Tag: art

‘A bridge between science and art’: D’Arcy Thomson exhibition opens this weekend

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The City Art Centre is to stage A Sketch of the Universe: Art, Science and the Influence of D’Arcy Thompson, a major new exhibition of modern and contemporary art inspired by the pioneering Edinburgh-born biologist D’Arcy Thompson (1860 – 1948). Continue reading ‘A bridge between science and art’: D’Arcy Thomson exhibition opens this weekend

AfriFest: next weekend at Summerhall

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AfriFest – a vibrant celebration of Africa Arts and Culture, and the unique input black performers have made to the artistic and cultural landscape of Scotland.  2 day festival will include live music, dance, workshops, film and food, as well as the culture of people of African descent, supporting artistic expression and the pursuit of excellence and innovation. Performers include the award winning Senegalese kora maestro Seckou Keita.


Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 October
Summerhall, Edinburgh
All events, and food, are free.

Edinburgh folk get their city back!

Fireworks concert brings record-breaking Festival to a close

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After 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues across Edinburgh, the final curtain has fallen on the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe – and it’s been yet another record-breaking year for the luvvies …
Continue reading Edinburgh folk get their city back!

Major new exhibition to open at City Art Centre

Exhibition features works by William Gillies and John Maxwell

John Maxwell: Vase of Flowers (Yellow and Orange)

This summer the City Art Centre stages William Gillies & John Maxwell, a major new exhibition exploring two of the best-loved Scottish artists of the 20th century.

The exhibition features over 70 artworks and archival objects displayed across two floors of the gallery. It includes drawings and paintings from the City Art Centre’s own collection, supplemented by loans from the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, the University of Edinburgh Art Collection and several private lenders.

At the heart of the exhibition is the Fletcher Collection, a group of 43 artworks that has been on long-term loan to the City Art Centre since 1995. This is the first time in over 20 years that the Fletcher Collection has been displayed together in its entirety.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Sport, said: “This is a rare opportunity to see some of the finest artworks by William Gillies and John Maxwell – two very distinctive Scottish artists.  This exhibition is particularly exciting considering the Fletcher Collection is being shown together for the first time in 20 years.”

The exhibition is timed to coincide with the 2016 Edinburgh Art Festival. Entry is free of charge and further information is given below:

William Gillies & John Maxwell
30 July – 23 October 2016
City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Free Admission

William Gillies and John Maxwell were among the most significant and distinctive Scottish artists of the 20th century. Gillies is best known for his tonal Borders landscapes, spontaneous Highland watercolours and carefully constructed still life compositions, while Maxwell is remembered for his expressive, dream-like depictions of creatures, flowers and timeless nudes. The two artists pursued differing approaches in their work, and had contrasting personalities, but remained life-long friends.

Gillies and Maxwell met at Edinburgh College of Art in the early 1920s. After completing their studies both received travelling scholarships, which enabled them to live and work in Paris and encounter avant-garde movements like Post-Impressionism and Cubism. As they matured they developed in different creative directions, yet their lives continued to interweave as they travelled, exhibited and socialised together. Both joined the staff at Edinburgh College of Art, and while Gillies’ teaching career was longer than Maxwell’s, each of them proved to be a considerable influence on the next generation of Scottish painters.

William Gillies: Highland Landscape

 

Better Days: gifts to mark Year of Architecture

Scotland’s MSPs to receive unique, hand-made ceramics to mark the Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design

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Scotland’s political leaders are to be gifted unique hand-made ceramics created by some of Scotland’s leading female architects to mark 2016 as the Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design in Scotland.

‘The Better Days’ project is the brain child of prominent architect Jude Barber (above) and seeks to raise questions and awareness about Scotland’s political aspirations for architecture and stimulate renewed thought and discussion on the built environment.

The project is part of a busy programme of special events planned to celebrate the Saltire Society’s 80th anniversary year and was inspired by the Saltire Society’s seminal 1944 publication ‘Building Scotland’, by Alan Reiach and Robert Hurd.

The powerful and poetic foreword to the publication, written by the then Secretary of State for Scotland Thomas Johnston, forms the main driver for the project. It says:

“And in this beautiful land of ours, the free people who inhabit it, and who have paid such a high price for their freedom, will, in the better days that are to be, surely insist that the architecture of their buildings, public and private, shall be worthy of them.”

Every MSP will be gifted with an individually crafted ceramic containing words and forms derived from Jude Barber’s ‘The Better Days’ publication, accompanied with an invitation to consider the important role that architecture and design plays within our everyday lives.

‘The Better Days’ is being exhibited at Project Spaces in Glasgow until 9th July and forms part of the Archi-Fringe 2016 programme. Following conclusion of the exhibition, all of the Scottish Parliament’s 129 elected members will each receive their own ceramic as a permanent souvenir of the Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design.

Meanwhile, Jude will join award winning architects Malcolm Fraser and Neil Gillespie OBE this Thursday (7 July) at South Block, Glasgow, for a panel discussion on the themes that have emerged in their exploration of contemporary Scottish architecture. Tickets are free and available from the Saltire Society’s website – www.saltiresociety.org.uk/event/building-scotland-past-and-future

Jude Barber 3

Ahead of the panel discussion, Jude Barber said: “I am really looking forward to Thursday’s event and for what I’m sure will be a stimulating discussion about our built environment and the challenges and possibilities facing Scottish architecture and place making.”

“Malcolm, Neil and I all have something in common; a strong desire to improve the built environment in this country, and I hope that this event, their pamphlets and my ‘Better Days’ project will bring a renewed focus to architecture’s important role and how it greatly enhances our day to day lives.”

Malcolm Fraser’s pamphlet ‘Shoddy Schools and Fancy Finance: the miss-selling of PFI’ and Neil Gillespie’s ‘Building Scotland’ publication, which have been created as part of the Saltire Society’s 80th anniversary programme, will be available to purchase after the discussion.