Talitha Kotzé

Practice of Mexican artist Teresa Margolles examines mortality

Glasgow Sculpture Studios show takes on English riots and drug crimes

21 Mar 2012

Mexican artist Teresa Margolles arrived in Scotland for her three-month Glasgow Sculpture Studios residency just as the riots kicked off in England last year. She travelled down to pick up debris from the aftermath, which will be used in her exhibition…

Photographer Wolfgang Tillmans the subject of Common Guild Exhibition

The show promises to showcase the breadth of his artistic output

21 Mar 2012

People have been making pictures for thousands of years, and 150 years ago the photographic process was added to that vocabulary. German-born, London-based artist Wolfgang Tillmans makes no distinction between a photograph and a painting, but he chooses…

Alasdair Gray: City Recorder

Fantastic exhibition of drawings chronicling Glasgow's past

19 Dec 2011

For one year in 1977, at a time when many of Glasgow’s famous old industries were closing, Alasdair Gray was commissioned to capture the life of the city in ink, watercolour, acrylic and oil on paper. Glasgow’s local history museum, the People’s Palace…

Henrik Håkansson: The End

Video installation centres around death of several flies

9 Dec 2011

Its body cracks under the whip. Wings tear apart, legs fall open, torso flinching, and its head flops lifeless to one side. The momentous instant of the death of the fly is elongated, scored and played back on a grand scale. Then another appears. The…

Thea Djordjadze - Lost Promise in a Room

A considered display of sculpture and objects in effective, minimalist setting

15 Nov 2011

Strange objects roughly sculpted in plaster, propped up against walls, placed in corners and laid out in unusual places, are contrasted against minimalist lines of steel and smooth mirrored cubes. A lump of chicken wire is securely contained in a…

Transmission Gallery Group Show

Sam Derounian, Graham Kelly and Conor Kelly shine in local artist showcase

15 Nov 2011

A commendable group show brings together new work by nine Glasgow-based artists at the Transmission Gallery. Without a didactic theme to tie the exhibition together the viewer is free to contemplate works individually and to make subtle links with…

Ciara Phillips: The only rule is work

Exhibition the result of a three-month residency at Kendall Koppe, inspired by Sister Corita Kent

21 Oct 2011

‘The only rule is work’ is one of ten accommodating rules for students and teachers developed by artist and educator Sister Corita Kent. Ciara Phillips’ exhibition is the result of her three-month residency in the gallery space where she shared a…

Graham Fagen: Missing

Moving video installation running parallel to the Tramway's Andrew O'Hagan-penned theatre production

21 Sep 2011

Graham Fagen’s moving video diptych Missing explores the experience of going missing, and what it is like for those left behind. Commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait gallery, it is produced in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland…

Alan Reid: Boudoir Concrete

Delicately balanced clashing of art and design

16 Sep 2011

Looking for all the world like propaganda posters for Nazi leisure organisation Kraft durch Freude, Alan Reid’s representational drawings of lissome young bodies appear to promote healthy living and sexless appeal. Lithe bodies are interrupted by…

Futureproof 2011: New photography in Scotland

Cross section of work by recent graduates

24 Aug 2011

As the third in a series of exhibitions initiated by Street Level Gallery, Futureproof profiles a cross section of work by graduates from the five Scottish university photography departments. The pictures on show are taken by nimble-fingered light…

Early Relativity: Karen Cunningham and Zara Idelson

Good pairing of Glasgow-based artists

16 Aug 2011

Every year for their summer show The Duchy pairs a recent graduate with a more established artist. This year Glasgow School of Art graduate Zara Idelson shows paintings and interventions alongside the work of Glasgow-based Karen…

First of the Summer Wine

Group show featuring Joan Eardley, Vanessa Bell, George Leslie Hunter and Donald Clark

10 Aug 2011

Now at their new location on West Regent Street, Cyril Gerber’s annual summer show, First of the Summer Wine, is full of variety, placing artists from different generations alongside one another. A mix of modern British and Scottish masters includes…

Urs Fischer and Georg Herold

Sculpture exhibiition examining the art-making process

3 Aug 2011

On a red divan a reclining nude has settled into a classical pose. She appears completely still, her milk white skin wraps serenely around her hyper-real body, her glassy blue eyes complete the life like sculpture. Upon closer inspection the rise and…

Gina Glover – Playgrounds of War

Evocative photography exhibition concerning militarized landscapes

3 Aug 2011

A small child kitted out in wellies and a windbreaker stands with her hands covering her ears between large truck tracks in a desolate, barren, concrete landscape. This black and white photograph forms part of a 1980s series that shows the artist’s…

Breaking the Renaissance Code

Exhibition exploring emblems, taking place at The Hunterian Gallery, Glasgow, until Tue 4 Oct

21 Jul 2011

Depending on whether you are a critic or an avid fan of the bestselling Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown both heralded and slew the art of emblematic thinking. This small yet punchy exhibition puts examples of Dürer, Rembrandt and Holbein’s use of symbolic…

You Seem The Same As Always

Group show of work based on the human hand

23 Jun 2011

In 1966 Yvonne Rainer made her first film, ‘Hand Movie’, while her body was confined to a hospital bed and unable to dance. She used only her right hand, each finger itself a performer moving gracefully. Since then a number of artists have captured the…

Michelle Hannah: Who Wants to Live Forever

Prints and paintings based on Highlander film and Queen soundtrack

14 Jun 2011

Can God create a rock so heavy that even God himself cannot lift it? If so, then the rock is now unliftable, limiting God’s power. But if not, then God is not omnipotent because he cannot create that rock. The work of Michelle Hannah is concerned…

Martin Boyce: Night terrace – lantern chains – forgotten seas – sky

Sculpture exhibition from the Glasgow-based Turner Prize nominee

27 May 2011

Triggered by fragments of colliding locations, a set of objects and textures in low light convey a dislocated landscape. Rust drips down like tears of blood from obsolete steel park benches. Table top surfaces and hanging wall panels are covered with…

Victoria Clare Bernie: Slow Water

Scottish landscape photography exhibition by the Edinburgh-based artist

27 May 2011

A scientific orderliness contains Slow Water. Photographs, videos, digital drawings and animation made during a residency post at the Scottish Association for Marine Science Research Laboratory based near Oban are meticulously placed in contrast to the…

Ulla von Brandenburg: Neue Alte Welt review

The German artist's 'Chorspiel' provides a mesmerising centrepiece to this exhibition

20 Apr 2011

German artist Ulla von Brandenburg’s exhibition Neue Alte Welt (New Old World) consists of three parts: a short film, a wall painting of a theatre hall, and a collection of objects that act as theatrical props. ‘Chorspiel’ is part-opera…

Grier Edmundson's ‘Sometimes I am content’ is an effective combination of print and sculpture

13 Apr 2011

There’s a new gallery in town. Located on Dixon Street, and overlooking the Clyde, Kendall Koppe’s gallery is situated in a beautifully converted space. The renovation acknowledges some of the interior’s original features in contrast to its sleek new…

The Inventors of Tradition profiles traditional garments and social histories

Exhibition charts history of textile industry in Scotland

26 Jan 2011

That ubiquitous ‘Scotland with Style’ byline invented by city marketing in Glasgow gets renewed historical validation in this exhibition that is many things woven into one. Inventors of Tradition is an archival show of the Scottish textiles industry…

Dirk Bell - Powerful exhibition plays with imagery of magick and mysticism

Works invoke old-fashioned ideas of belief systems, ritual, myth and healing

26 Jan 2011

There is something otherworldly about the energy that Dirk Bell has conjured up in this space: a droning sound reverberates, the inorganic steel structures are sanded down to a holographic shine, and devoid of human presence, technology will sustain…

Rosemarie Trockel exhibition set for Edinburgh's Talbot Rice gallery

Major show from influential German contemporary of Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Cindy Sherman

14 Jan 2011

Rosemarie Trockel’s creative output is as diverse as it is prolific. She is a highly regarded visual artist whose work has been showcased around the globe. In earlier years she teamed up with fellow feminist voices in Cologne to establish a…

Christine Borland's Cast From Nature culminates in a recasting of a 19th century sculpture

Talitha Kotzé attends a public casting session

10 Jan 2011

Talitha Kotzé attends a public casting session by Christine Borland and talks to the sculptor about her new show, which culminates in a recasting of a 19th century sculpture What viewers can watch here from an anatomy theatre-like CCTV room is the…

Common Guild showcases a selection of works by English artist Tacita Dean

YBA-associated artist's recent work is a splice of German and British cultures

3 Jan 2011

In a superbly attractive autumnal exhibition, The Common Guild is showcasing a selection of works by English artist Tacita Dean. Though associated with the generation of YBAs, and once nominated for the Turner Prize, Dean’s practice is of a different…

Revealing the Invisible: The Art of Stansfield / Hooykaas from Different Perspectives

Time-based work of the late Scottish artist and her Dutch collaborator

3 Jan 2011

The time-based work of the late Scottish artist Elsa Stansfield and her Dutch collaborator Madelon Hooykaas oscillates between the terrains of the arts and sciences. In an overview of their practice, with works spanning three decades, the CCA showcases…

Interference with Twigs

Finely executed exhibition brings together work spanning world and generations

22 Dec 2010

Like a casting of the runes, Interference with Twigs brings together the work of artists from four corners of the world across two generations to weave together new interpretations and enter into dialogue like old friends in this finely executed…

Glasgow artist collective The Mutual showcases work

Calum Thom, Tawny Kerr, Ralph Mackenzie and Richard Davies

16 Dec 2010

The Mutual artist collective was formed in 2009 by four Glasgow School of Art Fine Art graduates in an attempt to stave off postgraduate malaise. Two years later, with a 200-strong member base, they have invited their artists to participate in a…

Interference with Twigs shows work from four artists

Audrey Capel Doray, Hanna Sandin, Nicolas Party and Lotte Gertz

16 Dec 2010

Like a casting of the runes, Interference with Twigs brings together the work of artists from four corners of the world across two generations to weave together new interpretations and enter into dialogue like old friends in this finely executed…

Bobby Niven: Hermit’s Castle, Chez Galip

Glasgow-based artist's film diptych with pitch perfect cinematic aesthetic

23 Nov 2010

Film diptych Hermit’s Castle and Chez Galip brings together two geologically extreme landscapes in which two characters, an architect in Scotland and a potter in Turkey, have erected idiosyncratic structures. Hermit’s Castle journeys to cold, austere…

Lydia Corry and Caroline Walker: Love is an Ocular Sickness

Different approaches to exploring history of representing woman

23 Nov 2010

The symptoms of mental illness have often been used to describe the state of being in love. Plato discussed love as a serious mental disease. Lydia Corry and Caroline Walker established the concept of their show by rummaging through his writings on love…

Die Antwoord - SWG3, Glasgow, 12 Nov 2010

Doing for post-apartheid South African underclass what punk did for UK guttersnipes

22 Nov 2010

With their fresh new Zef style, South African rap-rave crew Die Antwoord performed a high energy, jam-packed line up of catchy rap, indecent exposure and 'next-level-beats' from their debut album $O$. A crowd of expat South Africans, indie kids and…

Blue and Silver: Whistler and the Thames

Superbly executed exhibition documents London in the 1860s

15 Nov 2010

This superbly executed exhibition builds a narrative around a major work in James McNeill Whistler’s oeuvre. ‘Blue and Silver’ depicts the old Battersea Bridge as it stands tall against the ethereal night-time skyline of the river. Brush strokes of a…

Subodh Gupta: Take off your shoes and wash your hands

Collection of splendid things by Indian art superstar explores changing cultural life of India

3 Nov 2010

Coinciding with the handover of the Commonwealth Games from Delhi to Glasgow, Tramway is showcasing a magpie collection of splendid shiny things by Indian art superstar Subodh Gupta. Take off your shoes and wash your hands consists of four works.

Min Angel's exhibition Poise inspired by music and synaesthesia

Emerging artist's Corn Exchange show showcases drawings, collages and objects

27 Oct 2010

Unknown thrills lie in the cracks of experience, and Min Angel’s radar is set to pick up these disjunctures and feelings of ‘in-betweenness’. Her first solo show, Poise, at the Corn Exchange showcases drawings, collages and objects with prop-like…

Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan: Direct serious action is therefore necessary

27 Oct 2010

Breaking through the concrete floors of the CCA, large, vibrant worm-like sculptures draw attention to the architecture of the building, its function and history as a public exhibition space. Black and white photographs, depicting Glasgow locations, are…

Nick Evans: Anti-Autonome

6 Oct 2010

Figures emerge into various asanas – the plaster forms bend and twist into the momentary pose of a fish, a mermaid, figures fornicating, seated, running and riding. These sculptures are bold, solid, pure white, amorphous, the seams of their construction…

Corin Sworn: The Lens Prism

10 Sep 2010

A man steps into the spotlight of a theatre, hangs up his jacket, takes a sip of water and begins the narration. A series of vignettes will weave together autobiographical anecdote with history, and past events with present day interpretation. Corin…

Robert Barry: Words and Music

10 Sep 2010

When an artist has been around long enough to obtain the luxury of reputation, all new work is read against the history of their practice. After five decades, it comes as no surprise that Glasgow was eager to see Robert Barry’s work in the flesh. The…

Pietro Fortuna: Glory

1 Sep 2010

Using the laden concept of the piazza, Italian artist Pietro Fortuna has recreated an open public area within Tramway’s main gallery as part of his month-long residency. Large-scale cardboard constructions, the shape of blown up architectural models for…

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…

EAF host first UK solo show by Iran do Espírito Santo

Brazilian-born artist exhibits at Edinburgh's Ingleby Gallery

18 Aug 2010

The name Iran do Espírito Santo may not be a household word on these shores, but brace yourselves, the Brazilian-born artist is about to take the Edinburgh Art Festival by storm. Next month at the Ingleby Gallery, Scotland will have the opportunity to…

Julie Roberts: Child

Honest and compelling exploration of childhood

11 Aug 2010

Julie Roberts’ new body of work takes the subject of childhood and explores the displacement of children in the mid 20th century. Her paintings do not make use of universal images; instead they are the result of in-depth research and working through…

Mairi Gillies: Natura Sensus

Hortisculpturist explores the relationship between art and plants

11 Aug 2010

Mairi Gillies explores the interventionist nature of horticulture, which, as opposed to agriculture, isn’t always for harvesting, but rather for aesthetic, ownership and collection purposes. As a sculptor, she works with the notion of cultivating these…

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…

William Wegman and Edward Weston mark City Art Centre reopening

EAF presents first major Scottish show from two great photographers

27 Jul 2010

Celebrating the reopening of the City Art Centre after a period of refurbishment are two photographic exhibitions by American artists: Edward Weston, one of the great classical photographers of the 20th century, and the contemporary photographer William…

Scott Myles: Elba

14 Jul 2010

In a series of silver and black prints, a sculpture ensemble graces the dance floor of a ballet studio: a pas de deux played out by two slim plinths, a glass object lifted by an office chair, and a stepladder achieving a grand-plié to uphold a petite…

Mark Handforth

The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sat 24 Jul

2 Jul 2010

A neon work hangs on the exterior of the gallery like a signpost to an underground poker venue. The piece, entitled ‘Weeping Moon’, sketches the outline of a half moon in pink and blue neon lights with tears rolling down its brick-faced cheek. This…

Must I Paint You a Picture?

Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, until Fri 16 Jul

2 Jul 2010

A members group show is typically a disparate affair. The annual Transmission exhibition, where members are given the opportunity to include a work of any size or medium, is a true Salon-style exposé, covering the walls from top to bottom and spilling…