FILM a PHOTOGRAPHY TRACEY MOFFATT
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 7 Apr-Sat 19 May.
Tracey Moffatt is one of Australia’s finest exports. Working in media of film, video and photography, the internationally acclaimed artist has had over 50 solo exhibitions in Europe and the US, and is regularly curated into major group shows. In her first Scottish show since the CCA in 1992, the Fruitmarket is hosting the largest UK presentation of her work to
date.
The exhibition consists of three photographic series and four film works including Moffatt’s critically acclaimed short film of 1989, Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy, about a middle-aged Aboriginal woman nursing her dying white mother. The film is deeply emotive for Moffatt, who was born in Brisbane in 1960 of mixed European and Aboriginal parentage. lt alludes to Australia’s assimilation policy which removed Aboriginal children from their natural parents and placed them with white foster parents. It was something she experienced first-hand.
Exploring themes of gender and race, Moffatt fuses personal memories with a larger historical content. Her image-making draws on childhood recollections, a time spent glued to the TV or with her nose in a book. This saturation of mass media
and popular culture is a hallmark of her work. ‘It has broad appeal as she’s very interested in popular culture,’ says Glen Scott Wright, director of
the Victoria Miro Gallery in London, which represents
Moffatt. ‘Growing up in Brisbane, she watched a lot of high art and trashy television. Her ability to marry the
two is very interesting.’
‘I see in rectangles. That’s all I can do. I don’t paint, I don’t draw. I don’t sculpt. But I like the frame’
Moffatt’s photographic work clearly reveals her filmmaking background. She doesn’t merely photograph her subjects, she shoots and directs them as she would a film. She scripts and storyboards her ideas, setting up narratives that are never straightforward but are carefully staged. She has described her approach to photography in terms of the artistic doors it opens for her: ‘I see in rectangles. That’s all I can do. I don’t paint, I don’t draw. I don’t
sculpt. But I like the frame.’
ART FAIR
GLASGOW ART FAIR 2001 George Square, Glasgow, Thu 5-Sun 8 Apr.
Buying art needn't be an intimidating experience. Take the Glasgow Art Fair which prides itself on creating a friendly atmosphere in which to shop. And with over 15,000 visitors last year. it's a policy which seems to be working in its favour.
First introduced in 1996 as part of Glasgow's Year of Visual Arts. the
76 THE LIST 29 Mar-12 Apr 2001
‘Disney meets Goya’: lnvocations by Tracey Moffatt
In her most recent series of photographs, Invocations, she has created thirteen large-scale photo screens. She
constructed theatrical sets for the shoot, combining a variety of sources including Goya, Walt Disney and the
poetry of Anne Sexton, and evoking the mysterious images of witchcraft, fantasy and sexuality. These archetypal ghost stories and macabre fairytales lack a narrative device, leaving viewers to spin their own tales.
‘When you look at a body of work like Invocations,
there is a narrative running through the work, but is a non-linear narrative,’ says Scott Wright. ‘You have to interpret it in your own way.’
Invocations, as with much of Moffatt’s work, was born out of a dream. Her ability to translate an emotional image into a pictorial image is truly unique. (Helen Monaghan)
I You also see Tracey Moffatt's work at the Victoria Miro Gallery, London, until 72 May and at the Wapping Hydraulic
Power Station, London, 4 May—3 Jun.
Glasgow Art Fair has become the UK's largest contemporary art fair outside London. But unlike its southern counterpart. Glasgow attracts a more local market of buyers and browsers. Of the 40 galleries taking part. the majority are based in Scotland. From the traditional to the cutting edge. the fair aims to showcase the diversity of contemporary art on offer.
‘Striking a balance has always been the most important thing for us.' says
Pete Irvine. director of the Art Fair. ‘Along with traditional galleries. we have increased the number of galleries working in new media and with new artists.’
This equilibrium is reflected in the commercial arm of Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery and Dundee
Contemporary Arts making their debut.
The Fruitmarket will be presenting new works by Martin Boyce. Ross Sinclair. Anne Bevan. Steve Hollingswonh. Annette Heyer and Graeme Todd as well as work by up—and-coming artists David Faithfull. Anna Ray and Keith Thompson. And the DCA will be bringing works by Will Maclean. Davrd Hughes and Anya Gallaccio.
‘A lot of our artists don't really exhibit outside Dundee,’ says Annis Fitzhugh. the DCA‘s Print Studio Director. 'The Art Fair will help raise the profile of Dundee artists and artists that the gallery are currently working with.’
With a huge amount of work sold
over the four days. at affordable prices.
Glasgow Art Fair continues to create a new generation of art collectors. (Helen Monaghan)
art@list.co.uk
Artbeat
News from the world of art
HlGH-FLYER NICOLA Atkinson-Griffith. creative director of Glasgow‘s Bulkhead gallert has temporarily left Glasgow to WOrk on a protect in the States. During her recent resideitCy On board a British Airways flight from Glasgow to Los Angeles as part of Year of the Artist. Atkinson- Griffith was invrted to create a Citywrde public artWOrk for the City. Entitled A Piece Of Sky the work Will he accesswble in June by logging on to vrwwapieceotskyOrg
THE GROUNDS OF Edinburgh’s National Gallery of Modern Art are soon to be transformed as work begins on a huge earth sculpture designed by American architectural historian, Charles Jencks. The ‘Landform’ (pictured) is made up of a stepped s-shaped mound of grass, surrounded by crescent- shaped pools of water which will give elevated views across the grounds, highlighting the gallery’s growing collection of outdoor sculpture. It is hoped that the work will completed by late summer.
Computer-generated aerial view of Landform
GLASGAY! GAY AND Lesbian arts festival is looking for artists who would be interested in developing new proiects for this year's and future festivals. or who w0uld like to exhibit WOrk as part of the upcoming programme which runs 26 October—4 November. Interested parties should contact Lindsay Mitchell, Festival Producer. Glasgayl. Room 3208. 74 Victoria Crescent Road. Glasgow G12 9JL or call 0141334 7126 or email info@glasgay.org.uk by 30 April 2001 .
AND FINALLY, AN anonymous American benefactor has made a most generous $1 .5million donation to the National Museums of Scotland. The gift will go to create a special endowment fund which will assist in the purchase of historic artefacts for the Museum of Scotland collections in Edinburgh.