Visual Art
www.list.co.uk/visualart
‘IT’S ABOUT ENLIGHTENMENT – WITH EMPHASIS ON THE LIGHT!’ Hitlist THE BEST EXHIBITIONS *
✽✽ Sitting and Looking Interdisciplinary exhibition that brings together furniture design, contemporary photography, ceramics, textiles and paintings. See picture caption, page 92. Dovecot, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Jul–Sun 5 Sep. ✽✽ Jimmie Durham: Universal Miniature Golf (The Promised Land) Engaging and humorous response to a new environment from the renowned American sculptor. Glasgow Sculpture Studios, until Sat 4 Sep. ✽✽ Johan Grimonprez: Double Take Last chance to catch this provocative exhibition exploring identity through a Hitchcock impersonator. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 11 Jul. ✽✽ Chicks on Speed: Don’t Art, Fashion, Music The New York collective provides the perfect antidote to the reactionary gloss of Sex and the City. Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sun 8 Aug. ✽✽ Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880-1900 Works by the highly influential group of artists from the late 18th century. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, until Mon 27 Sep. ✽✽ Alan Davie at 90: An Exhibition of Recent Work New paintings from one of Scotland’s greatest living artists. The Park Gallery, Falkirk, until Sat 16 Oct. ✽✽ Another World: Dali, Magritte and the Surrealists Survey of surrealist paintings, including iconic works by Picasso, Dalí and Magritte. Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Jul–Sun 9 Jan. ✽✽ Prints of Darkness Celebration of record cover art featuring prints by 11 Scottish artists, as well as a new LP by People Like Us. See preview, left. Edinburgh Printmakers, Sat 17 Jul–Sat 4 Sep. 8–22 Jul 2010 THE LIST 89
Cover versions
Neil Cooper talks to multimedia artist Vicki Bennett, aka People Like Us, about her contribution to an exciting celebration of record cover art at Edinburgh Printmakers
T he first time sound collagist Vicki Bennett played Edinburgh under her People Like Us alter ego, it was on the empty dance-floor of a cellar club in the city centre a decade ago, in front of a thin smattering of curious punters and a pair of bemused bouncers. The show was produced by the House of Dubois, whose pioneering events – including Godspeed You Black Emperor’s UK live debut at Stills Gallery – pre-dated the experimental sonic activity that would follow by a good two years.
‘That was a gig from hell!’ Bennett remembers today as she prepares for Prints of Darkness, Edinburgh Printmakers’ homage to album cover art in its most extravagantly fantastical extremes. ‘Like being buried underground then being asked to perform trying to get out.’
In the decade since, Bennett’s witty pop cultural mash-ups have been championed by the late John Peel and Radio 3 as well as London Musicians Collective-run station, Resonance FM. With a multitude of releases on vinyl, CD and cassette, Bennett’s work has appeared at Tate Modern, Sydney Opera House and Barcelona’s electronic music love- in, Sonar. Bennett was the first artist granted access to the BBC’s entire archive, and in 2007 had a retrospective at Newcastle’s much missed alt.gallery. Bennett’s ongoing weekly podcasts for art radio station WFMU, Do or DIY, meanwhile, are legend. For Prints of Darkness Bennett created ‘This is Light Music’, an elaborately packaged limited edition 12-inch picture disc with accompanying essays. While tapping into the nostalgic vogue for arcane
formats in the face of one-click programming Bennett’s blip-vert non-sequiturs retain a sense of humour beyond the pun of the title. Not for nothing are Chris Morris, Roger Whittaker and Radio 4’s shipping forecast theme ‘Sailing By’ referenced.
‘The perception of collage art has broadened and been made more mainstream through the mash-up movement,’ Bennett observes. ‘That wasn’t really about doing anything that hadn’t been done before, but it did highlight that one can make something in a folk art kind of way, in the way that people did with early hip hop and scratching.’ Prints of Darkness also features 11 Scottish-based artists with musical leanings, including former Fall guitarist Tommy Crooks (a member when the band famously imploded onstage in New York in 1998) and cartoonist Malcy Duff. The likes of Duncan Marquiss, Edward Summerton and co-curator Norman Shaw also keep Bennett company.
‘My work has broadened and matured as a result of meeting other artists and musicians working with collage,’ Bennett stresses. ‘Also my moving image work has transformed as a result of finding links to other movements such as futurism, cubism and vorticism. It’s the beginning of a whole new journey. It’s very accessible, and in this case in particular, people don’t have to know a thing about music or art to understand or be entertained. Prints of Darkness is about enlightenment – with emphasis on the “light”!’
Prints of Darkness, Edinburgh Printmakers, Sat 17 Jul–Sat 4 Sep.