‘MAYBE WE NEED A SCOTTISH SALON DE PRINTEMPS'
Brown Paradise Portal by Hanneline Visnes
Ti led un tiled?
Alexander Kennedy previews the new exhibition at Edinburgh’s Doggerfisher, and talks to the gallery owner about letting the work speak for itself.
liter speaking to a few gallerists and curators.
the general consensus is that owrarching. selli-
indttlgent and poetic themes for group shows seem to he on the wa} out. This sceptical position that} not catch on. httl the realisation that man} shows sul'l’er l‘rom the ‘proposal s} ndromc‘ (hoops lime to he jumped through and ho\es ticked tor the show to he deemed \ iahle l'or l‘unding l'rom go\ernmenlal hodicsl is beginning to grate.
'I‘hc untitled group show at lidinhurgh's l)oggerlishcr will show new work by a qualit} ttl'l';l_\ ot internationall} acclaimed artists Karla Black. Dean Hughes. Duncan Marquiss. .lonathan ()w en. and llanneline Visncs. (killer) owner Susanna Beaumont 5”)?“ inmli-‘F [Ntclic titles taken l‘rom Leonard (‘ohen songs ttsuall} come after a few glasses ot wine. and should ma} he he asoidedl'
Both llanneline \‘isnes and .lonalhan ()w en are
represented h_\‘ the galler}. and are indicati\e ot'
certain aspects of Beaumonl‘s aesthetic interests. Both play with the idea ol' l'Iatness and repeating patterns. creating highl} ornate work that esamines the relationship between the artificial and the natural. Visnes turns screen-printed representations of flowers into spiralling bouquets. repeated crow s‘ heads and peacocks~ tails tanning out into abstraction. ()wen‘s seductive sculptural objects continue this highl} fashioned approach. in work such as 'l.awn‘ (2005i. and ‘Nest' (2003). w here nature is shown to he a construction. insented h} culture and art. In ()wen‘s work stylised motifs ol‘ t‘oliage are cut into ‘manmade' materials: nature symbolicall} reclaims ‘Her' own.
Karla Black recentl} took part in the amhisalentl)‘ titled like it Matters‘ in the (TA. which heralded a return to sculpture. Black‘s work stole the show. with non-monumenta| and anti-sculptural ohjecls (still
seemingl) in process). clearl) hearing the marks of
their making. Beaumont hasn‘t shown either Black or l)uncan Marquiss‘ work before. but Marquiss (who rcccnll} graduated l'rom (ilasgow School of Art‘s Master oi l‘ine Art course). has also received critical acclaim. and will add a touch of the macabre to the proceedings. In his lilm ‘Roggenwolk (3004). ideas and representations ol the suhlime and the grotesque interweznc. and a narratne of sorts is created when
the camera pans mer sinister landscapes and bags of
blood} grain.
This is also the first time that Dean Hughes has shown with Doggerl‘isher. and his art marks a departure from the more wrought and patterned work that Beaumont sometimes seems to favour. Hughes~ output is more t_\'pical|_\ conceptual. minimal even. with the debris one collects moving through the world thus tickets and other pocket llotsam) linding its way into his work and the galler}.
There is no shame in showing a group or artists whose work has simultaneoUsl} come to the lore or has mm ed up a gear. .\la_\he we need a Scottish Salon de l’rintemps. Beaumont's untitled annual spring show- goes some wa} to till that need. in presenting Us with talent that has sprung and new artistic growth.
Group Show, Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, Wed 17 Feb - Sat 1 Apr 2006.
' The Maid of Corinth This group show brings together new work by Marie-Jeanne Hoffner. Martine Myrup, Tobias Sternberg and Michael Wurstbauer. Taking its title from Pliny, the w0rk examines making, process and unmaking, and includes drawings. films and sculpture. Market Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 78 Feb. See review, page 93.
i’» Group Show - Doggerfisher The gallery plays host to the work oi live artists. Themes such as the un/natural, the sublime, the everyday and the abject are lragmented through the work. Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, until Sat 1 Apr. See preview, opposite.
1* Julian Gothe - Beams are gonna find me New sculptural installation by the Berlin-based artist. Gome's work develops the sculptural properties of modernist interiors. using materials such as paper, metal and glass to create uncanny constructions that dominate the gallery space. Sorcha Dal/as, Glasgow, until Sat 78 Mar. See preview, page 92.
r’~ Katy Dove A newly commissioned animation will be shown alongside drawings and paintings. Katy Dove's work explores the metaphysical backbone of reality and how previous modernist artists have painted and theorised their glimpses of the ‘beyond'. Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, until Sat 8 April. See preview, page 92.
* What makes you and I different The work of artists who analyse the linguistic and philosophical slip between ‘you' and ‘I' present new epistemologies and representations examining de- centred subjectivity. Wood and Harrison, Beagles and Ramsey. Melanie Smith and many more exhibit. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 26 Mar
16 Feb—2 Mar 2006 THE LIST 91