Visual Art
www.list.co.uk/visualart
‘WILL THERE BE HARMONY OR DISCORD?’
Hitlist THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
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✽✽ Dai Nippon Fascinating exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints depicting scenes from Kabuki theatre, from the Henry Dyer collection. Glasgow School of Art, Fri 21 Aug–Sat 10 Oct. ✽✽ Cerith Wyn Evans with Throbbing Gristle: A=P=P=A=R=I=T=I=O=N An astonishing, large-scale sculpture composed of 16 suspended circular Audio Spotlight panels, for which Throbbing Gristle have composed a special multi- channel soundtrack. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 27 Sep. ✽✽ James Richards: Call and Bluff Last chance to catch Richards’ first exhibition in Scotland, which draws on an array of moving images from varying sources, such as TV, the internet, cinema and video archives, to create new meanings. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 23 Aug. ✽✽ Spin on This Graphic art, graffiti and street art specialists Recoat celebrate their second birthday and 20th exhibition with this enjoyable exhibition of bike-inspired art. Recoat Gallery, Glasgow, until Sun 6 Sep. ✽✽ The Raw and the Cooked For the first collaborative show between Baldvin Ringsted and Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir the two artists explore the influence of music on their work, most prominently the related theme of improvisation versus skill. CCA, Glasgow, until Sun 6 Sep. ✽✽ Emergent Artists: Karen Cunningham, Yvonne Mulloch, Michael Hill Johnston The fourth instalment of this exhibitions series, which allows up-and- coming artists to exhibit in one of the studios at the GSA. See preview, left. Glasgow School of Art, Fri 21 Aug–Sat 19 Sep.
First in show
Talitha Kotzé talks to a trio of emergent artists as they prepare to exhibit their work at the Glasgow School of Art
F our years ago, the exhibitions department at the Glasgow School of Art initiated a programme to support early career artists based in Glasgow. Selected artists are given the opportunity to exhibit new work in one of the high ceiling studios in the Mackintosh building, complete with large windows which provide natural light.
The programme has picked up momentum with the first open submission this year, and will showcase work by Karen Cunningham, Yvonne Mullock and Michael Hill Johnston. Entitled Natural Order, viewers can expect to see a develo`pment of Johnston’s painted nature scenes (pictured, above); Mullock will show ceramic sculptures, inspired by the remnant post-industrial slag heaps around Edinburgh; and Cunningham will present ‘Cellini Jewellery, after Sol Le Witt’ – a gold necklace set in a cast concrete cube. It creates a poetic dialogue with Mullock’s large lump of coal, which has been polished to a high shine through hours of attention (and a nod in the direction of the miners who used to carve coal into jewellery objects for their loved ones). ‘The programme fulfils a definite need,’ says Cunningham. ‘There is a good amount of artist-run spaces and commercial galleries in Glasgow but I think the programme specifically addresses the gap between these in a very positive way and previous exhibitions have shown local artists’ work at an interesting and important time in their careers.’ All three artists have a consistent practice under their belt, exemplified by regular exhibitions, residencies and professional development awards.
42 THE LIST 20–27 Aug 2009
They are all proactive in organising and curating shows and serving on artist-run gallery committees.
‘It provided me with a welcome boost and the impetus to keep pushing my practice,’ says Johnston. ‘Something like this can really help when you have been working away for too long to give up, and yet haven’t quite got far enough to start paying the bills.’ Mullock agrees and also points out that it provides the opportunity to show work to a different audience than the regular crowds who frequent the same exhibition venues around town.
For Cunningham, a direct result has been that she was able to work to a scale which had not previously been possible. She explains that the group decided to give the exhibition a title to bring things together for the viewer as they realised their practices are quite different. ‘The term “emergent” is not perhaps a term you might use to describe yourself. I think the idea of ‘nature’ and the nature of things, materials and systems, occurs in our work in different ways but otherwise our practices are quite distinct.’ ‘I didn’t really know Yvonne and Karen’s practice that well beforehand and indeed I won’t know exactly what they’re up to until I come to install the show,’ says Johnston. ‘But that’s exciting! Seeing how different work and viewpoints sit together. Will there be harmony, or discord?’
Emergent Artists: Natural Order (Karen Cunningham, Yvonne Mullock & Michael Hill Johnston), Studio 40, Glasgow School of Art, Thu 20 Aug–Sat 12 Sep 2009.