The degree show season kicks off early at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Helen Monaghan caught up with some of the soon-to-be graduates.
i DUNDEE DEGREE snow 2004
SIMON REEKIE
Degree Show: ‘I didn't haye the freedom in molecular biology for experimentation that I found in art.‘ explains Dundee-born Simon Reekie. Swopping his science degree for fine art. he did a portfolio course in London before coming to Dundee. Painting portraits of his family. he has scrutinised their faces. painting their eyes closed or emphasising wrinkles to address psychological issues and neuroses. There are ten pieces in the final show ranging from the large-scale to more surreal. small sculptural pieces. Future plans: He will he showing work later on in the year at the Rende/yous (iallery in Aberdeen. And then it‘s off to New York where he has been offered a place on a two-year course at the New York Academy of Art.
I Upper foyer. /. ove/ 1, Crawford Bur/ding
EMMA PRATT
Degree Show: fife-born artist limma l’ratt. who won an RSA Sculpture pri/e earlier this year. works with less than conyentional materials. Along with works cast in bronze. she has created shapes out of Vegetable fat and icing sugar to create a landscape almost good enough to eat. With her father being a chef. she was exposed to these different components from an early age and has been experimenting with them eyer since. Her final degree show takes the form
of an almost magical installation. a dream landscape of
towers. Iiills made from fat. star and spear shapes. cut-outs of figures and a 9ft high house.
Future plans: She hopes to get a studio and carry on making work and perhaps study further.
I Stud/o (>12). /.evo/ 5), Crawford Bur/ding
HEATHER MANN
Degree Show: The landscape and nature informs the work of
Heather Mann. liqually important is her interest in the different languages that can be achieyed in paint. In one piece. she has painted oil onto aluminium. allowing sections
of the metal to become part of the composition. In another
landscape. she has built tip the mid-distance in oil paint so that it stands out from the rest of the painting. The paintings. along with two films filmed on Super 8 before being transferred onto digital. explore the way we control nature and how we control our own nature which is reflected in the world around Us.
Future plans: She plans to do a post-graduate diploma at the (‘ypriis School of Art and then wants to apply for an MA.
I Studio (502. I ovo/ (5. Crawford Bur/ding
MYRA GALLICKER
Degree Show: At 5‘) — and as 92-year-old Louise Bourgeois has just proyed at the l‘ruitmai‘ket (iallery — age is immaterial. .\lrya (iallicker has already got a degree in interior design. worked as a textile designer. feltmaker and studied painting and printmaking before coming to Dundee. for her final show (iallicker has deconstructed a man‘s suit and reconstructed it into a woman‘s dress. (‘utting tip the garment stitch by stitch. she peeled away the layers and the memory of the original suit. Paper cut-outs. silkscreen prints and wall drawings of patterns remembered from her childhood and past further explore memory.
Future plans: She is taking part in the Body Memory exhibition in Atigtist at the (‘ollege‘s ('oopei' (iallery.
I Cooper ( izi/lerir. l ovo/ I, Crawford Building
5 Sat 22 May-Sat 29 May, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, 13 Perth Road, Dundee, 01382 345330.
Mon-Fri 9.30am—8.30pm; Sat 9.30am—4.30pm.
82 THE LIST '~ 1 .r Lila.
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ARTBEAT
News from the world of art
David Blyth’s Sonic Deer Antler
A GROUP SHOW OF WORK BY the 2004 Glenfiddich Artists in Residence opens at the Glenfiddich Distillery on 5 June, running until 30 September. The programme, which was established in 2002, is awarded to contemporary artists living in Europe and this year’s line up includes Christine Borland, Ross Sinclair, Louise Hopkins, French artists Stefanie Bourne and Matthieu Manche, Austrian artist Wilhelm Scheriibl, Hungarian collective Little Warsaw and Gray’s School of Art graduate David Blyth. Blyth’s Sonic Deer Antler (pictured) gets its first gallery showing. It was originally commissioned as part of a web piece by Zenomap, Scotland’s inaugural pavilion at the Venice Biennale last year. For more information see www.glenfiddich.com
THE TAG TEAM EXPERIMENT came to a close at the end of April after two years of exhibitions in the front room of artist Billy McCall's home in Edinburgh. Since it was set up in September 2002. there has been a rolling rota of artists including Turner Prize nominee Mike Nelson. Chad McCall. Dave Beech, Bot) & Robena Smith and Paul Carter. Documentation of the protect can be seen on www. agteaniorguk EDINBURGH VISUAL ARTS AND Crafts Artists Award are offering grants of up to £500 towards the creating of a new work or developing an existing work. For further information contact Arts Development Section, Culture & Leisure Department, First Floor, 50 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LE or call 0131 243 1444. Deadline for applications is 27 August 2004.
VISUAL. ARTS GRANTS OF UP TO E500 are also available to artists resident or working in Glasgow. Contact Melanie Ingram, Arts Development. Cultural Leisure Services. 20 Trongate. Glasgow. G3 7DN or call 0141 287 9835. Deadline is 31 May 2004.