CORRESPONDENOES
THE GERMANS ARE coming - and the Scots. e In a show that puts the expression ‘cultural exchange’ into full fin de siécle colour, German
and Scotland-based artists are joining forces in a
- group exhibition at Edinburgh’s National Gallery As 5‘0“an manhes tow?“!s devoluuon' a. ban." of Of Modern Art. The Berlinische Galerie of Berlin young artists has Europe In Its Sights. The time IS right has chosen Scotland as the country to team up
for a show which puts Scottish and German art on the map. with for Correspondence, the fifth exhibition in a series of art exchanges.
With Scotland en route for devolution, talk in the global art market place and in galleries from Sydney to London’s East End, is of a country that is already an established stronghold of young, vibrant bands of artists. The tag ‘artist from Scotland’ is sought-after and definitely desirable. Culturally buzzing as confidently as any bluebottle, Glasgow, with its famed art school is viewed as the epicentre of the scene. Likewise Berlin, restored to its position as Germany’s capital after the fall of the Wall in 1989, is experiencing a lot of activity on the art scene. Private galleries are flourishing. exhibitions are mind-blowing and creativity is in fashion.
We profile the six artists putting the bite into British art.
M. ' ~ . Comespondences is at the National Gallery of
I Correspondences artists (from left-t right): Richard Wright, Jacqueline Donachie, Stephanie Smith. MOdem AftoOEdiflbu'ghv sat 29 NOV-M0" 2 Feb- Nathan Coley and Edward Stewart in front of the Berlinische Galerie Free admISSIon.
Jacqueline Donachie
Another Glasgow School Of Art graduate, 28-year-old Jacqueline Donachie has a penchant for country 'n' western music and exploring cOmmunal spaces. She spent 1996 on a Fulbright Fellowship in New York and had two shows in the city. This Summer she had a solo show at Edinburgh's Collective.
Reading James Kelman's How late it was, how late while on holiday got Donachie thinking 'lt is really “arsh, all set in Glasgow v.et and cold, but one passage stayed With me,’ she says The book's hero Sammy, who is beaten up -n a prisOn cell, co'nes up with the idea of what he calls 'official hoping rooms‘. Here YOU can 'Just go in and hope fer whatever the fuck ye feel like
/ I], , yin/MW /
hoping for' r. I Donachie has created Villa Savoye her ov. n real-life hoping
room 'n it s:ts a lone char, wt" se‘t ‘inhting and a soundtrack of COL;"i'V 1'" western g‘asscs 'l‘e char is, of
Born in Glasgow and trained at Glasgow School Of Art, 30-year- old Coley navigates the waters between art and architecture An installation artist, he recently moved into a different medium
With the publication of Urban Sanctuary: a public artwork. {9‘}er \Z‘V"'I':g for a”. f Suburban dreams meet the high priest of modernist (’(“M’ " a" U a “UM C O ' architecture Le Corbusier in Coley’s lecture theatre slide show 29"‘-""5‘ mos . Images of prim, proper and retro Barrett Homes are paired up with a commentary gleaned from texts praising Le Corbusier's me Hoping Room (Arte, lame; Kelman)
adage 'a house as a machine for living in’. Not one for china figurines or even the Over-stuffed Habitat. look, Le COrbusier would probably find life in a show home close to pure hell, 'They are two very different aspirations,' says Coley. ’Aspirations of suburbia castles and modernist international style.’
2l Nov—4 Dec l997THE LIST15
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