FESTIVAL VISUAL ART LISTINGS
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980): LATE PAINTINGS Late work by renowned US artist in Scotland for the first time ●●●●●
Continuing its growing tradition of presenting some of the greats of 20th century art in striking surroundings, this festival Inverleith House plays host to Canadian painter Philip Guston, a contemporary of Pollock and De Kooning in 1950s New York. The nine works displayed here are drawn approximately from the last decade of his life until he died in 1980, and they repeat many of the same images over and over again, almost as if they were branding. Guston’s paintings are light and cartoonish, but with an abstract sensibility and
a weight of resonance to the pieces which, if anything, grows stronger to this day. Characters – including one reclined in bed with a feverish cyclopean stare and a group of unfeasibly cuddly-looking Ku Klux Klan members – smoke and work in the artist’s studios, or in the final image ‘Riding Around’ get hooded up and go off for a drive. ‘The Line’ is particularly eye-catching, a huge God-hand descending from the clouds to either make a chalk mark or stub a cigarette, a dramatic reaffirmation of the artist’s competing influences: weighty imagery, crushing routine and the hint of a certain flesh-pink tinted realism. (David Pollock) ■ Inverleith House, 552 7171, until 7 Oct, free.
Exhibitions are listed by city, then alphabetically by venue. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to art@list. co.uk. Listings compiled by Laura Ennor and Alex Johnston. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry EDINBURGH
■ THE ADAM POTTERY 76 Henderson Row, 557 3978. Mon–Sat 11am–6pm. FREE Clay 2012 Mon 6 Aug–Sat 1 Sep. Contemporary and traditional ceramics. Fringe. ■ AMBER ARTS 78 Montrose Terrace, Abbeyhill, 661 1167. Tue–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat 10am–2.30pm. FREE Cat Outram: Etching the Landscape Until Sat 8 Sep. Etchings showing Edinburgh, West Coast and Speyside landscapes.
■ ART’S COMPLEX St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road, 661 1924. Daily 11am–7pm. FREE Art’s Complex Summer Exhibition Sat 4–Sun 19 Aug. A wide range of art from the building’s many and varied creative residents. See picture caption, page 87. ■ ARTHUR’S SEAT see speedoflight2012.org.uk for bookings and info.
✽NVA’s Speed of Light Thu 9 Aug–Sat 1 Sep (not Mon/Tue except
Bank Holiday Mon 27 Aug), 9.15–11pm. £24 (£18). See Street Art feature, page 82.
■ BON PAPILLON 15 Howe Street, 538 2505. Mon & Wed– Sun 9am–5pm. FREE Festival 5 Until Sat 1 Sep. Landscapes five contemporary Scottish artists. ■ BOURNE FINE ART 6 Dundas Street, 557 4050. Mon–Fri 10am–6pm; Sat 11am–2pm. FREE Jock McFadyen: The Ability to Cling Until Sat 1 Sep. Retrospective of work by the Paisley- born painter. EAF.
■ CENTRAL LIBRARY 7-9 George IV Bridge, 242 8100. Mon– Thu 10am–8pm; Fri 10am–5pm; Sat 9am–1pm. FREE The Anomaly That Is Burke, Hare and Knox Until Fri 31 Aug. Drawings and paintings by Joyce Gunn Cairns and effigies by Mary Archibald. ■ CITY ART CENTRE 2 Market Street, 529 3993. Mon–Sat 10am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm. Leslie Hunter: A Life in Colour ●●●●● Until Sun 14 Oct. £5 (£3.50). See review, left. Fringe & EAF. FREE The Scottish Colourists: Inspiration and Influence Until Sun 14 Oct. Exhibition placing the work of the Colourists in its historical and cultural context.
■ COBURG HOUSE STUDIOS 15 Coburg Street, 554 6888. FREE Coburg House Open Studio Weekend Fri 3–Sun 5 Aug, 11am–6pm. Visit working spaces used by jewellers, painters, architects and photographers. ■ COLLECTIVE GALLERY 22–28 Cockburn Street, 220 1260. Tue– Sun 11am–5pm FREE Mick Peter & BS Johnson: Lying and Liars Until Sun 30 Sep. Exhibition concerned with truth and lies. EAF.
GEORGE LESLIE HUNTER: A LIFE IN COLOUR Comprehensive survey of the work of Rothesay-born colourist ●●●●●
More than 70 paintings and prints by the least known of the four Scottish colourists not only demonstrate the breadth of Hunter’s painting practice and his constantly changing approach and style, but also reveal the influences on the Rothesay-born artist, placing his work in the wider context of European painting as well as Scottish.
Through Hunter’s weighty still life works and vibrant, colourful landscapes made in Scotland, Paris, Italy and San Francisco, the exhibition takes us through his experimentations with colour relationships and flattened perspectives, reminiscent of Matisse, his explorations with light, form, volume and nature, an obvious nod to Cézanne, and the format, composition and colour of his still lifes, which echo that of Dutch 17th century painting.
The more interesting aspects of this exhibition are the least expected: a series of small prints and drawings that Hunter produced while working as an illustrator in San Francisco are intense and sharply executed. Next to these, one of Hunter’s stronger, less contrived landscape paintings reflects their tensions: ‘Sunlit Avenue, Northern France’ captures the best aspects of Hunter’s painting – a dark exploration of pattern, form and the effects of light that quietly captures man’s relationship with nature through its simple but intense vitality. (Rhona Taylor) ■ City Art Centre, 529 3993, until 14 Oct, £5 (£3.50).
86 THE LIST 2–9 Aug 2012
■ DIGITAL DESIGN SERVICES 61 Bread Street, 477 4524. Mon–Fri 10am–4pm; Sat noon–4pm. FREE Kate Knight Mon 6–Fri 24 Aug. Contemporary digital design. ■ DOVECOT STUDIOS 10 Infirmary Street, 550 3660. Daily 10.30am–6pm. FREE Weaving the Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912–2012 ●●●●● Until Sun 7 Oct. Dovecot Studios celebrates 100 years See review, page 85. EAF. FREE Dazzle at Dovecot Fri 3– Mon 27 Aug. Work by 54 contemporary jewellery designers.
■ EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL PAVILION St Andrew’s Square, edinburghartfestival.com FREE Andrew Miller: The Waiting Place Until Sun 2 Sep. Daily 10am–6pm. Temporary summerhouse designed for multiple purposes. EAF. FREE Anthony Schrag: Tourist in Residence Sat 4 & Sun 5 Aug, and further dates until Wed 29 Aug, times vary. For details and to book see edinburghartfestival.com See feature, page 82. EAF.
■ EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART 74 Lauriston Place, 221 6000. Daily 10am–5pm. FREE Rachel Mayeri: Primate Cinema – Apes as Family Until Sun 2 Sep. Video installation about the parallels between humans and chimps. EAF. FREE Cast Contemporaries Fri 3 Aug–Sun 2 Sep. Exhibition of different perspectives on ECA’s cast collection. EAF.
■ EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY The Photographic Exhibition Centre, 68 Great King Street, 453 4814. Mon–Fri 10am–7pm; Sat 11am–6pm; Sun 1–5pm. ■ 50th International Photographic Exhibition Sun 5 Aug–Sun 2 Sep. £4. Two hundred images selected from worldwide entries. ■ EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Tue–Sat 10am–6pm. FREE Cheer Up! It’s Not the End of the World . . . Until Sat 8 Sep. Artists including Gordon Cheung, Etienne Clement, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol engage engaged with the subject of apocalypse. EAF.
■ FRUITMARKET GALLERY 45 Market Street, 225 2383. Daily 10am–7pm.
✽FREE Dieter Roth: Diaries Until Sun 14 Oct. Exhibition of diaries by late great German-born, Iceland-based artist. EAF.
■ GALERIE MIRAGES 46a Raeburn Place, 315 2603. Mon–Sat 10am–6pm; Sun 11.30am–5pm. FREE Arts & Crafts of Burma and Jewellery of the World Until Sun 2 Sep. World crafts and jewellery.
■ INGLEBY GALLERY 15 Calton Road, 556 4441. Mon–Sat 10am–6pm; Sun noon–5pm.
✽FREE Ian Hamilton Finlay Until Sat 27 Oct. Work by the late great poet, artist and ‘avant-gardener’, including the recently rediscovered ‘Carrier Strike’, a naval battle enacted with irons, cotton wool and an ironing board. EAF. Trips to Little Sparta Fri 3, 17, 24 & 31 Aug, 1pm. £30. Take a bus tour from the Ingleby Gallery to Ian Hamilton Finlay’s famous garden in the Pentland