VISUAL ART list.co.uk/visualart
HITLIST THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
✽ From Death to Death and Other Small Tales Astonishing archive
collection of 20th and 21st century work exploring the subject of the body. See review, page 105. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, Edinburgh, until Sun 8 Sep.
✽ Flickering Lights Group show of video works by three important contemporary artists: David
Bellingham, Maris and Rachel Maclean. See preview, page 110. Summerhall, Edinburgh, Fri 8 Mar–Sat 18 May.
✽ Nick Evans: Solar Eyes Evans’
monumental show recreates a faux Mayan ruin that becomes home to his signature large, white- plaster sculptures. See five-star review, page 106. Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 31 Mar.
✽ Massimo Bartolini: Studio Matters + 1 The Italian artist’s first solo exhibition
in Scotland includes a huge installation created from frameworks of lights used during Sicilian street celebrations and smaller works. See review, page 105. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 14 Apr.
✽ French Riviera: Échange Écossais Group exhibition showcasing the artists
who have worked with London gallery French Riviera during its first two years, including works by Thomas Dozol, Siân Hislop, Leslie Kulesh and Sam Levack & Jen Lewandowski. Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh, Fri 22 Feb–Sun 3 Mar.
✽ Audrey Grant The Edinburgh-based painter creates atmospheric oil paintings of standing figures. See preview, left. Union Gallery, Edinburgh, Fri 1 Mar–Mon 1 Apr.
AUDREY GRANT Atmospheric new work from the Edinburgh-based painter
E dinburgh artist Audrey Grant’s painted portraits are a voyage of discovery for the artist as much as the viewer, a series of figures who have been uncovered by Grant as she follows what’s now a defined process. ‘I intend a figure, then apply paint to the canvas and scrape it back until the figure asserts itself,’ she says. ‘From there it’s about trying to make it work with the space around it, building things up with marks and incisions.’ The effect is atmospheric and sometimes verges on the sinister, her figures finding themselves alone in a murky kind of half- light. ‘I’m interested in our internal world as human beings,’ says Grant, who was taught at Leith School of Art, ‘and how that often
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seeps to the surface in very simple gestures and movements. The way a hand moves to the chest or an arm is held, and how that can tell us a lot about a profound human emotion.’ There’s a certain loneliness to many of them, it seems. ‘I wouldn’t say loneliness,’ replies Grant, ‘as much as aloneness. Solitude. “Loneliness” has quite a heavy feeling around it, doesn’t it? But often you don’t know what a piece is about until you’re making it. As a painter you can’t get away from your subject.’ (David Pollock)
Union Gallery, Edinburgh, Fri 1 Mar–Mon 1 Apr.