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WORK IN PROGRESS WHAT WE HAVE DONE, WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO DO CCA, Glasgow. Project ongoing throughout autumn 2012
Anyone who ever stepped into the wonderland that was the Third Eye Centre will know that, pre-Transmission/ Tramway/Arches/Kinning Park, this holistic, slightly ramshackle Sauchiehall Street hub was pretty much the only avant-fun in town. Before it morphed into the CCA, the Third Eye’s multi-purpose art-space, studio theatre, vegetarian restaurant and the best bookshop on the planet was a boho nirvana for seekers of artistic enlightenment. Much of the Third Eye’s early spirit was down to the enabling energies of the late Tom McGrath, the
Rutherglen-born playwright, poet, pianist, polymath, former editor of counter-cultural bibles Peace News and International Times, and the Third Eye’s first director between 1974 and 1977. This first public sighting of an ongoing excavation of the Third Eye archive, as part of the Glasgow School of Art Arts and Humanities Research Council project on Glasgow’s hidden cultural history since the 1970s (in partnership with the CCA), is culled from McGrath’s early dabblings with a video camera.
More than a hundred unedited tapes reveal the Third Eye as a vital cell of counter-cultural activity, with appearances from poets Allen Ginsberg and Adrian Mitchell, sound poet Bob Cobbing, jazz improvisers Keith Tippett and Derek Bailey, artist Michael Craig-Martin and a host of others. At a time when high-quality mobile phone footage can be filmed and uploaded online within minutes, it’s a crucial glimpse at how things were before the 1980s centres of excellence approach to arts venues took hold. With the CCA itself championing latter-day purveyors of social and artistic self-determination, it’s also a major first step in reclaiming its radical roots. (Neil Cooper)
A delicate installation offering a taster of this year’s Sonica festival (8–18 Nov) creating surprise sonic encounters when small birds flutter on the strings of an old piano. Part of Sonica. ■ SMITHY GALLERY 74 Glasgow Road, Blanefield, 01360 770551. Tue–Sat 11am–5pm; Sun 1–5pm. FREE Sandy Murphy Sun 23 Sep–Sun 28 Oct. RSW member exhibits alongside fellow Ayrshire artists James Cosgrove, Michael Durning and Euan McGregor.
■ SWG3 Studio Warehouse, 100 Eastvale Place, 357 7246. Wed–Sat noon–6pm. FREE Baldvin Ringsted Until Sat 20 Oct. Artworks in various media drawing on the artist’s experience as a musician. FREE Owen Piper: The Quid Until Sat 20 Oct. Sculptures, installations and paintings inspired by anything from the Cannes festival photocall to international politics, footballers’ boots and animals.
■ TRAMWAY 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. Tue–Fri noon–5pm; Sat & Sun noon–6pm.
FREE Dexter Sinister: Identity Until Sun 28 Oct. An exhibition exploring how art institutions have increasingly used graphic design to project a particular image of themselves over the past decades. FREE Jannis Kounellis Until Sun 23 Sep. Major sculptures from the influential Greek artist.
■ TRANSMISSION GALLERY Trongate 103, 552 7141. Tue–Sat 11am–5pm. FREE Dora Garcia: It is not the past Until Sat 13 Oct. Work by Barcelona-based artist. ■ THE VIRGINIA GALLERY 45 Virginia Street, 552 5699. Tue–Sat 11am–5.30pm. FREE Unite Sat 22 Sep–Sat 13 Oct (part one) and Sat 20 Oct–Sat 10 Nov (part two). Work by seven artists or artist collectives exploring personal and political responses to the idea of unions. The artists are Kris Kesiak, Yiannis Roussakis, Snookie Mono, Stephen Vargas, Garry MacLaughlin, Rachel Frances Sharpe and The Recoat Collective. Part of Glasgay!
EDINBURGH ■ ART’S COMPLEX St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road, 661 1924. Opening times vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. FREE Matt Higgins and David Woods: Kaleidoscope Until Sat 22 Sep, daily 11am–7pm. Vast psychedelic cityscapes in lurid relief resin paintings, cast glass, carved wooden sculptures and halftone dot prints. FREE Black Cube Collective Launch Fri 21 Sep–Thu 4 Oct, daily 11am–7pm. Part of a series of exhibitions launching the Black Cube Collective, a new Edinburgh-based art platform for emerging artists. See also Old St Paul’s Church, below. FREE Paul Fleming & Evie Prescott: Exhibition IV Sat 29 Sep–Sun 14 Oct, daily 11am–7pm. A review of the two artists’ work produced over the last year. FREE Tansy Lee Moir: Damaged Woods Sat 6–Sun 14 Oct, daily 10am–6pm. Charcoal and pastel drawings made in response to trees.
VisualArt
■ BON PAPILLON 15 Howe Street, 538 2505. Mon & Wed–Sun 9am–5pm; closed Tue. FREE Astrid Trugg & Melanie Williamson Until Thu 11 Oct. Figurative paintings by artists inspired by the Scottish landscape. FREE Janet Melrose Sat 13 Oct– Wed 14 Nov. New work on themes inspired by the natural world. ■ BONHAMS 22 Queen Street, 225 2266. FREE Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show Thu 27–Sun 30 Sep, Thu 10am–8pm; Fri–Sun 10am–5pm. Scotland’s top contemporary artists, including Elizabeth Blackadder and Moy Mackay have contributed work to a show in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
■ 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). Major retrospective of the work of the Scottish Colourist. FREE The Scottish Colourists: Inspiration and Influence Until Sun 14 Oct. An exhibition that places the work of the celebrated Scottish Colourists in its historical and cultural context.
■ 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. ■ THE COLOUR ROOM 68 Henderson Row, 557 3210. FREE The Spaces . . . inbetween Sat 22–Fri 28 Sep, daily noon–5pm. An exhibition of art, photography and textiles inspired by the poetry of Aileen Lobban, that doubles as the launch of her latest collection of poetry, The Spaces . . . inbetween, in collaboration with artist Alan Lennon. Part of Stockfest 2012.
■ THE DANISH CULTURAL INSTITUTE 3 Doune Terrace, 225 7189. Mon–Thu 10am–4pm. FREE Hidden Spaces, Forgotten Places Until Thu 15 Nov. Hidden and forgotten buildings and places in Denmark and Sweden, photographed by Kurt Hoppe. ■ DOVECOT STUDIOS 10 Infirmary Street, 550 3660. Mon–Sat 10.30am–5.30pm. FREE Weaving the Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912–2012 ●●●●● Until Sun 7 Oct. Dovecot Studios celebrates 100 years of championing the finest contemporary work in tapestry, as part of its ongoing centenary series.
■ EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Tue–Sat 10am–6pm. FREE Again, A Time Machine Until Sat 3 Nov. A touring exhibition created by Book Works exploring how artists play with words, the written, the read, the spoken and the published. ■ EMBASSY 10b Broughton Street Lane, embassygallery.org Thu–Sun noon–6pm during exhibitions FREE Joanna Baxter Wilson, Pedro Brito & Hazel France: Turbo Until Sun 30 Sep. New work by recent art school graduates.
■ EMBO 29 Haddington Place, Leith Walk, 652 3880. Mon–Sat 9am–4pm. FREE Young Artists at Embo Until Fri 28 Sep. Showcase of artwork by three young artists from Trinity Academy, Edinburgh.
20 Sep–18 Oct 2012 THE LIST 115