VISUAL ART SUPPORTED BY
George Jamesone: Scotland’s First Portrait Painter Until Tue 31 Dec. Scotland’s first great portraitist. Imagining Power: The Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause Until Thu 31 Dec. An exhibition looking at the way the Jacobites presented themselves in portraiture. Making History Until Sep 2014. Work by Sandy Stoddart, Sculptor in Ordinary to the Queen, who was commissioned by the Portrait Gallery to make a monumental figure representing History, intended to stand outside the gallery from autumn 2014. Out of the Shadow: Women of Nineteenth Century Scotland Until Tue 31 Dec. Various depictions of women between the late 18th and early 20th century. Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport Until Dec 2014. A series of images exploring how sport was transformed between the 19th and 20th centuries. Reformation to Revolution Until Dec 2016. Portraits from the turbulent 17th century. The Age of Improvement Until Dec 2015. Portraits from Scotland’s great transformation between the years 1750–1850. The Nation // Live | Work, Union, Civil War, Faith, Roots Until Tue 6 May. A major new exhibition examining national identity. Tickling Jock: Comedy Greats from Sir Harry Lauder to Billy Connolly Until Sun 25 May. Rich portraits of Scotland’s funny men and women. Viviane Sassen: In and Out of Fashion Until Sun 9 Feb. Retrospective of major Dutch fashion and fine art photographer. See review, page 104.
■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Opening hours vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. LAST CHANCE Michael M Harrison Exhibition Until Sat 30 Nov. 10am–6pm. An exhibition of the artist’s works that illuminate some ancient Scottish folk tales.
■ STILLS 23 Cockburn Street, 622 6200. 11am–6pm. Constructions of Landscape: Work in Progress 2 Until Sun 19 Jan. Photographs by Massimiliano Gatti, David James Grinly and Daniele Sambo, examining the constructed landscape in the urban environment. ■ SUMMERHALL 1 Summerhall, 0845 874 3001. Daily 11am–6pm. LAST CHANCE COBRA: Held Og Hasard (Luck and Chance) Until Fri 22 Nov. Works by the short-lived but influential post-war art group COBRA, which featured members from European cities such as Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. LAST CHANCE Cecilia Vissers: Time and Tide Until Fri 22 Nov. Minimalist wall-based sculpture from the Netherlands, inspired by the landscape. (Note: this exhibition is closed Wed 13 Nov.) LAST CHANCE Dennis J Reinmuller: Subject – Room #1 Until Fri 22 Nov. Installation by irreverent Glasgow-based German artist. LAST CHANCE John Lee Bird: Before Encore Until Fri 22 Nov. Flat- colour paintings derived from photographs taken by the artist of performer friends just before they return to the stage for a final encore. LAST CHANCE John Patrick Bisset: Train Until Fri 22 Nov. Abstract paintings on paper and wood from an artist who taught art in schools for a number of years. Phenotype Genotype (PhG) Until Fri 31 Jan. Exhibition of 400 avant-garde works from 1900 to the present.
110 THE LIST 14 Nov–12 Dec 2013
figurative sculptor Deirdre Nicholls, who set up a studio in Summerhall earlier this year. NEW Jerry Gretzinger: Jerry’s Map Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Gigantic map consisting of 2500 drawings and paintings. These aim to depict a constantly evolving fictional country, constructed by the artist over the course of half a century. Quite an undertaking. NEW Sally Webber: An Inexact Science Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Sculptural work made with found materials. NEW The Dark Would Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Major exhibition of work by text artists including Jenny Holzer, Richard Long, Susan Hiller, Tom Phillips, Simon Patterson, Richard Wentworth, Caroline Bergvall, Erica Baum, Fiona Banner and many others. NEW Two Little Birds: Boys Keep Swinging Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Work from a male perspective curated by Manchester’s Paul Darling and Peter Gwyn. ■ TALBOT RICE GALLERY University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, 650 2210. Tue–Sat 10am–5pm.
✽ NEW Ever / Present / Past Sat 16 Nov–Sat 15 Feb. Various
projects by Mark Dion and Claire Barclay marking the end of a year- long programme commemorating the bicentenary of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. See preview, page 108.
VIDEO / ANIMATION HIRAKI SAWA: LENTICULAR Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sun 5 Jan ●●●●●
There’s something quietly starstruck about Lenticular (2013), the new film work by Hiraki Sawa that forms the centrepiece of the Japanese artist’s first solo exhibition in Scotland. Robert Law is a self-taught astronomer who works at Dundee’s Mills Observatory, where Sawa filmed this cosmonaut of inner space going about his business of exploring other worlds with somewhat archaic-looking machineries of joy. The result is a six-minute portrait of one man’s parallel universe that is counterpointed by a domed facsimile of the observatory, complete with meditative projections and an ambient score that suggest the ultimate chillout room. It’s a telling insight into Sawa’s playful sensibilities, in which after-
dark, magical-realist dream states conjure up imaginary worlds. The word ‘lenticular’ describes something that is lens-shaped. As Sawa focuses in on assorted obsessions in both wide-screen and miniature, the physical space left between each piece is telling.
In Lineament (2012), a vinyl record unravels and goes through walls and doors as a man attempts to recapture the threads of his memory. While this is spread across two screens, the film’s soundtrack is played by record. All of this is synchronised with Lenticular, so each plays in turn rather than simultaneously in a grown-up, sub-Lynchian affair.
Aurora (2013) gives its one-minute mirror image of the Northern Lights a wide-eyed depth, and the five-film Souvenir (2012) becomes a vivid set of sense memories, but an even brighter sense of wonder prevails in Inhere (2004), Unseen Park (2006) and Elsewhere (2003). The first two pieces have been made with children – Sawa has spaceships fly through washing machines and goldfish bowls in Inhere, and a whole fleet of origamied-up, make-believe vehicles soaring high in Unseen Park. In Elsewhere, toilet rolls and other domestic objects come to life. It’s as if the culprits behind the Cottingley Fairies hoax had taken over an after-hours toy shop and reimagined the world anew. (Neil Cooper)
LAST CHANCE Polish Contemporary Art Group: Quality of Everyday Life Until Fri 22 Nov. Work by artists and writers of the Polish Contemporary Art Group, celebrating the quotidian. LAST CHANCE Sasha Huber: Louis Agassiz (1807–2003) – A Visitation Until Fri 22 Nov. Swiss-Haitian artist Sasha Huber presents an exhibition examining the legacy of the Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), who supported the discredited pseudoscience of polygenism. NEW Collective-iz Fri 22 Nov, 6–7.30pm. £4 (£3). An evocative evening of experimental film, video and performance from the London-based Collective-iz. With special guest Nicky Hamlyn while the whole thing is curated by Richard Ashrowan. NEW James Lee Byars: Q: When is a Book not a Book? A: When it is a Question. Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Sculptures and objects made by one of The most dandyish and elusive of 20th century artists. NEW Julie Howden: Obsessed about the 50s Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Photographs documenting the recent revival of interest in 50s style, featuring large colour images, clothing, jewellery and records. NEW Deirdre Nicholls: Beyond Surface – in search of the soul Sat 7 Dec–Fri 24 Jan. Portrait work by
■ UNION GALLERY 45 Broughton Street, 556 7707. Mon–Sat 10.30am–6pm; Sun noon–6pm. LAST CHANCE Barbara Franc Until Mon 25 Nov. Mon-Sat 10.30am–6pm; Sun 12–6pm. A series of sculptures mostly of animals made using wire and other materials. ■ WHITESPACE 11 Gayfield Square, 07814 514771. Opening times vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. NEW Sally Fisher: Cattle Sat 7–Thu 12 Dec. Mon-Thu, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm. Oil paintings of cows from an artist who takes her inspiration from the natural world and urban environment, and who works in Edinburgh and East Anglia.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
■ DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN University of Dundee, 13 Perth Road, Dundee, 01382 345330. Opening hours vary, see individual exhibition listings for details. Georgina Starr: Before Le Cerveau Affamé Until Fri 13 Dec. Mon–Fri 9.30am–5pm; Sat 10.30am–4.30pm. An installation (the title means ‘The Hungry Brain’) by the artist who became famous as one of the so-called Young British Artists.
■ DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS 152 Nethergate, Dundee, 01382 909900. Mon–Wed, Fri–Sun 11am–6pm; Thu 11am–8pm. LAST CHANCE Eye Can Draw: New Work by Jackie Smith Thu 14 Nov. A showcase of eye-tracked prints by Jackie Smith. Eye Can Draw is the culmination of a ground-breaking two-year project funded by Creative Scotland and the DCA.
✽ Hiraki Sawa: Lenticular Until Sun 5 Jan. Japan-born artist now based in London, who has gained a following for his haunting, dream-like video works. See review, left.
■ THE PARK GALLERY Callendar House, Callendar Park, Falkirk, 01324 503789. Mon–Sat 10am–5pm. LAST CHANCE Artist Rooms: Ian Hamilton Finlay Until Sat 16 Nov. Works by the much-celebrated poet and artist.