Glasgow School of Art MFA Degree Show (Group Show)

MIXED MEDIA

While locating good work by up-and-coming artists at an undergraduate show can feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack, at the Glasgow School of Art MFA show, as might be expected, the work tends to be stronger, more confident and more fully resolved.

There are certainly some excellent students graduating from the MFA programme this year. In the main space, Niall Macdonald’s Black Wail Blues series of works make their intense presence felt, although they are certainly not the loudest pieces in the exhibition. Stylistically very different but equally intriguing are paintings by Conor Kelly and an installation piece by Emmett Walsh. Upstairs, Carla Fullerton’s impressive sculptural structure, of painted plywood with pools of cement, is surrounded by metal sheets that fold away from the wall, exhibiting large holes, apparently made by some toxic material. This is an artist who has found her style and voice.

All the works exhibit a definite sense of independent thought, even when students are ‘quoting’ Nathan Coley, Douglas Gordon and Matthew Barney. While certain mediums or styles may seem to have dominated some years, this MFA demonstrates that art is indeed a broad church. Every type of medium seems to be represented, and utilised with confidence and skill. Not all the work hits the mark, but this is definitely the best kind of talent spotting.