ART
Eileen Agar
Edinburgh: National Gallery of Modern Art until Sun 27 Feb *iakuk
The name Eileen Agar may not be immediately familiar, but this major exhibition of her work cements the reputation of this fascinating artist and provides a rich seam for anyone interested in Surrealism or 20th century British art.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1899, Agar settled in Britain and was that rare thing: a woman who took on the notoriously misogynist Surrealist group and was accepted on her own terms as artist rather than
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Fish Circus
The Bird
ornament. Against her family’s wishes she trained in London and France and quickly became immersed in the burgeoning avant-garde. She was the only professional British woman painter to exhibit at the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London and her complex private life rivalled that of any of her notorious colleagues. Her early landscapes and portraits soon gave way to a much freer style and broader range of subject matter. Agar loved colour; her large canvases are bursting with vibrancy and crammed with images from the worlds of myth and nature.
However, the pleasure of this show is the chance to see not just a Iifetime’s paintings, but a whole range of items including pictures of Agar, letters and cards and some of the outlandish objects she collected. Like many Surrealists she took dressing up into the realm of high art and is photographed wearing outrageous headgear of her own creation, such as her Hat For Eating Bouillabaisse.
Her photographs are also a revelation. Images of driftwood and rocks show a love of nature that appears and reappears throughout her life. But it is her collages, small in scale and lovingly created (but startling sometimes in their content), which seem her most assured works. (Moira Jeffrey)
Flop
Edinburgh: lnstitut Francais until Fri 21 Jan midi
Neal Beggs brushes the underside of shoes, looks upwards to survey the steepness before him and begins to climb. But this is no Munro that Beggs is about to bag, rather a brutish- looking stone wall that runs alongside the M8 in Glasgow. As traffic hurtles by, he continues to climb. One wonders what passing van drivers or car passengers who caught sight of him must have thought.
Beggs’s video piece is strangely engaging, perhaps because of its madness or his audacity to pursue a ’rural’ activity bang smack in the middle of an urban sprawl. This is something that clearly interests him. At Glasgow's McLellan Galleries,
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Beggs recently painted the names of the city’s highest tower blocks; on the opposite wall, he listed Scotland’s highest peaks.
Meanwhile, Mark Beever is cleverly cheeky. The gallery’s well- proportioned window commands stunning views across to Edinburgh's Dean Bridge, gracious rows of town houses and the Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. It's Edinburgh at its knowingly good-looking best, but Beever tries to take us elsewhere. He’s placed the words 'I love New York’ in large brightly coloured letters in the window. It’s a wonderful collision — a New York skyline tries to jostle in on sedate Edinburgh. Less effective is Nathalie de Briey’s video. It shows the feet of someone skipping. Relentlessly the skipper skips on and nothing of interest is imparted.
Moving on to love, Sharon Kivland has hung framed pieces of paper on the gallery walls. On each of the fourteen pieces of paper is one typed line: the text, in French, is taken from Diderot’s letters of love to Sophie Vollard. Moving if not completely understandable, you get the sense of prying on intimacies, particularly as the last lines of love letters are frequently the most empassioned. The 18th century writer and philosopher would, we hope, be pleased that his words of love have been resurrected. (Susanna Beaumont)
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art
listings
Exhibitions are listed alphabetically by cit! and category, then
a pha etically b venue. Please send details to our 0 ice at least ten days before publication. Art listings compiled by Helen Monaghan.
GLASGOW GALLERIES
ART EXPOSURE GALLERY
19 Parnie Street, 552 7779. Mon—Sat Ham—6pm. Open Sun 1—5pm on 19 Dec. The Christmas Show Until Mon 31 Jan. Paintings, ceramics and sculpture with prices ranging from £3 to £300.
BARCLAY LENNIE FINE ART
Regent House, 113 West Regent Street, 226 5413. Mon—Fri 10am-5pm. Glasgow Style Until Mon 31 Jan. An exhibition of work by Annie French, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Talwin Morris and contemporary artists Norman Edgar, Norman Kirkman and WJ. Maskell.
BUFFALO GALLERY
120 Carstairs Street, 550 0888. Tue—Sat 11am—6pm.
The Alcohol Of Influence Tue ll—Sat 29 Jan. Paintings by Garry Richard Gilchrist.
BULKHEAD
24-Hour Viewing Window, 264 High Street, 572 0161.
Who The “" Do You Think You Are! Until Sat 8 Apr. A series of exhibitions featuring four selected artists. Daisy Richardson’s work is on show from Mon IO—Sat 29 Jan.
CAFE COSSACHOK GALLERY
10 King Street, 553 0733. Mon—Sat 10.30am—11pm; Sun l—llpm.
Ukraine Vertep Until Sun 23 Jan. Glaswegian children and young artists create Vertep’s stages and puppets in the traditional Ukraine Christmas crib.
CCA AT MCLELLAN GALLERIES
270 Sauchiehall Street, 332 7521. Mon—Sat 10am—5pm; Sun 11am—5pm. Neal Beggs Glasgow-based artist Neal Beggs creates a new installation for the entrance corridor space at the venue, consisting of two large blocks of text on the corridor walls. One wall lists the 284 Scottish Munros (mountains over 3000ft) while opposite is a list of the 304 multi- storey tower blocks built in Glasgow between the 1950s and the 19705. Anti-Prophet Until Sat 29 Jan. Screening on Tue, Wed & Sun, 2pm & 4pm; Thu—Sat, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm. This documentary film by Sarah Tripp is the result of a series of interviews she made with five people about their beliefs and their lives, whereby each contributor names the next person to be interviewed.
COLLINS GALLERY
University of Strathclyde, 22 Richmond Street, 552 4400 ext 2682. Mon—Fri 10am—5pm; Sat noon—4pm.
John K. Clark: Drawings, Designs And Processes Sat 15 Jan—Sat 12 Feb. A comprehensive survey of the work of John K. Clark featuring full-scale drawings and studies for stained glass.
COMPASS GALLERY
178 West Regent Street, 221 6370. Mon—Sat 10am—5.30pm.
Annual Christmas Exhibition Until Mon 31 Jan. The gallery’s annual exhibition featuring paintings, prints, ceramics, sculpture and jewellery by various artists.
DECOURCEYS
Cresswell Lane, 342 5822. Tue, Thu & Fri 11am—5pm; Sat 10am-5.30pm; Sun noon-5 m.
Scottis Art Schools Emerging Artists Partnership promote the work of students and graduates from the Scottish art _ schools, with all works for sale ranging in price from £70—£200.