VisualArt HITLIST THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
David Peat: A Retrospective Last chance to see this highly recommended retrospective of the work of Scottish documentary filmmaker and photographer Peat. Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, until Sun 5 Aug.
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Lotte Gertz New paintings by the Danish-born, Glasgow-based artist, created on beautiful, hand-stitched canvases. Mary Mary, Glasgow, until Sat 4 Aug. The First of the Summer Wine Annual exhibition showcasing everything from the Colourists to Joan Eardley. Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow, until Fri 31 Aug.
Karen L Vaughan: I Can’t Get That Sound You Make Out Of My Head Handcrafted panels displaying hand- stitched lyrics from classic indie songs. Reviewed next issue. The Arches, Glasgow, until Fri 31 Aug. Infinite Jest Intriguing and meticulously choreographed exhibition by artists Cinthia Marcelle, Rob Pruitt and William Mackrell exploring the notion of infinity. Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sun 26 Aug.
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Jannis Kounellis New sculptural works from the influential Greek artist renowned for incorporating found elements into his paintings. See picture caption, page 125. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 23 Sep.
Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since WWII Group exhibition highlighting the importance of female artists to Glasgow. See review, right. Mackintosh Museum, Glasgow School of Art, until Sun 30 Sep.
Sanctuary | Comraich This summer exhibition at Mount Stuart House features work by contemporary Scots artists including Lucy Skaer, Kate Davis and Ian Bourn. Mount Stuart House, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, until Wed 31 Oct.
124 THE LIST 2–9 Aug 2012
GROUP SHOW STUDIO 58 Mackintosh Museum, Glasgow School of Art, until Sun 30 Sep ●●●●●
Glasgow School of Art brings together a collection of 54 women artists associated with Glasgow in an unusual mix of craft, textile, painting and performance curated by Dr Sarah Lowndes. The GSA acts as a geographic tie for the show, managing to ground and contextualise the range of work from postwar to contemporary women artists through a series of wonderfully bizarre relations of tutor or studentship. Despite containing an inordinate number of artists for the size of the gallery, including some of Glasgow’s current heavyweights like Karla Black, Christine Borland and Cathy Wilkes, Studio 58 somehow avoids the sterile feeling of a survey show – it has much more character and flair than that.
Studio 58 reveals a web of delicate connections between overlapping generations of the women artists, showing a very human account of an under-discussed period of history since 1939, a lineage which has seen such change that it is often hard to fathom. The name refers to the studio space allotted for female students in the art schools early days – on the other side of the building from the only women’s lavatory. It might seem a little unnecessary to be championing women artist in Glasgow now, but it doesn’t feel didactic, rather a reminder and a celebration. Whether in the artifacts of other generations such as the series of
mannequins, including Cordelia Oliver’s handmade canvas skirt with Daisy McGlashan’s painting smock, or the more current flavours of the month such as Romany Dear’s dance performance or Claire Barclay’s ‘Ideal Pursuits’ – there is lots to be inspired by. One of the real joys is an original Mackintosh cabinet, which has been unearthed from behind a white wall for this show, a wunderkammer of curious objects, books and old photos over these generations. (Michael Davis)
SCULPTURE & WORKS ON PAPER KATJA STRUNZ: DYNAMIC FATIGUE TEST The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sat 18 Aug ●●●●● Metal fatigue is the progressive and localised structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loadings. Berlin-based artist Katja Strunz has set up fatigue tests in the gallery to determine how materials will hold up during repeated use over time. On show are deconstructed clocks in various stages of resisting physical stress.
As soon as it detects motion the sound of a stopped clock is disrupted by its entrails being dragged across the gallery floor. Strunz’s objects remain static until the fourth dimension of time is added by the viewer, raising questions about the materiality of time and observation of reality. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
One work consisting of 19th century clocks requires active intervention,
another is effected by mere physical presence. Dials have been removed from clock faces and exhibited separately. Just as these materials absorb and resist physical stress it creates tension in the viewer’s body when startled by the sudden movement of the suspended wire system that pulls the contraption of found objects across the gallery. In contrast to the hard-edged metal sculptures, are the delicate works on
paper. Through a much gentler approach the same angular shapes are echoed in two-dimensional collages. Tick tock. (Talitha Kotzé)