Visual Art
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A TALE OF TWO CITIES National Portrait Gallery until 8 May 0...
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meant, cf reacr‘rrnr; the xxx» " neglected idrrrtrurgf car ca'u.’ J' " Kay. Kay"; playful safrrcal etcfxrvru the hane and delight of Regen. Edinburgh fare contrasted here the work of crrrrterrrpo':rr, artrat larrr Mr;lrtto5,fr, best known far We .‘.rl generous depictions ’Trf ll‘U’l‘L’fr weelkkent frgures that ac’mrhpan, Alexander McCall Smith"; 'farl, newspaper serial J-l Scot/arid Sfreer‘
lnevrtahly. and perhaps ad.rrsed|§,. he bulk of vrfsrtors Will opt to ‘v’|(?‘.‘.’ Mclntosh's hold. attractrxe lrrre draWrngs frrst, testrrrrony to the popularity of McCall Smrth, as well as the corrrfortrng farnrlrarrty of such larger thanvlrfe Edrnhurgh figures as; lam Dalyell and (Sayrn llastrngs.
lhe relatrve kindness of Mclrrtosh's portraits contrasts sharply wrth Kat. 's rather more drscernrng attitude towards the great and notiso good of 18th and léllh century [-rlrnhurgh, clearly viewed thanks to the handy proyrsron of magnifying glasses. Venerable frgures. such as lOf-year old ‘Mortar erlre'. are rrrrhued wrth a nohrlrty that suggests Kay's greater sympathy for ordrnary
storcal types. but those wrth the folds, throwing the perfectly studied gold chains and temerrty to stick therr heads above the PAW I IN“ the lace detail around her neck into relief. Her hand, social parapet. such as a pop’eyed ANDREW KERR like an armature covered in small planes of burnished and grrmacrng Lord Clrve. are cr‘uellry The Modem mstitute‘ Glasgow, um” Fri 1 Apr ... bronze, opens and closes to nothing. A painting of depicted. Great fun. (Allan Radcliffe: footballers mid-tackle ticks some of the right boxes, ‘ Every representational painting demonstrates the but fails: content and technique are not as successfully ‘-“Detail from Mr Brodie difficult relationship between the everyday object resolved. studied and the painterly reality of how it can be Kerr’s style whiplashes back to cubist concerns, with recorded, and style is the battlefield for this collision. space being excavated, overlaid and expanded between Glasgow-based Andrew Kerr’s four untitled canvases, enclosed forms in an architectural study and in a flatly all acrylic on board, deconstruct the business of described interior. An octagonal cupola is shown from painting itself — his own painting. If ‘each art work is the straight on and above, referencing cubism’s interest in mortal enemy of the other’, then Kerr’s work records simultaneity. The edge of the umbrella-like structure the war that can take place within an artist’s oeuvre. threatens to fan out into painterly pattern, then is Style fights style and there are winners and losers. brought to heel by a line that is both the edge of the In one painting Kerr employs photo-realism, skilfully painted form and the actual roof structure. A blue teased at the edges with an expressive touch. The interior presents a similar problematic; forms are placed three-quarter figure of an elderly, bejewelled black into an awkward geometric perspective that works and woman gestures and looks out of the painting and doesn’t. The reflection in the dressing table mirror jars,
beyond the viewer. The emerald green of her dress and reflecting another room that is not here but there. the plum of the background sheet fall in and out of dark (Alexander Kennedy)
MIXED MEDIA RIPPLES ON YOU Harmonium (Terry and Kurt) Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sat 2 Apr 000
The programme notes accorrrpanyrng this show try Glasgoy.’ School of Art Ml A graduate Stuart Gur’den make reference to acknowledgnrent of ‘semrrral frgur‘et; and materrals' wrthrn hrs work. One of the reasons for thrs. apparently rs to exprore ‘Contingent responses to the Vicarious experience of lsuhrcultural ntorr‘ents and knowledge'.
When you consrder that he references such disparate yet rntrrgurrrg frgur‘es as Kurt Vonnegut and the Fall. rt's an exciting prospect. Yet. whrle rndrxrdual preces have their own drstrnctrve merrts or othenyrse. the whole collection r8 rr‘ore of a reflectron than a crrtrgue or exploration even \lUV‘de through Gurden's (ism obvrously playful eye.
Works like ‘Bombast. or the introduction to lceland hr, the Fall' are melt measured. A vaguely shifting \rrdeo \rewpornt of a few nutter-lashed rocks. trre calm of the image rs in rarrrng contrast With the rising abstract sgual: of the somdtrack. lending an obvrous drvrsron to the concept of such a Jarrrng hand recording rn such tranqurl surroundrngs. Elsewhere. 'Kur‘t after Cassre' depicts the author in crude homemade 3-D. red brro mrxed wrth green recreates tnrs Her“. ord— fashroned but still potent stab at futurrsm — 3-D glasses not included.
However, the logic of 'Keelrng' tone precisely redravm page of an .‘E l'wtt“ 1992) and the admittedly hypnotic \rdeo installation ‘HgtrrttLthrtrrr‘ Tern. and Kat”. ' rs less eaSy to dryrne. Both are partly a trarnspotter‘s prank. but beyond this tt‘er' reasoning IS too heavrly cencealed to be reund €éi$|l‘,. An :ntrrgurng snow. cat act“- with not as many answers as may be hoped for. rDar. rd Pollockr
104 THE LIST 17—31 Mar 20-35