ART LISTINGS
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IN THE FRAME !
lsi Metzstein, lormer Professor of Architecture at Edinburgh University, is largely disappointed by Lux Europae.
it would be ungrateful not to acknowledge the imagination and effort needed to smuggle the Lux Europae Trojan gift horse into the splendid, but indifferent public environment oi Edinburgh. Having to do so in unintended competition with the Christmas decorative lighting is almost heroic.
Regrettably, examination oi the horse's mouth disappoints. The vivid, beautiful, vigorous and more than superficially site-specific works are outnumbered by installations lacking scale, presence and clarity. Too many oi the offerings are sell-indulgent, obscure and Ieadenly minimalist and lack not only lreshness but ability to communicate.
Occupying the ground between a sort of engineered performance art at one extreme and heavy conceptual art at the other, it ranges from the deliriously pretty but seasonally contusable Princes Street installation by Adrian Wiszniewski, the enigmatic and elusive iishes by Andrew and Erik Kearney, through to the playful but dry
intellectualism oi Ian Hamilton Finiay's roof-top message. There ought
to be something for everybody, or almost everybody, but a pilgrimage irom nos 1 to 25 is not, lsuspect, the
intended northe best way oi
discovering or experiencing Lux Europae. Some pieces are so visually and artistically inaccesible as to deserve, on recognition, more than a little sell-congratulation. The
é installations, being both disparate and
autonomous, are best come upon going about one’s banal business, ideally stumbled on in awed and pleasant surprise.
It public art is art that is brought to the public, ratherthan the public brought to art, much more powerfully contrived
forms and sites are necessary.
Installations need to be able to survive and compete with regular city lighting
and yet still provide the impact oi
g unavoidabillty and sequentiality
3 missing from the present exhibition. In
fact, something like Wlszniewski's in form it not content, but on a larger
3 scale. L
GZ'Ihe List 4— 17 December 1992
Exhibitions are listed by city, than alphabetically by venue. Shows will be listed. provided that details reach our olfices at least ten days before publication. Art and Exhibitions listings compiled by Miranda France.
I ART EXPOSURE GALLERY 38 Bath Street, 353 2361. Mon—Sat 10.30am—6pm. Christmas Exhibition Until 7 Jan. Every inch of wall space covered by paintings by young Scottish artists.
I ART GALLERY & MUSEUM, KELVINGROVE 357 3929. Mon-Sat 10am—5pm: Sun 11am—5pm. Cafe. [D] Voluntary guides are available free of charge to conduct parties or individuals round the main galleries. Ask at the enquiry desk.
Will McLean Thurs 10 Dec—28 Feb. Touring from the Talbot Rice Gallery, this is the first major retrospective of the Scottish artist who draws on his Highland inheritance and love of fishing communities.
Ernst Barlach Until 17 Jan. Around 70 lithographs and woodcuts by the expressionist artist (1870—1938) whose uncompromising work was inspired by the politically troubled period between the two wars, and was subsequently banned by the Nazis.
Antoni Tapies: Monumental Prints Thurs 10 Dec—10 Jan. A series on4 prints bythe versatile Spanish abstract painter.
Walter McGowan: World Champion Boxer Until 31 Jan. Photographs, trophies and other memorabilia piece together the rags-to-riches story of one of Scotland’s greatest sportsmen — in 1966 McGowan held five major titles.
Take a Line Until 10 Jan. Drawings from the permanent collection, covering 300 years of European art, including Matisse, Peploe and Wiszniewski.
Dancing Through Time Until 17 Jan. Showcasing Glasgow Museums’ costume collection with around 30 complete outfits from the last two centuries.
llew Arts: Ben Kelly Design- Door, Window, Staircase Until 3 Jan. A specially commissioned installation which conveys the spirit of Ben Kelly’s recent work, using familiar objects in unfamiliar ways and putting industrial materials to innovative
Exploitation Earth Throughout Dec. A timely examination of some of the ways in which natural resources are exploited and for what purpose; the exhibition explores various ‘environment-friendly’ alternatives.
Big Book Sale Sun 13 Dec,11am—3.30pm. Another great opportunity to get Christmas presents at knock down prices: books, posters and gifts from 50p to£10. I BARCLAY LENNIE FINE ART 203 Bath Street, 226 5413. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat 10am—1pm.
The Jessie hi. King Archive Background information on all aspects of this endurineg popular Glasgow artist (1875—1949).
I BLYTNSWOOO GALLERY 44 Washington Street, 204 2779. Mon—Fri 10am—4.30pm; Sat 10am—1pm.
A Christmas Exhibition Until 23 Dec. Scottish paintings and drawings by 19th and 20th century and contemporary artists.
I BURNSIOE GALLERY 190 Dukes Road, Rutherglen, 613 3663. Tue-Sat 9.30am—5.30pm.
Inaugural Exhibition Tue 1 Dec—3OJan. Paintings, prints, ceramics, jewellery and
glass. I BURRELL COLLECTION Pollokshaws
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Cairo Sunset, by Anne Skinner, was one of 500 submissions selected for inclusion inthe Scottish Artists and Artist Craftsmen's third annual exhibition this year, showing at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh until18 Dec. The colourful display is particularly notablelor its mix of established and unknown artists; jewellery and tapestries are a strong suit, and invited artist Vera Szekely's fantastic Space Calligraphy takes up a whole room.
Road, 649 7151. Mon—Sat lOam—Spm; Sun llam—Spm. Cafe. [D]
The collection of Edwardian tycoon William Burrell, including furniture, paintings, ceramics and glass, housed in an elegant purpose-built gallery. A new album describing ten of the pictures, accompanied by a set of thermoforms of each work, has been introduced for the benefit of blind or partially-sighted visitors.
Boudin at Trouvllle Until 28 Feb. A rare chance to see a large show of works by the 19th century artist, most of whose output is in private collections. Small, intimate paintings of holidaymakers and working people at the seaside resort of Trouville, and rare market and street scenes, as well as a selection of contemporaneous costumes; Boudin was noted for his elegant depictions of the period‘s fashions.
I CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS 346—354 Sauchiehall Street, 332 7521. Tue—Sat 11am—5.30pm. [D].
John Yeadon: The Travails oi Blind Bltford Jelly Until Sat 5 Dec. Witty satire in the tradition of Hogarth and Swift.
Rory Donaldson: installation -Visibility Until Sat 5 Dec. A montage of more than 2000 photographs explores masculinity. Daniel Reeves: Jizo Garden Until Sat 5 Dec. A video installation inspired by Reeves‘s six-month journey through Japan.
Steve Dilworth: Acts of Faith Sat 12 Dec-23 Jan. A touring exhibition from Lanntair Gallery in Stornoway. Dilworth‘s symbolic sculptures are made from the materials he finds on the Isle ofHarris, where he lives — fish hooks, wood, whalebone, animal remnants.
I COLLINS GALLERY University of Strathclyde, 22 Richmond Street, 552 4400 ext 2682. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat noon—4pm. [D]
A European Vision: Robert Adam’s Glasgow Until 23 Dec. Far and away the most spectacular celebration in a year of events marking the Scottish architect‘s bicentenary. Multi-media exhibits and computers explore Adams‘s influence on the changing face of Glasgow, and the winning costume from the gallery‘s period fahion competition is on show. I COMPASS GALLERY 178 West Regent Street, 221 6370. Mon—Sat 10am—5.30pm.