art school ten years ago.
Most of the Glasgow venues get in on the Mayfest act with a diverse bunch of exhibitions. emphasising yet again. this is a performing festival above all. As ever. that elusive ‘big' exhibition has no place to go. But next year. the .‘vlc('lellan (ialleries will be refurbished. back in action and with luck. just ready to take on special Mayfest exhibitions to come. (Alice Bain)
See Art Listings tor details olthese exhibitions.
MAYFEST m
John Hearttield. photomontage atthe Glasgow Arts Centre.
Neil MacPherson's The Dark Haired Girl With Two Noses And Twelve Toes. showing I atGlasgow PrintStudio.
Ruth Stirling'ssyllabicsr speechtorher
Arctic exhibition showing at the Collins Gallery.
Contemporary French Painting at Hillhead Library.
l i
0.0. Hill and Ruben Adamson‘s Mons Meg
showing atthe Hunterian Art Gallery.
RudollFila'sA Study OlAn Old Man. This 3 Czech photographer is showing at Third Eye Centre.
30 The List 2| April — 4 May 198‘)