GROUP SHOW HERE + NOW: SCOTTISH ART 1990-2001
Various venues, Dundee and Aberdeen, until Sun 4 Nov .00.
DCA curator Katrina Brown knows the Scottish an scene inside out. and it shows in her selection for this much- needed showcase Here + Now. The
Dundee and Aberdeen. and offers strong contributions from Simon Starling. Cathy Wilkes. Richard Wright. Nathan Cole. Claire Barclay and Dave Allen. seasoned with intriguing
Paterson. There's no shortage of the Portable Studio Real Life and Jacqueline Donachie's Part Edit make the line-up.
Elsewhere in Dundee. artist-run
Scotland's most famous contemporary artist. DOnglaS Gordon. The beautifully
lightbulbs at various heights. Around the edge of the room. a dado of white text spells out a myriad of fears. The work. almost four years old. has lost none of its original impact. and is one of the main highlights of the exhibitions.
Unfortunately. the carpeted environment of Dundee's McManus Gallery serves to muffle the ironic edge exhibition is spread across five venues in of paintings by Keith Farquhar and Lucy McKenzie and ceramic works by Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan. However. there is much wonh seeing here. Such as Mary Redmond's Shufflebagger SCUlpture. constructed from materials contributions from young pretenders like including a deconstructed Robin Day Alan Michael. Mary Redmond and Toby chair. medicinal paintings by Julie Roberts and some droll photographs ‘greatest hits” either: both Ross Sinclair's from David Shrigley.
Meanwhile. Aberdeen Art Gallery displays works by 1997 Turner Prize nominee Christine Borland and Becks initiative Generator plays host to work by Futures 2000 winner Roderick Buchanan alongside recent paintings by regret is that we so rarely see the work Victoria Morton and a selection of work of these exciting contempOrary artists
Restraining Coat ll (female), 1995 by Julie Roberts
Visual Arts. also in Aberdeen. shows a sharp display by Chris Evans. Graham Fagen and Padraig Timoney.
There are few notable omissions in the line-up of over 60 artists. But. the only
installed From God To Nothing is a blue by Martin Boyce. Annette Heyer. Simon displayed. GoMA. take note.
painted room. hung with three bare
SCULPTURE
SHINGU
Glasgow School Of Art, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Oct .0.
The celebration of Japanese culture that is Japan 2001 continues with an overview of the work of Shingu. a SCqutor known for his large-scale public works. Given that Shingu crafts precision-engineered large-scale public soulptures. and most are kinetic pieces that incorporate wind and water into their workings. this was never going to be the easiest show to mount.
Fortunately. the collection of working models. drawings and photographs here manage to evoke much of the drama. complexity and monumental scale of the originals. Oddly enOugh. the unavoidable skewing of scale in the confines of the Glasgow School Of Art exhibition space ends up being something of a key to graSping Shingu‘s modus operandi.
The neat little models and accompanying architectural sketches and plans serve well as a means of demonstrating the relationship Shingu brings into being between precise. emphatically man-made structures and the vagaries of the natural forces that are integral to the finished sculptures. On the other hand. while illui'ninating the technical feats behind the work. it is difficult. if not impossible. to appreciate Shingu's constant interaction with the environment he places his work in from what are. effectively. the building blocks of finished works.
Shingu at The Glasgow School Of Art is a revealing look at the process behind the sculptors work. but fails to engage fully with the work itself. (Jack Mottraml
Installation view of Shingu’s kinetic sculptures
Starling and Toby Paterson. Peacock
(Sarah Lowndesl
LENS-BASED WORK FACE ON Stills, Edinburgh, until Sat 10 Nov .0
Roderick Buchanan’s Coast To Coast
The latest exhibition at the Stills Gallery attempts to highlight the social relationship that exists between artists and their subject. The photographs and video footage on display possess a realistic doCumentary edge with no oveit sentimentality or pouting. The subjects face the camera looking straight at the viewer so that we engage with them head on. These images constantly circulate in newspapers and on television. making us all first class voyeurs into the lives of ordinary people who achieve fame through infamy. misfortune or being in a particular crowd.
However. our familiarity with these types of images is precisely what causes the exhibition to fail in registering aiii. lasting impression. The better works on display are Alfrei lti Jaar's One Hundred Times Nguyen, four portraits of a Vietnamese asylum seeker rearranged 25 times. The idea itself is interesting. however the initial four photographs am not strong enough to create a compelling narrative.
Roderick Buchanan's Coast To Coast is a projection of continual images of yOung guys dressed in their requisite social-group garb of baseball cap and tracksuit top; the urban uniform of the housing scheme youth. Instead of creating individuality. the yOuths become a blur underneath their caps. achieving social anonymity as an individual and within this exhibition.
Finally. Adam Cliodzko uses the extras from Ken Russoll"; film The Dew/s and gives them another fifteen minutes of fame. They individually dominate the screen with the film behind them being an extra in their lives. This piece alone seems to fulfil the aim of the exhil.)ition. (Isabella Weir)
Art
GROUP SHOW NEW WORK SCOTLAND 4 Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun j 14 Oct .00
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It ttlll‘CSt feels as though you've stumbled in on soii‘e sort of experiment or l;tl'>:)i':'itory when vex'iing the solo shows of Stet-:2 thal and Jenny Hog/tariff.
Loyal. in his own words. 8(J'TEKES ft) transform the gallery into a forum for (t.i§t.".lf:f$l§)l‘. on the much- ii‘al'ginezl topic of genetic iizenificatiori. A seating area; ,1. l'CZiiiil‘gj ii‘aterial remix-s lion: l~-.ilaiy Six-(:i'ey's fi‘i‘airi-eiistei'n to Geno-f ?‘ i'."(:.'.'te,ier.iiig Food flit." Orr" i-Vsuxi‘o'tiire/it and punt E§t7t?1;il‘.‘-‘:l‘i8 encased il‘. gg'ass ."("‘.:"T‘:t growth
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l" firs "-r: :ii‘aginiitg of Giviz‘aii Romantic artist t; i::i>.ir‘ one Friedrich's ll’a: ‘. it Above The Sea O“ f; i’; {1818). a man at
cow with his natural si.ii".~;;ii(lzrigs. qu'al i'e;].;<:-;2s him with a bald ll‘il". in a v.hite coat (we
pro r' we a scientistl who l)t?"i‘..l;78 is co'iteir‘plating h»; interference. Duval is (:()"’Z‘E!'l(}(t \.'./:th the lack of l'Yit).'".‘:".tlf.‘". relayed to tit-v (“lititifl I." tours of SE/T-t‘f‘iilfi’t} iiii‘<»\.at§:>ns: wile :l‘e media prefer to so: .Silt'C-"EllSEZO these inatte's. Donal acts as i'iic-ziiatoi. \."'."lif}t"‘.(~él' we feel any ll‘-L)."t} enlightened is detainee but Duval
5::.-; .‘-;.-».:(:'s in provoking fii'tl1ei dialogue.
Jenny Hogarth recycles obsolete and old- t;a::'ii<:i‘-ed li‘EiCl‘:.’iCS and chfe :13 to create recent Ii leiitifialfle technological iivz. nations. A paper la" :‘>:;i:a<it:- as now a satellte :i'sl‘: (Duet/i." Into lit: i'v'igii! (I()l“;;)(>f§Cii of oltl lettering systems. i'eeis of tape and flashing lights looks like a DJ set: and the TI}; land-held letter printer if». as l loturti‘. jtc'iits cut. a 'llliiltl.:t! text ntessenger'. /\:; sl‘a "-’?\'t‘?i'.‘§. society's dosiio to irate Wltti the timer: .:; tT-.>,.j)2(rtl' With a tlt":xl.’-.? to .‘..li_.j In, the past. it leleii tVitllltttjtlttll)
4-18 Oct 2001 THE LIST 89