PREVIEW ART
_ Mucking about
When Andrew Sneddon went to Italy, he brought back a little bit of Rome in his work, literally. Ann Donald finds out about his kind of environmental art.
The polluted, odoriferous mud of the river Tiber in Rome has found an unlikely, temporary home on the hygienically white walls of the Glasgow Print Studio thanks to the driven imagination of artist Andrew Sneddon.
In a compelling and adventurous exhibition that marries the fields of art, archaeology and the environment, the mud is used in The Ideal Head, an exhibit which very much typifies Sneddon’s strong feelings for art and history. A year scholarship in printmaking in Rome was a major influence.
‘There seems to be a disrespect for the past in that they (the Italians) only seem to care about tourism and not about the frescoes, classical sculptures and paintings that are everywhere,‘ Sneddon says. ‘Coming from Britain, where you’ve read all about these works of an it really hits you when you go there and see how they’re deteriorating because of the big pollution problem.’
Among the plaster prints adorned with tacky wallpaper and striking murals of monumental classical heads, The Ideal Head is the ultimate ironical comment. Twenty ‘perfect’ heads of the goddess Amazzone di Fidia are impregnated
FouiIlsed motiglits. an installation wall drawing by Andrew Sneddon.
with all the industrial debris one would find floating down any polluted city river: used condoms, melted wads of plastic and rusty wire, with the most disturbing sign ofdisintegration being the Coke can poking through a ragged hole in the classical beauty’s check. The two hundred terracotta cast bottles that constitute Vessels are similarly deceptive at first glance. Set out like a recent archaeological find they are revealed on closer inspection as being throwaway garbage such as washing-up bottles and oil cans.
Sneddon’s interest in the past stretches further than these eco-aware sculptures into classical antiquity, hence the
} recurring classical themes: three
7 genuine 3rd—4th century vases on loan ; from Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum
and the iconography known as Fasces (a classical symbol of Roman imperialism consisting of a bundle of elm branches bound together with an axe-head). This motif was latterly adopted by the Italian Fascist Party and by incorporating it into the plaster prints Sneddon reveals another problematic side in our ambivalent relationship with the past. ‘The Fascist period is still a part of Italian society today with the rise ofthe Young Fascists and they still use this classical symbol of authority and power.’ he says.
Sneddon has succeeded with an arresting exhibition that not only inspires the eye but the brain; he has looked to the past to question the present.
Andrew Sneddon 's Artefacts of Yime is at the Glasgow Print Studio until 20 November:
ART
Exhibitions are listed by city, then alphabetically by venue. Shows will be listed, provided that details reach our offices at least ten days before publication. Art and Exhibition listings compiled by Beatrice Colin.
I ART EXPOSURE GALLERY 38 Bath Street, 331 2617. Mon-Sat 10.30am—6pm. flew Painting by Gallery Artists Sat 6—26 Nov. Work by Tim Cockburn and James Jones.
I ART EXPOSURE IN CENTRAL STATION Unit 6, The Caledonia Centre. Mon—Sat 10.30—6pm.
Painting by Regular Gallery Artists Until 26 Nov. Featuring work by Joe Urie, Bryan Evans and Tim Cockburn.
I ART GALLERY G MUSEUM, NELVINGROVE 357 3929. Mon—Sat lOam—Spm; Sun Ham—5pm. Cafe. [D]. Voluntary guides are available free of charge to conduct parties or individuals round the main galleries. Ask at the enquiry desk.
Impressions and Expressions: Wood Engraving Until 21 Nov. Inspired by the theatre and botany, work by June Crisfield Chapman. the designer of the Keeping Glasgott' in Stitches project.
Modern Art From the Collection New permanent display. David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Alan Davie, Jasper Johns, Bruce McLean and Eduardo Paolozzi are featured in an exhibition of Pop Art and work inspired by the heady 1960s. Borrowed light Until Sun 14 Nov. Sculpture out of apparently defunct objects by Stephen Skrynka.
Tim Johnson Until Sun 14 Nov. Paintings inspired by Aboriginal, Native American and Buddhist cultural traditions.
I BARCLAY LENNIE FINE ART 203 Bath Street, 226 5413. Mon—Fri lOam—Spm; Sun 10am—1pm.
The Jessie M. King Archive provides information on all aspects of the popular Scottish artist. Plus 19th/20th century work from stock.
I ROGER BILLCLIFFE FINE ART 134 Blythswood Street, 332 4027. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5.30pm.
Beasts and Flowers Until 23 Nov. Recent paintings by Christine Ironside. Also watercolours, carving, and jewellery and silversmithing by recent graduates of Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art.
I BURRELL COLLECTION Pollokshaws Road, 649 7151. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm; 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. Recorded descriptions and thermoforms available for the benefit of visually impaired visitors.
I CCA 346—354 Sauchiehall Street, 332 7521. Tue—Sat Ham—5.30pm. Cafe. [D]. Cathy de Monchaux Until 27 Nov. Structures including velvet encased by jointed brass feature in the first major solo show by one of Britain‘s most innovative and interesting sculptors. This show is seductive, disturbing and completely compelling.
Anne Elliot Until 27 Nov. An installation of photographic work by this highly- acclaimed local artist.
I COLLINS GALLERY University of ; Strathclyde. 22 Richmond Street. 552 4400 ext 2682. Mon-Fri 10am—5pm; Sat noon—4pm. [D]. Salomon's llouse Until 20 Nov. Inspired 7 by the 17th century novel New Atlantis. artists Gordon Cookson and Rodger l
Moffet have created a range of remarkable
environments where fiction becomes reality and the senses are deceived.
I COMPASS GALLERY 178 West Regent Street, 221 6370. Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm. Twontieth Century British Painting, Drawings and Sculpture Until 22 Nov.
I CRANIIILL ARTS CENTRE 18 King Street, 774 8595. Tue—Sat lOam-5pm; Sun 1—5pm.
lochend Secondary School’s Art
aganza Until Tue 16 Nov.
Easterhouse school children prove that there's more to art at school than drawing and painting, with a selection of costumes, masks and fashion.
I CYRIL GERBER FINE ART 148 West Regent Street, 221 3095. Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm.
Recent Acquisitions Until 26 Nov.
I GLASGOW PRINT STUOIO 22 King Street, 552 0704. Mon—Sat 10am—5.30pm. Artefacts of Time Until 20 Nov. Sculptures. plaster prints and two- dirnensional prints by Andrew Sneddon. The show is inspired by antiquity and archaeology and based around antique and urban decay. A series of terracotta heads were cast from the polluted mud of the Tiber.
I GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART 167 Renfrew Street, 353 4500. Mon—Fri lOam—Spm; Sat IOam—noon.
I WILLIAM NAROIE GALLERY 141 West Regent Street. 221 6780. Mon—Fri 10am-5pm; Sat lOam—lpm.
John Gardiner Crawford Mon 15 Nov—23 Dec. Atmospheric acrylics and watercolours of the Angus coast.
I NUNTERIAN ART GALLERY University ofGlasgow, 82 Hillhead Street, 339 8855 ext 5431. Mon—Fri 9.30am—5pm; Sat 9.30am—5pm.
C.F.A. Voysey: Decorative Designs Sat 13 Nov—22 Jan. An exhibition of work by one of the most successful and versatile Arts and Crafts architects and designers of the period. This is a selection of over 50 designs from 1880 and 1930.
Dulce Domun The Mackintosh House Gallery. Until Sat 6 Nov. Baillie Scott‘s winning design for the House For An Art Lover competition of 1901. Mackintosh’s design for the competition has been under construction for a number of years in Bellahouston Park.
I NUNTERIAN MUSEUM Glasgow University. University Avenue, 339 8855. Mon—Sat 9.30am—5 pm.
The bequest of William Hunter. a student ofGlasgow University in the l730s, who left his substantial collection of books, prints, and various other curiosities to the university.
I INTERMEOIA 65 Virginia Street. Tue-Sat noon—6pm. 552 8651.
Applied Art on Form Until 27 Nov. Glass, wood, metal. textiles, ceramics, stone. plastics and leather from the Association of Applied Arts.
I BARCLAY LENNIE FINE ART 203 Bath Street, 226 5413. Mon-Fri 10am—5pm; Sun 10am—lpm.
The Four Annes Fri 12 Nov—4 Dec. A joint exhibition of recent paintings by four female artists.
I llLLlE ART GALLERY Station Road. Milngavie, 943 3247. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat—Sun 2—5pm.
Scul?ture Sat 6—27 Nov. Subtitled the Synergetic cycle. a show which includes many new pieces by George Wyllie.
I MLELLAN GALLERIES 270 Sauchiehall Street, 331 I854. Mon-Sat lOam—5pm; Sun 11am—5pm. [D]. The R.G.I. 132“ Annual Exhibition Until Sun 7 Nov. £1.50 (50p). The third largest show of contemporary art in the UK, this is an eclectic mix of paintings and sculpture picked from open submission. Last year David Mach was awarded the
made from coat hangers. This year the
5 £12,000 prize was awarded to Alison
Watt.
3 I museum or rrtltusronr Kelvin Hall.
Durnbarton Road, 357 3929. Mon—Sat
The List 5—18 November 1993 55
I top prize for his sculpture ofa human face
ltlarn—Sprn; Sun Ham-5pm. Devoted to I