VISUAL ART | Previews & Reviews
P H O T O :
I
C S G C C G L A S G O W M U S E U M S
MIXED MEDIA AARON ANGELL Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, until Sun 18 Mar ●●●●●
When London-based artist Aaron Angell dived into the Glasgow Museums collection to make a show for Glasgow International in 2016, there was one object which intrigued him above all the others. Now painstakingly restored, the 19th-century Wardian case is the centrepiece around which his new show at GoMA is built.
Used to transport delicate plants back from the colonies, Wardian cases became increasingly ornate as amateur plant collectors sought to outdo one another with the elegance of their specimens. Now repopulated with ferns and mosses, the case is both beautiful and problematic: a relic from a tricky, colonial past. The case references the time when this building was the private
home of a tobacco lord and slave trader. Angell continues the domestic theme with sculptures and installations placed around the space: he compares them to 'islands' of furniture in an open- plan loft apartment. Each domestic component is a cluster of playful allusions.
There’s the central heating system, a replica of a Roman hypocaust inside a transparent inflatable bed; the lighting, a gaslight attached to a concrete sculpture (made following the Roman recipe, using pig’s blood); the garden, a giant cabbage sourced from a record- breaking grower in South Wales.
There are ceramic urns, made by Angell, a keen potter,
referencing those given as wedding gifts in Roman times and intended to eventually house the happy couple’s ashes, and a glass painting of purgatory, but with frogs and toads instead of people. A difficult space to work with, the gallery has nonetheless given
Angell a chance to play with his ideas on a larger-than-usual scale. The results are quirky and rich, splicing and dicing crafts and hobbies, traditions and references, and creating their own oblique, idiosyncratic argument with the building and its history. (Susan Mansfield)
P H O T O :
P H O T O :
P H O T O :
© H E R M A J E S T Y Q U E E N E L Z A B E T H
I
G R E G M O O D E
I
C O U R T E S Y G L A S G O W L F E
I
I I 2 0 1 7
ROYAL COLLECTION SPLENDOURS OF THE SUBCONTINENT: A PRINCE’S TOUR OF INDIA, 1875-6 Queen’s Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 22 April ●●●●●
In 1875, Prince Albert Edward (the future Edward VII) embarked on a four-month tour of India, during which he was entertained by over 90 local rulers, most of whom showered him with gifts. These were then exhibited on his return to Britain and seen by some 2.5 million people on a nationwide tour. Now on show again for the first time in 130 years,
they continue to dazzle with their ornateness and exquisite craftsmanship. There’s an enamelled inkwell from Benares in the shape of a barge, inlaid with gold, diamonds and sapphires; peacock feather fans from Jaipur, in which the feathers are set with gemstones; a crown from Lucknow, adorned with symbols of royalty from both countries, festooned with pearls.
These objects are museum pieces now, speaking of a past which is distant in both countries. But there are other stories here that the exhibition touches on without fully exploring: Indian entrepreneurs who sensed the potential of western markets, British designers hungry for new ideas. From potteries in Staffordshire to rug-makers in Paisley, Britain would experience a lasting impact from the prince’s Indian treasure trove. (Susan Mansfield)
92 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 92 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018
FESTIVAL BURNS UNBROKE Summerhall, Edinburgh, until Sat 10 Mar
If Robert Burns was an early sighting of a working class auto-didact, it befits a multimedia arts festival to reimagine Burns’ questing poetic spirit for the 21st century. This is the aim of the Summerhall- hosted Burns Unbroke festival, which over its six-week duration will feature an array of music, performance and visual art inspired by the bard.
The visual art strand includes work by more than 30 artists spread out over 11 gallery spaces. This includes pieces by Graham Fagen, Bridget Collins, Douglas Gordon and the Chapman Brothers, as well as former Frankie Goes to Hollywood vocalist, Holly Johnson.
Four new commissions will also feature: a mural by Ciara Veronica Dunne, a film-based installation by Ross Fleming, a mixed media piece by Derrick Guild, and a map by Robert Powell pinpointing all the places in Edinburgh relevant to Burns.
Presented in a collaboration between Summerhall and the Artruist organisation, the title of the festival is drawn from the epigraph printed at the front of Burns’ first poetry collection, published in 1786, which spoke of ‘The Simple Bard, unbroke by rules of art.’ As the assorted rule-breakers of Burns Unbroke show, Burns’ spirit is very much alive. (Neil Cooper)
ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH: MAKING THE GLASGOW STYLE Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow, Fri 30 Mar–Tue 14 Aug
2018 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of legendary Scottish architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh. An entire year of events and exhibitions have been programmed to celebrate, including the re-opening of Glasgow's iconic Willow Tea Rooms in June (following a £10m restoration project) and a Scotland-wide festival in October. The most eagerly anticipated event though has to be Kelvingrove’s major new exhibition, Making the Glasgow Style. The ‘Glasgow Style’ was the only art nouveau
movement to emerge from Britain in the early 20th century. Kelvingrove promises to show the very best works from the movement taken from Glasgow’s civic collections. As you’d expect, there’s plenty by Mackintosh, with two extremely fragile watercolours made towards the end of the 19th century, ‘Pinks’ and ‘Part Seen’, set to be among the highlights. The show will also give prominence to other
contributors to the Style – ‘The Seasons’, a series of paintings made in 1897 by sisters Francis and Margaret Macdonald (members of the informal GSA collective ‘The Four’ along with Mackintosh and Francis’ husband James Herbert McNair), should be an extraordinary sight for visitors. (Rachael Cloughton)