Visual Art
Painting, photography, installation, sculpture
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Edinburgh Art Festival
Adding up the combined ages of some of Edinburgh's big hitters this summer you'd be getting on for half a millennium. Henri Cartier-Bresson. who died last year. managed to rack up 95 years. quickly followed by Ian Hamilton Finlay. who celebrates 80 years in August. while Paula Rego. at the age of 70. comes snapping at his heels. Francis Bacon wielded a brush until he died aged 81. Not only that. but the grand men and women were Or are prolific. And as Edinburgh patiently hosts thousands of young performers bursting with enthusiasm. it has quietly been energised by these artists' substantial presence. Within, beside and between. meanwhile. local talent has shown wit. passion and commitment at grassroots level — the Annuale staging exhibitions. film
screenings. gigs and fanzine launches. Now drawn together as a Festival for the second time. the art galleries. scenes and institutions of Edinburgh have united into a pink programme and gained some specially earmarked money from the SAC. Black rainbows heralded its beginning. arrays of fizzy pop and mounds of chopsticks dotted the shows along the way and it all started to make sense next to Jannis Kounellis' iron sculpture marching up Turkish rugs in Edinburgh College of Art. ECA's reading room offers a much-needed hub where catalogues. maps. information. internet access and coffee are provided. Edinburgh showcases art — past. present and continuous — well. Think what it could do if it had some real money behind it. The willing is there; just give us the way. (Ruth Hedges)
art@list.co.uk
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FESTIVAL ART
‘Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.’ — Frank Zappa
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bk Darla Martin Two films. much play. Trippy goings on with white leotard-clad figures gambling about in a futuristic heaven while slabs of clay are intercut with spools of film and eventually moulded into masks modelled by a 70s wolf-like man. Collective Gallery until 24 Sep. tit: Annuale So far there have been film nights. fanzine launches at pool halls. gigs and shows. There's still more fun to be had with a new exhibition opening at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and a closing party at the Bongo Club. Check out the website or pick up a programme at the Edinburgh College of Art Reading Room. Various venues, see listings and wwwannuale. org.
=l< Sentences and Little Sparta It might seem like the most bourgeoise thing imaginable — gardens, words. art — but what the hell. from the mind and hands of Ian Hamilton Finlay. they are brilliant. In Little Sparta the art is out in the garden; in Inverleith House the garden prose comes inside. Inverleith House, until 23 Oct; Trips to Little Sparta every Wednesday and Saturday, until 10 Sep.
=l= Francis Bacon Last chance to see the transmutations of flesh that deck the halls of the Gallery of Modern Art. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, until 4 Sep.
ti: Paula Rego Vast array of prints showcasing the breadth of Flego’s interest and talent displayed in dense configurations. similar to the Victorian style they often emulate. Talbot Rice Gallery, until 24 Sep.
>i< Claire Barclay New installation rendering materials in delicate tension and balance by this highly acclaimed Glasgow- based artist who represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale. 2003. doggerfisher, until 7 7 Sep.
25 Aug—8 Sep 2005 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 109