The Glasgow Scene
Glasgow digs its art, there's no mistaking the fact.
The city always had a distinct edge, but in recent times has asserted itself as a throbbing nucleus of creative energy, littered with talent spanning termly works from students of the prestigious art college, to the vast multimedia showcases celebrated at this year's International Art Festival.
The festival thrust forward and magnified Glasgow's idiosyncratic charm as grand public shows rubbed shoulders with smaller showings in private galleries and other unusual hotspots.
Turner Prize nominee Catherine Yass filmed a tight-roper balancing between two city buildings from
four different perspectives - he hesitates and retreats as the crowd (viewing the film) sighs with
relief, as time and space are fully utilized in a moving image.
Descending into the depths of a disused cellar a piece with more melancholy resonance was shown.
Wilhelm Sasnal wrote and filmed the performance of a ballad about the rape and murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk, and though her body was buried in a similar space, the tribute is not concerned with death, but with a permanence of memory and life.
These diverse installations demonstrate only in part the extent to which Glasgow might now be
described as having the most developed art scene outside London.
The Gallery of Modern Art displays work by local and international artists and hosts a biannual showcase addressing contemporary social issues.
This Summer an exhibition of self-portraits from Jo Spence, who is best known for her work on
health, class, femininity and self-image, is one to look out for.
Over at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, an impressive range of outstanding European artworks is housed, including fine examples by the Old Masters, French Impressionists and Scottish Colourists.
Architecturally Glasgow in a nutshell is a handsome city, with grand civic streets providing arterial routes from which a network of intriguing lanes escapes into the bohemian West End.
An interesting gem takes form as The Mackintosh House, which features original fittings and woodwork from the designer's original terraced dwelling.
Charles Rennee Mackintosh was the main exponent of Art Nouveau and a firm native to Glasgow.
The city is fascinating and full of such quirks; well worth the visit (and better, if you can master the accent).
Luke McFarlane
Summer Highlights
In June, the theatre company Opera North will be coming to the Theatre Royal with their operatic versions of three of Shakespeare’s most popular plays ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Opera North has its roots in the North, and endeavours to ‘breathe new life’ into the classics, so expect a new and innovative take on the plays!
‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be performed extravagantly in French, with English titles. Composer Charles Gounod attempts to capture the melodramatic element of the world’s best-known love story primarily in his depiction of the tensions between the feuding Montague and Capulet families and the ‘star cross’d lovers’, who will sing a magnificent series of duets. (3rd June, Theatre Royal)
Composer of Opera North’s performance of ‘Macbeth’, Guiseppe Verdi, aims to translate the sheer peculiarity and intensity of the play into music so what you can expect to see is, in his own words, a performance of ‘extravagance and originality’. The end result is a hugely exciting drama, and the renowned chorus, ‘Patria Oppressa!’ is but one of the numerous musical triumphs. This will be sung in Italian, again with English titles. (4th June)
The only opera to be sung in English of the three, composer Britten’s performance will be a fantastical collaboration of words and music. Much of his inspiration was found in the play’s pervading themes of night, dreams and the supernatural, and all contribute to the truly melodic composition. It promises to be a perfectly enchanting way to spend a balmy summer evening. (5th June)
Joakim Eskildsen’s exhibition ‘The Roma Journeys’ is in the Side Gallery from now up until 14th June. The work documents Eskildsen’s travels between the years 2000-2006 photographing the lives of the Roma and the conditions they face, with pictures from seven different countries, including India, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Greece, Finnland and France. The aim of the exhibition is to show the traditions of the Roma and their struggles as a minority, and is a rare and candid insight into a way of life that we hardly know.
There will be several new exhibitions at the BALTIC, but one to watch out for is Japanese, New York based artist Mariko Mori at the end of May.
There will be a collection of Mori’s drawings and paintings, which are influenced by the artit’s recent interests in Brane cosmology and particle theory.
Moving into the second room you encounter Miracle. In Mori’s work Miracle, Mori typically has used newly developing technologies in the production of 8 diachronic images on glass.
The work aims to awaken people’s deeper consciousness, making them aware of different realities by asking them to think about being in a present that coincides with the past and the future.
Mori argues that we must be in touch with our own culture to understand others.
She sees modern technology as a substitute for local belief and argues its increasing importance. With a sincere belief in the potential power of technology, Mori argues for its use to make our lives better.
(Wednesday 21 May - Sunday 14 September)
For the second year running, The Late Shows will be in Newcastle, when many local galleries and arts venues stay up way past their bedtime for people to come and visit. Last year there was an abundance of one-off events and sensational exhibitions, so look into what your favourite gallery is planning and get yourself there late on 17th May.
Joanna Sweeney
