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HITLIST THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
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✽ Scotland + Venice, Hayley Tompkins See review, left. The Common Guild,
Glasgow, until Sat 2 Aug.
✽ Cabbages in an Orchard; The Formers and Forms of Charles
Rennie Mackintosh and Graham Fagen The culmination of a research project by GSA alumni Graham Fagen in the GSA’s Archives and Collections Centre. See review, page 116. Glasgow School of Art’s Reid Building, until Fri 29 Aug.
✽ Alex Frost: The Patrons Frost has created a copy of Kibble Palace, the impressive glasshouse built by Victorian merchant John Kibble, part of a series of temporary structures made by the artist linked to cultural patronage and the distinction between Victorian and contemporary support for the arts. Cove Park, Argyll & Bute, until Fri 26 Sep.
✽ King’s Peace: Realism and War
Group exhibition questioning the meaning of ‘peace’ in modern societies. See preview, page 114. Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, Fri 1 Aug–Sun 26 Oct.
✽ Luke Fowler: The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded
Followers of Joanna Southcott The Scottish debut of Fowler’s acclaimed 61 minute film, which documents the work of left-wing intellectuals in post-war Yorkshire. See review, page 114. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 2 Nov.
✽ Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland
Landmark art works from the past 25 years from 30 of Scotland’s most outstanding contemporary artists. See review, page 118. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, until 25 Jan 2015.
10 Jul–21 Aug 2014 THE LIST 113
HAYLEY TOMPKINS Playful painted objects transform our ideas of ordinary items
I t’s the brightest and airiest of environments that have housed Hayley Tompkins’ floor- based bird’s-eye picture-postcard views of holy-hued rainbows, high-rise cityscapes, earth-bound stone formations, tranquil blue seas and fog-bound multi-lane traffic surges thus far. Originally seen as part of Scotland’s contribution to Venice 2013 and now forming part of the nationwide GENERATION programme, these off-the- peg images contained in plastic trays on the floor play with the full light-and-shade spectrum of the Common Guild’s high- windowed townhouse interior they’ve been reconfigured for, alongside an empty chair to take in the view. The painted stick on the wall, half-consumed bottles of coloured liquid, fake steaks, baguettes and a plastic salad sandwich in the hall suggest the left- over souvenirs of an off-piste picnic in some
man-made, make-believe utopia. Upstairs, newer works, on the wall this time, take a trippier approach, with the looking- glass light-show swirls and poached-egg shapes that occupy the plastic trays giving them the feel of petri dish experiments in search of the most refreshing facsimile of authenticity they can muster. Where these swirls might ooze, pulse and spit with life, here they’ve been captured at their most vivid and preserved in what, like any still life, is an approximated palette of living colour. The close-up of a crush of oranges in the hallway isn’t the only thing that looks good enough to eat. Outside, meanwhile, seen on the clearest of days, a false sun never dims. (Neil Cooper)
●●●●● The Common Guild, Glasgow until Sat 2 Aug.