Zapata by Diego Rivera Mexrcan Prints Glasgow: Hunterian Art Gallery until Sat l4 Mar s it it
A rollicking war always boosts Creative output. The Mexican Revolution of l9l0 was no different, providing fuel for artists like Diego Rivera.
Rivera is best known as a mural painter, and regularly captured a teeming, mixed-race society shot through With Wide-brimmed hats and Remington repeater rifles. But as this exhibition reveals, his talents extended to print-making.
Leopoldo Mendez, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro SIQUGITOS. None are household names but their prints — also on show -- are quality works. Like Rivera, each was commisSioned by Mexico’s Ministry Of Public Education to communicate change, modernisation and a sense of justice to the illiterate masses. Along with private thoughts, these bold messages can be found in their lithographs, wood and linocuts
The subtle details of a Hoichol Indian. Sensual full-bodied nudes. Stark, brutal studies of dying soldiers and fascist gangs. Rivera even manages to make the scythe-wielding Zapata ~ leader of the Mexican Revolution — appear paternalistic and merciful.
Throughout, Mexican Prints is solidly political, full of emotion and finely drawn. No one who drinks tequila and dreams of hot nights will be disappOirited. (Paul Welsh)
Petrified Garden
Edinburgh: Royal Museum until Sun 29 Mar 1* is *
Putting a remote controlled camera on a 20in pole might be an unusual approach to photography, but Mark Johnston has used it to good effect, taking shots of complete panoramas.
Behind his work is an interest in stone circles. His panoramic photographs are arranged montage- style in circular groupings, echomg these ancient circular markings. Laid out on a backdrop of what looks like scuffed aluminium, the montages look like halos in grey and black from a distance. The effect is a complete 360 degree vista shrunk into a round, with a kaleidoscopic hollow at the centre.
Johnston and his pole have visited wheat fields, graveyards and grassy pastures, from Leith to Inverness. The most intriguing montages involve photographs of architecture: Calton Hill with the National Monument standing at seemingly tortuous angles, or Roslin Chapel surrounded by scaffolding. Yet you leave the show thinking it's a bit of a one trick pony. (Susanna Beaumont)
Mannequin
Edinburgh: Cameo until Sat 28 Feb sir-ht
Muscular mannequms with chiselled chests and cheekbones, the frozen stare and the perfect physique. Vaughan Cummins’s photographs of the familiar high street icon are a touch disconcerting. Photographed after dark, they make the pinkish plastic forms seem like they are plotting to break free of their shop-window confines. Cummins has said that with their slender, flab-free bodies, mannequins can be seen to 'embody our quest for the ideal, a synthetic product of our own aspirations'. Arguably, With the current profusion of silicon breast implants and bodily nipping and tucking, this is a realisable dream for many disgruntled with their fleshy form. Move over Pamela Anderson. Cummins's photographs get you thinking, even if they are not a visual knockout. They are the latest in a series of small shows by a Wide range of artists, in the cafe bar of Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema. Although the majority of the viewers probably have their minds on the big screen, these exhibitions give artists the exposure they need. (Susanna Beaumont)
Netherton Stone Circle. Fraserburgh
art
Hshhgs
Exhibitions are listed by ci and category, then alphabetical y by venue. Please send details to our office at least ten days before publication. Art listings compiled by Helen Monaghan.
GLASGOW GALLERIES
ART EXPOSURE GALLERY
l9 Pamie Street. 552 7779. Mon—Sat
l lam-6pm.
Nooks And Crannies Until Mon 23 Feb. Paintings by various artists including Brian Evans. Fiona Graham and Ian McNicol. capturing the unusual places and buildings that can be found in Glasgow
BARCLAY LENNIE FINE ART
Regent House. ll} West Regent Street. 226 54 I3. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm. Glasgow Style Until mid Feb. An exhibition of work by Annie French. Jessie M. King. F..A. Taylor. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Talwin Moms and contemporary artists Norman Edgar. Norman Kirkliam and WJ. Maskell.
listings ART
BAR 10
IO Mitchell Street. 22] 8353.
Roads Of Life Until Sat 28 Feb. An exhibition of conceptual art by Jephson Robb.
BARGO
66 Albion Street. 552 2680.
On Yer Way Until Sat 28 Feb. A conceptual piece by Jephson Robb.
BELVIDERE HOSPITAL
Art In Hospital. 1360 London Road. 211 8534. Tue & Thu 10am-5pm (or by appointment).
Dark Clouds Over Madrid With Fish Until Sat 28 Feb. An exhibition of work by patients of Blawarthill and Knightswood hospitals.
ROGER BILLCLIFFE FINE ART
I34 Blythswood Street. 332 4027. Mon—Fri 9.30am-530pm; Sat
lOam— l pm.
Winter Landscapes Until Tue 24 Feb. Landscape paintings by various artists including Duncan Shanks. John Huston and Jack Knox.
First Glass Until Tue 24 Feb. New designs in contemporary glassware. Valentines Until Tue 24 Feb. Jewellery and applied arts.
BULKHEAD
Strathclyde Buses
Another Time, Another Place Until Fri 27 Feb. Extracts from three screenplays by Glaswegian playwrights. Maggie MacRitchie. Des Dillon and Marianne Carey. will be displayed on the bulkhead ol' Strathclyde's bus fleet.
CCA
346—354 Sauchiehall Street. 332 7521. Mon—Sat l lain—6pm; Sun noon—5pm. Cale. [1)].
lean-Pierre Perreault Sat 14 Feb-Sat 21 Mar. The first British showing of work including drawings and sketches. by this French choreographer. His company will be performing during the New ruill'r‘fi‘ dance festival at Tramway.
COLLINS GALLERY
University of Strathclyde. 22 Richmond Street. 552 4400 ext 2682. Mon-Fri l0am-Spm; Sat noon—4pm. [D]. Travels With A Wondrous Machine From Arcadia To Arkadia Until Sat 7 Feb. An installation ofcontcmporary textile art by Paddy Killer.
Images 22: The Best Of British Illustration Sat l-l Feb-Sat 14 Mar. An exhibition of the best of British illustration. selected through the Association of Illustrators“ annual competition.
Hit List
\ Natural Science The insatiany curious
Cornelia Parker, who unravels teaspoons to the length of Niagara Falls and gets . British Customs to handover incinerated f caches of cocaine, shows work - - alongside artists Gerhard Lang and Alan Thomson. Edinburgh: Stills Gallery
until 21 Mar.
Explorations of Duallsin Marina Abramovic and Ulay, the duo know for arranging to met up half way along the Great Wall of China, show their collaborative videos. Excessive and riveting by turn. See preview, page 81. Glasgow: Tramway 73 Feb-14 Mar. Mag Collection A veritable mix of contemporary stars - Tracey Emin through to Andy Goldsworthy via Mona Hatoum and Susan Hitler ~ from the collection of one Paul Wilson, who recently gave the works to the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull. See review, page 82. Edinburgh: Fruitmarket Gallery
until 7 Mar.
Dictionary of a Building Take the weight off your feet with a sit down on a park bench in this reconstruction of a garden scheme by US public artist, Siah- Armajani. Edinburgh: Matthew Architecture Gallery until 6 Feb.
Donald Urquhart Landscapes that aren‘t about swathes of green bills but something far more subtle. Listen and look carefully. Edinburgh: Talbot Rice Gallery until 22 Feb.
in Visible Light The camera is a clever operator in a show that examines the way photography is used to manipulate ideologies. Happy snappers include Victorian self~styled scientists and contempOrary stars Gillian Wearing, Cindy Sherman and Jo Spence. Edinburgh: Inverleith House until '1 Mar The World Of 001 Disc0ver all there is to know about the world's most debonair secret agent with this no-gimmicks- spared espionage extravaganza. See review, page 82. Glasgow: McLellan Galleries until 79 Apr.
COMPASS GALLERY l78 West Regent Street. 22l 6370.
' Mon—Sat l()aiit—5.30pni.
Contemporary Scottish Paintings, Prints And Sculpture Until mid Feb. Mixed media exhibition by various young artists.
18 KING STREET
l8 King Street. 552 2540. Daily noon-6pm.
Rope Of Sand Until Sat l4 Feb. Sand sculpture by Alan Cairns. Kate Robinson and Paul Marsden.
Continued over page
6—19 Feb 1998 TIIEUSTBS