Visual art and Exhibition

Golden years - Tracey Emin

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

As the leading female light of Britart, Tracey Emin has been revered and rejected in equal measure. Writer and broadcaster Bidisha has a few words of scorn for the detractors and reflects on the already profound legacy she will leave behind It’s been…

Naked Portrait

1 Aug 2007

In contrast with the ‘nude’ figure in western art history, the naked portrait still manages to present a sometimes shocking and raw view of the sitter’s personality that reaches beyond their public façade.

Jupiter Artland opens its season with a new Charles Jencks exhibition

The ourdoor 'art park' also features work by Anthony Gormley

25 Apr 2011

You know that spring has sprung when Jupiter Artland opens its doors with a new season – and this year’s artistic bloom looks to be just as exciting as their last. Launching with special exhibition Metaphysical Landscape by landform artist, philosopher…

Bob Dylan’s Art

22 Jan 2009

‘My father, who was plain speaking and straight talking had said, “Isn’t an artist a fellow who paints?” when told by one of my teachers that his son had the nature of an artist. It seemed I’d always been chasing after something, anything that moved – a…

Gerhard Richter

Man for all seasons

30 Oct 2008

When Sonic Youth toured their 1988 Daydream Nation album in 2007 on the back of the same year's two-CD deluxe edition of what had originally been the New York art rock pioneers' final independent release, the original LP cover art was probably the last…

Best of the rest - Edinburgh Art Festival

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Richard Hamilton One of the key figures of British Pop Art brings us Protest Pictures, a selection of paintings, installations and collages examining his often damning portrayal of politics, movements and leaders. Inverleith House, Inverleith…

Tom Phillips: A Humument

29 Nov 2007

An exhibition depicting how Phillips transformed an obscure Victorian novel (A Human Document by WH Mallock) into a postmodern masterpiece. A Humument is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential artist’s books of the last 50…

Artist Rooms

2 Apr 2009

GROUP SHOW One of two flagship group shows to stem from Anthony d’Offay’s gift to the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate last year (the other is at Tate Modern), Artist Rooms is bright and inspiring and bulges with defining work from some of the…

Joan Eardley

4 Jan 2008

PAINTING Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, until Sun 13 Jan The peculiar psychology which leads many notable artists’ works to only truly be appreciated after they have died is hard to explain, with the premature passing of an artist lending an…

Roman Signer: Works

1 Nov 2007

Roman Signer’s sculptural happenings, devoid as they are of nostalgia, reference or history, are usually received with a marvellous grin. Conventional narrative is displaced by simple Signer happenings such as a floating plastic bag, a rolling barrel.

World Press Photo 2011 in Edinburgh - Jodi Bieber interview

Photo of mutilated young Afghan woman a symbol of tormented times

8 Jul 2011

Bibi Aisha was 18 when the Taliban came calling for her just before midnight. Forced into a mountain clearing in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, she was put on trial and convicted by a local commander. Her crime: fleeing from a violent husband…

Robert Barry's Words and Music

19 Aug 2010

Robert Barry, who wilfully abandoned painting in 1967 to become one of the central figures of conceptual art, is having his first solo showcase Words and Music in Glasgow. Dematerialising the art object, Barry developed a practice producing ephemeral…

Artist Anthony Fry on why he’s happy to be back in Scotland.

As well as why he loves coming home to paint

5 Aug 2010

As he prepares to showcase work inspired by exotic foreign locations renowned painter Anthony Fry tells Talitha Kotzé why he’s delighted to be back in Scotland. Well-known for needing the heat to paint, Anthony Fry has spent a great deal of time in…

Milestone

Provocative exhibition accompanying a live stone-carving project

6 Aug 2009

Entering the quad of the Edinburgh College of Art feels a bit like discovering yet another ill-placed tram construction site. The air is full of the drone of power tools, and dust clouds settle in your hair and mouth. Milestone is an unconventional…

Karla Black - Material world

5 Feb 2009

REVIEW SCULPTURE The perfect storm of grease, dust and cotton wool towelled onto the floor and hanging from ceiling tiles that forms the bulk of Karla Black’s show is something of an assault to eyes not used to squalor. The natural urge is to tidy…

Art School Degree Shows

22 May 2008

GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART Ragnar Jonasson Painter Originally from Iceland, Ragnar Jonasson paints, but not using brushes or canvas. ‘I’m pouring paint,’ he explains, ‘from saucepans. I pour it onto plastic, then peel it off, so there’s nothing…

Alasdair Gray

24 Apr 2008

Sometimes it’s more fun to ignore the explanatory gallery text and have a good look at the work. This seems an obvious enough way of dealing with art objects, but usually makes for lazy viewing and reviewing on the part of the critic. But it is…

Glasgow International - Mark Cousins meets Douglas Gordon

15 Apr 2010

Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art returns this fortnight with a mouth-watering programme of work by over 50 artists in venues across the city, based around the theme ‘past, present, future’. Opening the festival, internationally renowned…

This is Now: From Drawing to Contexture

Well-stocked ragbag from a new wave of textile artists

6 Aug 2009

The first impact of this show, and the most enduring, is the overwhelming urge to touch. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the artworks are more tactile than, say, a series of oil paintings.

Doctor Who - Space Oddity

19 Mar 2009

In four years time Doctor Who will be 50 years old, but still it remains one of the most popular and imagination-grabbing shows on television. While the best of British actors and television writers are lining up to work on it, the series’ first…

Mr Lautner Builds His Dream House

5 Mar 2009

With a new film and major exhibition celebrating his life and work, maverick architect John Lautner’s time may finally have come. Paul Dale looks back at the life of the man who shaped the look of US moviemaking’s hometown.

Richard Demarco's countdown to 80

6 Feb 2009

The Edinburgh institution that is Ricky Demarco continues to blow like a hurricane through Auld Reekie. Marking the 40th anniversary of Telford College, Demarco has put on an exhibition, which opened last night, of items from his Demarco European Art…

Gerhard Richter: Paintings

11 Dec 2008

Time is running out to catch the first retrospective in the UK for 20 years of Gerhard Richter’s work (his first ever exhibition in Scotland). The stunning show reflects the zeitgeist of Richter’s native Germany between World War II and the early Cold…

Turning point - Richard Wilson

Edinburgh International Art Festival

22 Jul 2008

Installation artist Richard Wilson is a true pioneer whether he’s experimenting with drawing, film or sculpture. Rosie Lesso hears from the man about how he loves to defy preconceptions British artist Richard Wilson has an uncanny ability to distort…

Glasgay!: Re-Invention

Exhibition and workshop aimed at gay and trans comic fans

19 Sep 2011

The idea of gay culture in comics is nothing new, with handfuls of uptight academics frantically pointing out the homoerotic sub-tones of Batman and Robin’s cartoon exploits since the 1950s. The foundations of X-Men arguably lie in the civil rights…

Dürer’s Fame

Tribute to the German woodcut and engravings master Albrecht Durer

21 Jul 2011

German handball star Pascal Hens gazes out from a black-and-white poster, his torso naked, gaze serious, his pose one of self-deification. This is enhanced further by a tattoo on his stomach of two disembodied hands clasped together as if in prayer.

Gravity's Rainbow

Pynchon-inspired group show explores different representations of colour

21 Jul 2011

The acid house smiley face on the sunny yellow ball of Peter Liversidge’s shelf-load of single-hued detritus speaks volumes about this colour-focused group show of eight artists that takes its title from Thomas Pynchon’s baroque noir. It begins with a…

Linder - King’s Ransom (Hybrid Tea)

15 Apr 2010

Legendary visual artist and Morrissey pal Linder discusses her epic new performance piece and eagerly awaited exhibition with Neil Cooper What are words worth? ‘Glamour’, for instance, is a Scottish derivative that comes directly from the word…

Jimmie Durham - Glasgow International

15 Apr 2010

Sculptor Jimmie Durham’s work is informed by politics and an immersion in his surroundings. Liz Shannon talks to him about his practice The renowned American sculptor Jimmie Durham has not shied away from using local materials in the creation of his…

Laura Aldridge: Cats Are Not Important

19 Mar 2010

You cannot view this exhibition in any other way than through the lens created by its title: Cats Are Not Important. Glasgow-based, ex-Transmission gallery committee member Laura Aldridge exhibits knot-tied sculptures in pastel hues arranged against…

Edvard Munch: Prints

25 Jun 2009

Death, existential angst and the impossibility of love are recurring themes in this exhibition of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s prints. Devised as a cunning strategy to publicise his paintings, the appeal of the prints is more timeless, and the…

Francesca Woodman

28 May 2009

Francesca Woodman created a remarkable body of work in her short life (she committed suicide in 1981 at the age of 22), some of which can currently be seen at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s Artist Rooms. This beautifully presented…

Franziska Furter: Spark Erosion

8 Jan 2009

Swiss artist Franziska Furter here presents a challenging series of sophisticated conceptual works. The skin and bones of this exhibition are graphite drawings, PVC pebbles, and electrical tape sculptures, none too exciting or provocative in their own…

Eva Rothschild

11 Dec 2008

The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Fri 19 Dec REVIEW SCULPTURE AND MIXED MEDIA You may experience a frisson of excitement upon entering Eva Rothschild’s exhibition at the Modern Institute. At first glance, it may seem that you’ve stumbled into…

David Batchelor

9 Aug 2007

David Batchelor has been a busy man of late, scouring pound shops in London and Scotland for pegs, combs, cutlery, clothes pegs, children’s toys, girly hair accessories and a whole manner of other cheap plastic objects in preparation for this new site…

Picture perfect

1 Aug 2007

From international stars like Andy Warhol and Picasso to Turner Prize winners and home grown talent, Alexander Kennedy finds rich pickings in the Edinburgh Art Festival

Vive la Tapisserie! 3 at The French Institute

Exhibition of miniature tapestries from Edinburgh's STAR* collective

26 Apr 2012

For the third year running STAR* returns to the French Institute with an exhibition of miniature tapestries - Vive la Tapisserie!3. This follows on from their successful retrospective That was Then: This is Now at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh, at the…

Interview: Kirsty Whiten

Breeder Badlands show at Edinburgh Printmakers

19 Dec 2011

What made you want to be an artist? The uniform. And the pension plan. Your new solo show, Breeder Badlands, explores the complexities of the familial unit. What was the original inspiration for the exhibition? This work is really personal – friends and…

Impressionist Gardens

A remarkable exhibition of iconic, influential works at The National Galleries

5 Aug 2010

The National Galleries of Scotland’s ambitious exhibition brings together around 100 paintings focusing on the garden as subject for impressionist painters: remarkably the first show of its kind to have been held anywhere in the world. It’s hard to…

Killing Curves: Lynn Ahren

22 Mar 2010

Killing curves Scottish artist Lynn Ahrens’ figure painting carries murderous intent. Paul Dale chats to him about his work Glasgow-born, Edinburgh-trained, and under- appreciated painter Lynn Ahrens likes to talk about the human figure. ‘My work has…

The phenomenon of DIY art environments

6 Aug 2009

Ever since conceptualism broke through in the 1960s, regular gallery interiors, be they extravagantly antique pieces of architecture or ice-cool white cubes, have lost their power to imprison work within their over-bearing walls. In the last couple of…

Phil Collins: The World Won’t Listen

30 Apr 2009

REVIEW INSTALLATION PHIL COLLINS: THE WORLD WON’T LISTEN This is one of those rare exhibitions where a verbal articulation cannot do justice to the work on display. The three-part video installation ‘The World Won’t Listen’, filmed in Colombia, Turkey…

Julian House: The New Spirit Happening

30 Apr 2009

The future as we imagined it floated into view somewhere between 1950 and 1975. This was when a peculiarly English strain of science-fiction emerged, fuelled by postwar possibilities and Cold War paranoia. Quatermass and The Pit and Village of the…

Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Etchings

2 Apr 2009

ETCHINGS ‘That in Art, it is criminal to go beyond the means used in its exercise,’ wrote James McNeill Whistler in his book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. Referring to the size of the copper plate used in relation to the fine pointed needle to…

Claire Barclay: Openwide

19 Feb 2009

SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION You would have to be made of stern critical stuff to leave Openwide without being profoundly impressed by Claire Barclay’s work. The artist is known for her installations, which often consist of a supporting structure or frame…

Karla Black - Material world

8 Jan 2009

If 2008 was a good year for Karla Black, 2009 is going to be even better. After several international solo shows and inclusion in Art Now at Tate Britain, the Glasgow-based artist is on the cusp of another busy 12 months. Solo exhibitions are in the…

Anthea Hamilton and Thomas Kratz

4 Jan 2008

INSTALLED PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES Mary Mary, Glasgow, until 26 Jan There is a history of sexed-up artistic collaborations in 20th century art, a long line of cosy twosomes that come together for occasional aesthetic satisfaction. The work on show by…

Picasso: Fired with Passion

9 Aug 2007

The crowd puller/money spinner for this exhibition is its heavy emphasis on Picasso’s ceramic work, running from his later years of 1947–1961 and all produced whilst living and working in the South of France. And indeed they are fascinating, ranging…

Artist Matthew Darbyshire set for new Tramway show

London artists draws inspiration from Charles Rennie Mackintosh

6 Jan 2012

The distinctive art nouveau style of artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh has become synonymous with Glasgow. Lauded for his elegant design of the art school, and the organic allure of his decorative works, his influence now reaches well beyond his artistic…

Warm up this winter with free art in Edinburgh

4 Jan 2012

Now the party season is over and the festivities long gone, you and your wallet could probably do with a little TLC. Luckily the National Galleries of Scotland have a full programme of free exhibitions and events during January, to help nourish the mind…