Festival Visual Art
BOB AND ROBERTA SMITH: THIS ARTIST IS DEEPLY DANGEROUS Humorously subverting the relationship between artist and critic ●●●●●
Telephone Booking Fringe 0131 226 0000 International Festival 0131 473 2000 Book Festival 0845 373 5888 Art Festival 07500 461 332
■ EMBASSY GALLERY Roxy Art House, 2 Roxburgh Place, 07950 872479. Thu–Sun 12pm–6pm. FREE Grandmother Waits For You ●●●●● Until Sat 5 Sep. Cheeky conceptualism for The Matrix generation, a central knitted structure engenders ideas of ageism, community and unconditional love. ■ THE FIDRA GALLERY 181 Bruntsfield Place, Mon–Sat 10.30am–4pm; Sun noon–4pm. FREE Fidra Gallery Summer Exhibition Until Mon 31 Aug. Summer exhibition of works by leading children’s book illustrators.
■ FRUITMARKET GALLERY 45 Market Street, 225 2383. Daily 10am–7pm.
✽✽ FREE Eva Hesse Studiowork ●●●●● Until Sun 25 Oct.
Sculpture by the late, great German artist. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. ■ GALLERA1 @ THE LIGHTHOUSE 20–22 West Harbour Road, 555 2280. Daily 10am–4pm. FREE JUMP 2 DE-Light Until Sat 5 Sep. Artist Shaeron Averbuch presents new work in response to Edinburgh’s waterfront regeneration. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ THE GLASITE MEETING HOUSE 33 Barony Street, 557 0019. Daily 10am–4.30pm. FREE Kumst im Klo/Art in the Loo Until Mon 31 Aug. A miniature exhibition of strange and wonderful creatures in the ground floor toilet. ■ THE GREY GALLERY Hawke & Hunter, 12 Picardy Place. Daily 11am–6pm. FREE Bob and Roberta Smith – This Artist is Deeply Dangerous ●●●●● Until Sat 5 Sep. A response to a Guardian art review written by sports writer Steve Bierley. See review, right. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ INGLEBY GALLERY 15 Calton Road, 556 4441. 10am–6pm; Thu 10am–7pm; Sun noon–5pm. FREE Callum Innes Until Sat 19 Sep. New paintings and works on paper by the leading Scottish abstract painter. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. FREE Bilboard for Edinburgh: Tacita Dean Until Sat 31 Oct. The fifth artist to participate in the Ingleby’s bold public art project. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. ■ INSTITUT FRANCAIS D’ECOSSE 13 Randolph Crescent, 225 5366. Mon–Fri 9.30am–6.30pm; Sat 9.30am–1pm (not 31 Aug & 14 Sep). FREE Paul Nougé, Subversion of the images Until Sat 26 Sep. Original photographs and documents produced by Belgian surrealist Paul Nougé. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ JUPITER ARTLAND Bonnington House, Kirknewton, 335 6920. Thu–Sun 10am–4pm. £5 (£3). Jupiter Artland Year 1 Until Mon 31 Aug. Environmental artworks set in beautiful natural landscape.Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
for GLASGOW ART see page 54.
Leave this one for last: it is a good end to a long day of wandering around the Festival. Bob and Roberta Smith’s painted panels hang in the plush interiors of Hawke and Hunter’s upstairs bar. Viewers can sit down on comfortable seats with soft throws, surrounded by opulent decorations, a fireplace, candles, small drinks tables and large windows overlooking the top of Leith Walk. Smith’s colourful paintings brighten the rather Gothic colour scheme of
this bourgeois chill out lounge, but if you come to them with no prior knowledge they can easily be mistaken for menu boards advertising weird and wacky cocktails. This exhibition is based on an article written by Guardian tennis
correspondent Steve Bierley, who swapped jobs with an arts correspondent and wrote a review of Louise Bourgeois’ exhibition in Paris. Bierley, who had no prior knowledge of Bourgeois’ work, wrote a refreshingly candid take on her exhibition, and this inspired Smith to transcribe the article onto panels of timber in his signatory sign writing style.
The exhibition acts as an advertisement for an article: making art about writing about art. Although his attempt to subvert the relationship between artist and critic carries weight, the product becomes highly processed when placed in this environment. But there is humour here, as this type of accessibility is exactly what Smith’s practice is about: consumers need to feel comfortable.
If not for the art, go to give your feet a rest, order a Paradisi Daiquiri
and recline on the comfy seats. (Talitha Kotzé) ■ The Grey Gallery, 0791 0359 086, until 5 Sep, free.
■ LAUREL GALLERY 41 St Stephen Street, 0845 226 2595. Tue, Thu & Fri 11am–5.30pm; Mon 11am–3pm; Sat 10am–5pm; Sun 1pm–4pm. FREE Anniversary and Summer Exhibition Until Sun 30 Aug. Exhibition of new work by Gordon Wilson, John Nelson, Arie Vardi and Zoe Mafham. ■ LAURISTON CASTLE GLASSHOUSE 2a Cramond Road South, 07506 697130. Daily noon–6pm. FREE Hot Box Until Sat 29 Aug. A diverse array of sculptural interventions reimagine a normally more sedate natural landscape. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ THE LOT 4–6 Grassmarket, 225 9922. FREE Going Back to a Place Until Wed 2 Sep. Artists from Garvald Edinburgh show art work inspired by Scottish poetry. ■ MANSFIELD TRAQUAIR 15 Mansfield Place, 556 1488. Sun–Fri 11am–1pm. FREE Phoebe Anna Traquair Murals at the Mansfield Traquair Centre Until Fri 28 Aug. Restored arts and crafts movement murals. Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
■ MAOARTLAND 24 Lochrin Buildings, 477 1822. 10am–8pm; Sat & Sun 10.30am–8.30pm. FREE MaoArtland Until Mon 31 Aug.
106 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 27 Aug–10 Sep 2009
Exhibition celebrating the diverse perceptions of a multi-cultural group of Edinburgh artists. Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ■ MARCHMONT GALLERY 56 Warrender Park Rd, 228 8228. Tue–Sat 10am–6pm. FREE Art on Show: Regina Fernandes Until Fri 30 Oct. An opportunity to look at work from a range of Scottish artists.
■ MIRACLES 5/1 St Stephen Street, 07970 969159. Wed–Sat 2pm–5.30pm. FREE Alexandria Light Until Sat 29 Aug. An installation referencing Alexandria, Egypt, by Edinburgh-based artist Rose Frain. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX The Mound, 624 6200. Daily 10am–6pm. Raphael to Renoir: Master Drawings from the Collection of Jean Bonna Until Sun 6 Sep. £4 (£3). Collection spanning the 500 years between the Italian Renaissance and the post-impressionism of 19th century France. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
✽✽ The Discovery of Spain ●●●●● Until Sun 11 Oct. £8 (£6).
Major exhibition exploring the relationship between Spanish innovators and the British artists they influenced. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street, 225 7534. Daily 10am–5pm. FREE Ballast: Bringing the Stones Home Until Sun 8 Nov. New Zealand artist John Edgar presents stone sculptures that explore the experience of the emigrant. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. ■ NEW MEDIA SCOTLAND InSpace, Crichton Street, 651 5661. Wed–Sun 10am–6pm. FREE Reveal/Reset ●●●●● Until Sat 5 Sep. Confused and technologically distancing selection of new media works. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ OPEN EYE GALLERY 34 Abercromby Place, 557 1020. Mon–Fri 10am–6pm; Sat 10am–4pm.
✽✽ FREE John Bellany: A Celtic Voyage Until Tue 1 Sep. See
review, page 104. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. ■ PATRIOTHALL GALLERY WASPS Patriothall Studios, off 48 Hamilton Place, 226 7126. 11am–5pm; Thu 11am–7pm; Sun noon–5pm (27 Aug 11am–9pm). FREE This is Now: From Drawing to Contexture ●●●●● Until Sat 29 Aug. Collaborative exhibition of work by former tapestry students from Edinburgh College of Art, proffering a strong interest in the artistic process. Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
■ PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION CENTRE 68 Great King Street, 226 0000. 10am–8pm; Sat 1pm–8pm; Sun 1pm–5pm. £3 (£2). ■ 47th Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography Until Sun 6 Sep. Amateur and professional photographs from around the world. Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ■ THE QUEEN’S GALLERY Palace of Holyroodhouse, 556 5100. Daily 9.30am–6pm £5 (£4.50). The Conversation Piece: Scenes of Fashionable Life ●●●●● Until Sun 20 Sep. Exhibition celebrating well- off life in Holland and England between the reigns of Charles 1 and Queen