VISUAL ART
■ PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE Royal Mile, 556 5100. Apr–Oct: daily 9.30am–6pm; Nov–Mar: daily 9.30am–4.30pm. The Commonwealth: Gifts to the Queen Until Fri 31 Oct. Price included in admission. A new display of some of the gifts presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her many voyages around the world. ■ THE QUEEN’S GALLERY Palace of Holyroodhouse, 556 5100. Opening times vary; see individual exhibitions for details. LAST CHANCE In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion Until Sun 20 Jul. Daily: 9.30am–6pm. Price included in admission. Exhibition looking at the ways in which fashion conveyed important information about status in the 16th and 17th centuries.
■ ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY The Mound, 225 6671. Mon–Sat 10am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm. NB certain exhibitions are open Mon 10am–5pm only. Your RSA Paintings: Your Choice Until Mon 23 Mar 2015. Mon 10am–5pm only. Pictures from the RSA collection, some of which have been chosen by the public. ■ THE SCOTTISH GALLERY 16 Dundas Street, 558 1200. Mon–Fri 10am–6pm; Sat 10am–4pm; closed Sun. LAST CHANCE Modern Masters III Until Sat 26 Jul. 20th century Scottish paintings. LAST CHANCE Pat Douthwaite: An Uncompromising Vision Until Sat 26 Jul. Pastel drawings by the Scottish artist. LAST CHANCE Yasuki Hiramatsu Memorial Exhibition Until Sat 26 Jul. A retrospective of work by one of the great pioneers of modern jewellery, who died in 2014. NEW Victoria Crowe: Real and Reflected Fri 1–Sat 30 Aug. New work in a number of media focusing on the natural world and art history.
■ SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART 75 Belford Road, 624 6200. Daily 10am–5pm.
✽ Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland
●●●●● Until Sat 25 Jan. See review, right. Generation.
■ SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY 1 Queen Street, 624 6200. Mon–Wed & Fri–Sun 10am–5pm; Thu 10am–7pm. Citizens of the World: David Hume & Allan Ramsay Until Thu 31 Dec. A look at the relationship between Hume and Ramsay and the circles that surrounded them.
✽ Luke Fowler: The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite
Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott ●●●●● Until Sun 2 Nov. See review, page 114. Generation. Imagining Power: The Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause Until Thu 31 Dec. Exploring the way the Jacobites presented themselves in portraiture. Making History Until Sun 28 Sep. A look at the work of Sandy Stoddart, Sculptor in Ordinary to the Queen. Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport Until Wed 31 Dec. Examining the way sport was transformed by wider social and infrastructural changes between the 19th and 20th centuries. Reformation to Revolution Until Dec 2016. Covering the transformation of Scotland from an independent nation to a part of the Union. The Age of Improvement Until Dec 2015. Portraits from the century of Scotland’s great transformation, 1750–1850.
118 THE LIST 10 Jul–21 Aug 2014
C O U R T E S Y O F T H E A R T S T A N D
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GROUP SHOW GENERATION Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, Edinburgh, until Sun 25 Jan ●●●●●
Where to start with a definitive, large-scale exhibition boasting of a nation’s ongoing achievements in contemporary art without opening yourself up to claims of self-aggrandisement? Isn’t it for others to sing the praises while we keep our trumpets unblown? In this case the best strategy seems to have been just to show the work and allow it to make a claim on its own position, for if one guiding narrative presents itself amidst the work of the 20 plus Scottish and Scottish-affiliated artists on display at this showpiece hub exhibition of the GENERATION project, it’s a lack of self-regard. There is humour, there are finely-constructed stories under the surface, there are often quite complex conceptual experiments, yet self-importance never weighs heavy.
The blockbuster sits alongside the less well-known. Douglas Gordon’s ‘24 Hour Psycho’ is a centrepiece, and its power is reinstated when seen in person, the sense of frustrated expectation and of time being distorted as the piece is viewed both captivating and unsettling. Elsewhere a new series by Toby Paterson entitled ‘Common Area’ breaks down the shapes and colour palettes of post-war housing into abstract painting and sculpture, and Richard Wright is represented by a hallway full of bright and intricate geometric drawings.
Throughout, much of the work displays relentless force of personality, from Kate Davis’ paintings of crushed postcards depicting famous female subjects in art to the garishly clinical ‘Breathing Space’ by Smith/Stewart, a film diptych trained on two bagged, breathing heads, and Graham Fagen’s fully interactive theatre set and script ‘Peek-a-Jobby’. On its own terms this single show is gripping, and it whets the appetite substantially for other major GENERATION shows around Edinburgh at the National and Portrait Galleries. (David Pollock)
■ ST MARGARET’S HOUSE 151 London Road, 661 1924. Centre open daily 10am–10pm but individual exhibition times may vary. Draw-In Fri 11 Jul, 7–9pm; Sat 12–Sun 27 Jul, daily 11am–5pm. Exhibition exploring the role of drawing in emerging contemporary art practice. ■ STILLS 23 Cockburn Street, 622 6200. Daily 11am–6pm. LAST CHANCE A Thousand of Him, Scattered: Relative Newcomers to Diaspora Until Sun 20 Jul. A photographic look at diaspora and how individuals respond to it.
✽ The King’s Peace: Realism and War Fri 1 Aug–Sun 26 Oct. Daily
11am–6pm. Work by photographers and filmmakers revitalising realist strategies in order to illuminate the ties between conflict and peace. Generation.
■ SUMMERHALL 1 Summerhall, 0845 874 3001. Daily 11am–6pm. LAST CHANCE High Vis Until Fri 18 Jul. Work by students from Edinburgh College’s Creative Arts courses. NEW Large Things of Different Shapes and Colours Fri 1 Aug–26 Sep. Large neon sculptural works by Kevin Harman, Tim Sandys, Louise Gibson, Kenny Watson, Steve Earl Weber and Shane Jezowski. NEW The Faile Bast Deluxx Fluxx Arcade Fri 1 Aug–26 Sep. An interactive installation by the American artists, who are based in Brooklyn. NEW Wim Delvoye: Sybille II Fri 1 Aug–26 Sep. Video art from Delvoye focusing on an abstract concept which attracts and repels simultaneously.
■ SUTTON GALLERY 18a Dundas Street, 07854 972930. Tue–Fri 11am–5pm; Sat 11am–4pm; closed Sun. FREE Giorgio Granozio Until Thu 24 Jul. Tue–Sat 11am–5pm. Design-inspired works from the architect and artist.
■ UNION GALLERY 45 Broughton Street, 556 7707. Mon– Sat 10.30am–6pm; Sun noon–6pm. LAST CHANCE Now We Are Five Until Tue 29 Jul. A group show celebrating five years of the gallery being in its Broughton Street location.
■ URBANE ART GALLERY 25–27 Jeffrey Street, 556 8379. Tue–Sat 10.30am–5.30pm; Sun 11am–4pm; closed Mon. NEW Louise Giblin MRBS: Olympians go to Commonwealth Games Wed 23 Jul–Sun 21 Sep. Body cast sculptor showing the torso of Dame Kelly Holmes and new bronze torso Manhattan Skyline. NEW Rosie Playfair: Artisan Exploration Wed 23 Jul–Sun 21 Sep. Edinburgh-based Playfair’s paintings are eclectic and abstract and detail everything from nudes to trees.
■ VELVET EASEL GALLERY 298 Portobello High Street, Portobello, 629 1121. Thu–Sat 10am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm; closed Mon–Wed. Celebration of Summer Until Sun 31 Aug. A collection of paintings, ceramics, sculpture and jewellery that illustrates the Scottish summer. ■ WHITESPACE 25 Howe Street, whitespace11.com Opening times vary; see individual exhibitions for details. NEW Alchemicle Sat 26–Wed 30 Jul. Mon–Wed, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm. A narrative look at the history of Leith.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
■ COVE PARK Peaton Hill, Cove, Argyll and Bute, 01436 850123
✽Alex Frost Until Fri 26 Sep. Fri 12noon–5pm. A major new project
by the Glasgow-based artist.
■ TRAQUAIR HOUSE Innerleithen, 01896 830323. NEW The Debatable Land by Peter Sacks Sat 26 Jul–Sun 5 Oct. Daily 11am–5pm. Price included in admission. A painting of, and for, the nation by painter-poet Peter Sacks that was commissioned by Beyond Borders Scotland for September’s independence referendum.