GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
BACK TO Mack As Glasgow School of Art celebrates its centenary The List looks back over the history of the iconic building, and asks some well-known alumni about their experiences of studying at the institution
T hroughout December and January the Glasgow School of Art is commemorating the centenary of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh- designed building, which was completed by the celebrated architect, designer and watercolourist in 1909. As part of the ongoing celebrations, the college is holding an exhibition, The Flower and the Green Leaf, which will show the work and social life of staff and students during the early 20th century. The exhibition takes as its starting point Mackintosh’s completion of the first half of the iconic building in 1899, widely regarded as the moment the school started to become truly international in its scope.
On display will be work from each of the four departments of the time: Painting and Drawing; Modelling and Sculpture; Design and Decorative Art; Architecture. Among the exhibits will be a set of drawings for the building by Mackintosh himself, dated 1910; a green linen bag designed by Grace Wilson Melvin (1892-1977), embroidered in green white and violet, the colours of the suffragette movement; photographs of staff and students in the early 20th century; life drawings by students of the time and the inaugural Bram Stoker Medal awarded for most imaginative work of the year in 1903. The GSA was unique in the early part of the 20th century in its ability to attract applicants from overseas as well as highly regarded
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British artists. The school also pioneered a highly successful programme of teacher education, which influenced art teaching in Scotland for many years to come.
A quick glance through its impressive list of former students shows just how important the Glasgow School of Art continues to be in attracting and nurturing talent across the spectrum of the visual arts. The GSA has produced eight Turner Prize nominees (among them two winners, Douglas Gordon and Simon Starling), as well as other internationally renowned names such as the photographer Harry Benson, the late sculptor and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and the painter Jenny Saville. The Mack is also the alma mater to a staggering array of well-kent faces, including BAFTA-winning actor Peter Capaldi, the playwrights Liz Lochhead and John Byrne, former justice minister Cathy Jamieson, and assorted members of Scottish supergroups Travis and Franz Ferdinand. To mark the centenary celebrations The List has assembled a quartet of successful GSA alumni and asked them to share some of their experiences from their student days. Just what is it that makes the Mack such a great place to study and create?
The Flowers and the Green Leaf: Glasgow School of Art in the Early Twentieth Century, Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Fri 27 Nov–Sat 23 Jan.
MICHAEL THOMAS JONES PHOTOGRAPHER Studied Drawing and Painting 1995-1999
I’m from Glasgow originally, so
that was a consideration when I was deciding where to study, but the thing that really attracted me to the Glasgow School of Art was all the history – it has been associated with so many great artists in the past. The Mackintosh building – which I wasn’t actually
lucky enough to study in during my time at the college – has a real feel to it as a place to create, and really promotes that sense of creativity. Glasgow was also a really thriving place for
grassroots art at that point in the mid-90s. It was while I was studying at the GSA that I decided to become a photographer. Before that I’d mostly done drawing and painting, but where I come from you couldn’t really say to people, ‘I want to do drawing and painting for a living.’ I had shared a flat with a group of photographers, and the idea that photography was a practical application that could be used to make money that was really attractive to me back then. ■ Michael Thomas Jones’ photographic essay, Modernista: Gaudi and his Contemporaries in Modern Day Barcelona, runs at The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 28 Feb. It is presented in partnership with Glasgow School of Art and the Scottish Government to coincide with the Glasgow School of Art’s centenary celebrations.