I [Earl
ART REVIEW
Family Credit
45%?
Love 'em or loathe 'em, there's no escaping your family. And while the politicians bleat on about family values, the 29 artists exhibiting here take a decidedly off-kilter look at the age-old institution.
Aside from torturous family meals, early life centred around new toys, like the fav0urite Buckaroo replicated in Henry Obuabang's Crash, and stories from elder relatives as evoked by Alan Currall’s short film Shipwreck. In his series of sketches Me And Our Kid, Dave Beech presents the rites-of- passage of two brothers, while in Sarah Jones’ The Dining Room (Francis Place) (I) we see three little misses, tarted up in mum’s make-up and looking decidedly out of place in the formal surroundings.
Disappointing, meanwhile, is the contribution from notorious brothers Dinos and Jake Chapman, while corner-shop style fluorescent signs boasting bargains must surely be taking the mick.
All in all, a combination of the delightfully playful, but more often the downright childlike. (Claire Prentice)
a Family Credit (Fringe) Collective Gallery (Venue 80) 220 7260, until 12 Sep, Tue-Sun I lam—5.30pm.
ART REVIEW I Love New York 3k
Graham Durward has brought together work by New York artists who don't usually work in video — and, believe me, it shows. Screened on a single TV in a large studio space, it is a disappointing collection of amateur visions of New York City. Not that we get to see much of the Big Apple: the majority of the work is shot in the artists' oh-so bohemian lofts. It can’t even be described as fitting into the lo- fi camp, as most of these video shorts would look bad on You’ve Been Framed.
Only a few mediocre pieces relieve the boredom factor, but even these have an unhealthy preoccupation with
cats, dogs and cuddly toys (it's that Beadle factor again). I'm not sure what Durward was trying to achieve, as the work is neither progressive nor an obvious extension of an idea. (Gordon Dalton)
a ILove New York, Edinburgh College Of Art (Venue 73) 221 6032, until Sun 30 Aug, daily 10am—5pm.
ART REVIEW Melissa Kretschmer it we Over 60ft of densely layered, tarred glass panels, spanning the length of Caledonian Hall. Melissa Kretschmer’s installation is, on first glance, highly repulsive and uninviting; but, on closer inspection, it’s a seductive and intriguing examination of sculpture and painting. The reflective, angled surfaces mirror the surrounding Botanic Gardens and highlight the interior of the space, forcing you to look up and around the space. The tar is applied in horizontal and vertical blocks to the vast multi- layered panels of glass which are glued together with a silicone gel. This has the effect of making ’compartments' along the length of the work — which is aptly named Sunami, meaning 'big wave’. Viewers are faced with a reflection of themsevles in the dense. murky reflective depths. The only disappointment comes on hearing that this work is so big, it cannot be removed from Caledonian House without being destroyed. (Gordon Dalton) m Melissa Kretschmer, Caledonian Hall, Royal Botanic Garden (Venue 193) 552 7177, until Sun 6 Sep, daily 70am—5pm.
ART REVIEW
Lapland
ti? 3k it sir
Waving goodbye to the leather or even the imitation-look watch-strap, Poor Hommes (Watch Straps For Men) employs what is commonly known as the most tricky mechanism known to man — the bra strap. Sam Marsh has a fine line in humour. Elsewhere hang her Diplomatic Bags, bearing the portrait of Margaret Thatcher. Further
CitronlCitroén Hamlyn and Bellingha's fruit bowl from Lapland
theatre 0 dance 0 comedy
In) portrait
Edinburgh.
Fed up with northern weather conditions and salt and
doubt To a degree.
Lack of temperature degrees, i would have thought. Not entirely. Back in 705, Pilley built 'Barclay Towers‘ in a turret of an Edinburgh tenement.
An outstation of the banking chain? No, a recording studio, where he had a hand in the recording of such bands as Aztec Camera and the Rezillos; " 'Somewhere In My Heart' I recall as an 805 hit That's the score. HoWever‘ , . these days Pilley is more likely to be found with a paint brush in the
aforementioned Barcelona.
What's the art about? Daily Spanish life without a hint at bullofightingwnh lot.
of colour.
Where ‘3" ' “3" "P a bit 0‘ Spanish ambience and imagine that i'm A within a spit of a glass of sangria? At the Bellevue Gallery. " __ An encouraging continental name. But does Piliey still dabble infitqtfiifi' “We”? “0‘ $0 '009 690 he produced an album for the allofemale Cawtanigzg
group, Draps Bruts. (Susanna Beaumont)
a Anthony Pilley Bellevue Gallery 55 7 1663, until Sat 5 Sep, daily
A quick guide to the man behind the art.
Who is he? An artist a past, one Anthony, A I I if; I Who’s he when he's'at home?! For starters home is Barcelona; but move to Mediterranean dimes and the land of tapas, Pilley made‘his;m3igi-’”
. v}.
on hang Ross Turpie’s hankies imprinted with a head shot of the Turin Shroud and Lisa J. Gallacher's Needle Point skin transfers.
Lapland is true to its geographical namesake and is without borders. A Glasgow-based initiative, here it has pulled together over twenty artists who more than tickle the funny bone. Ronnie Heaps serves up Bob Hope Baked Beans and Scotlandium Futurama Seedlings — garish green and purple thistle-flowers. They look pretty in the flowerbed but offer evidence that tomorrow is all down to genetic engineering. (Susanna Beaumont)
% Lap/and, British Council, 447 4716, until 2 Sep, Mon—Fri 9am—5.30pm.
ART REVIEW
Richard Prince
9:. to: Sir
Joking apart, Richard Prince is a bit of a wag. No, really, his act will kill you, the way those funny coloured scrawls look down at you with those funny little captions and all. Not to mention the way his gags keep coming right at you via an electronic scoreboard even when you're slurping your coffee in the
upstairs gallery cafe. In fact, I'd even stick my neck out and say that Prince was one of a long line of American humorists that began with Lenny Bruce and was thought to have been snuffed out when Bill Hicks had his last gasp. It’s a comedy of hate, fuelled on shock value and the right to offend by saying the unsayable.
Trouble is, these days comedy’s all over the place and, while Prince has the novelty value advantage of talking dirty on walls, it's a delivery that backfires. Tell a joke once and it's funny. Keep it hanging around and it goes stale pretty fast, and what initially left you slack-jawed now only makes you yawn. It's not big, it’s not clever, and if it's not funny either, asking 'what's the point?’ seems to be the point. (Neil Cooper)
3 Richard Prince, Stills Gallery (Venue 94) 220 6200, until Sat 26 Sep, Tue-Sat 10am-8pm, Sun—Mon noon-5pm. -
STAR RATINGS
20-27 Aug 1998 rltuam