ART & EXHIBITIONS
Coming to Hand: Sculpture to be touched, Kibble Palace, Glasgow. Sculpture by Valerie Pragnell, Doug Cooker, Fiona Dean, Dhruva Mistry, Andrew Randall-Page and Clilt Bowen is brought together in an exhibition which in theory prioritises touch over sight. While the object-based sculpture is lormally resolved in its own terms, the exhibition is problematic.
There is no work by prolessional blind or partially sighted sculptors such as Royal College at Art graduate Kirsten Hearn. Sighted sculptors such as Grey’s School oi Art graduate Dosh McClure who have an ongoing interest in blindness and partial vision are similarly absent, which makes tor a poorly researched exhibition.
This is matched only by the tactile paucity ol the sculpture, none ot which was made to be experienced through touch. Neither has the combination oi location and time oi year been considered: caressing bronze or stone on a cold winter‘s day numbs the hands. Bowen's Sheherezade, an abstract lace ot a woman, does not otter the tactile versatility ot lip, eyelid and lace skin combined with hard (torehead) and soil (cheek) surlaces.
ALAN DONALDSON
Cocker’s Beneath the Screaming Eagle is in rhythmic contrast, hands bouncing over and oil granular tree bark resulting in sound. Progression is experienced abstractly through time like music. Pragnall’s tour toot six inch Alder Pot crackles like a wicker basket, coiled alder branches built upwards in hurricane lormation. To make a sculptural statement it needs to be taken higher, up to the ceiling. Additionally, the artist's three-loot cone, another interesting ‘sketch‘, could be developed upwards or in multiples. Both works would gain lrom juxtaposition with the adjacent palm trees. The Botanic Gardens should have an artist in residence —why not Pragnell?
Overall, this is sculpture at Its most conservative. At waist level, like the sculpture plinths, gravel and plastic potted plants oilertactile contrasts in lorm and surlace. while the smells, damp air and heat waiting through the iloor provide a complete sensory experience. With hope, this is the lirst oi many art exhibitions in the Kibble Palace, which could otter much scope for an artist and tar an education programme. (Fiona Byrne Sutton)
and industrial design.
I MITCHELL LIBRARY North Street. 221 7030. Mon—Fri 9.30am—9pm: Sat 9.30am-5pm.
Landscape into Realism Until 2 Feb. Paintings by Andrew Hay, the Glasgow City Libraries Artist-in-Residence for 1990.
I 908 GALLERY 12 Otago Street. Kelvinbridge, 339 3158. Mon—Sat 10am-6pm.
Contemporary Colourists Until 27 Feb. Twelve Scottish artists whose figurative work is notable for its imaginative use of colour. The contributors include both recent art school graduates and established artists.
I OPEN CIRCLE GALLERY llillhead Library, 348 Byres Road. 339 7223. Mon-Fri 9.30am-8pm; Sat 9.30am—1pm. 2—5pm. Closed Wed.
Jens Bouleclte: Works on Paper Until 28
@08in
Thoughts in Colour An exhibition of paintings by JUDITH l. BRIDGLAND 2-28 February 1991
Buchanan Suite, The Royal Concert Hall. Glasgow
RAYMOND MOORE
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