OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 SCOTLAND & NORTHEAST ENGLAND
art • craft • design
CRAFT & DESIGN HAND-MADE FOR YOU & YOUR HOME ARTSPEAK TALK ABOUT GIVING ART A BAD NAME Art books Setting READ ALL ABOUT IT! the Scene SCENIC ARTISTS - ART’S UNSUNG HEROES ARTTRAVEL & SOUTH TYROL’S WANDERING SPIRITS
AUCTION HOUSES ArtKEEPING YOU News IN THE PICTURE GOING, GOING...
TICKETS TO: EDINBURGH ART FAIR PRIVATE PREVIEW!...HANDMADE EDINBURGH WIN! OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW!...CHRISTMAS AT THE BOTANICS EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW! Art Magazine 195x255mm.qxp_Layout 1 01/08/2017 14:15 Page 1
The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair Handmade 17
watch this space 27-29 Oct 2017 The Hub, Edinburgh Gallery opening 7 October 2017 For tickets and information: handmadeinbritain.co.uk/edinburgh Free entry @handmadebritain #HandmadeEdinburgh Mon - Sat, 10am - 5pm hattongallery.org.uk Save 30% on tickets by booking in advance, quote ‘ ’ by 26 October King’s Road, Newcastle University ARTMAG17 Haymarket Interchange
Edinburgh 17 ArtMag Advert.indd 1 11/09/2017 16:42 The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair Handmade 17
27-29 Oct 2017 The Hub, Edinburgh
For tickets and information: handmadeinbritain.co.uk/edinburgh @handmadebritain #HandmadeEdinburgh
Save 30% on tickets by booking in advance, quote ‘ARTMAG17’ by 26 October
Edinburgh 17 ArtMag Advert.indd 1 11/09/2017 16:42
THE WORLD’S LARGEST SELLER OF SCOTTISH PAINTINGS
* PETER HOWSON OBE, WILLIAM STRANG RA RP RE, ‘David Bowie - The Ninth Drawing’ mixed media, THE LADY WITH THE PINK FEATHERED HAT signed and dated 1994, 31cm x 23cm oil on canvas, signed and dated 1912, 75cm x 62cm Sold £9,500 (world record for a drawing by the artist) Sold £16,000 (world record for the artist)
McTear’s stage The Scottish Contemporary Art Auctions every five weeks and The Scottish Pictures Auctions (for non contemporary paintings) every ten weeks. Each year, we achieve significantly more sales than any other auction house or art fair - and substantially more than any public or private art gallery. More collectors buy paintings from our auctions than from any other venue or event in Scotland.
If you are considering the sale of a single painting or an entire collection please be warmly encouraged to contact The Pictures Department:
0141 810 2880 or by email at [email protected]
MCTEAr’S offErS A frEE UK CollECTIon SErvICE for SUITAblE PAInTIngS.
mctears.co.uk
McTear's ARTMAG Full Page-Bleed-OctNov.indd 1 26/09/2016 14:10 Art for Everyone! www.artedinburgh.com Sponsored by; EAF2017
65 Galleries|3Edinburgh Days|1 Corn Venue Exchange Edinburgh Art Fair 17th - 19th November
Media Partners ; Art for Everyone! www.artedinburgh.com Sponsored by; 41 EAF2017 53 65 Galleries|3Edinburgh Days|1 Corn Venue Exchange 33 Edinburgh Art Fair 11 17th - 19th November CONTENTS 47 FEATURES
ART NEWS 8 KEEPING YOU IN THE PICTURE CRAFT & DESIGN 11 HAND-MADE FOR YOU AND YOUR HOME AUCTION HOUSES 13 GOING, GOING... 46 SETTING THE SCENE 14 SCENIC ARTISTS - ART’S UNSUNG HEROES COURSES, CLASSES & WORKSHOPS ART & TRAVEL 17 SOUTH TYROL’S WANDERING SPIRITS GET CREATIVE! 53 ARTSPEAK 20 TALK ABOUT GIVING ART A BAD NAME ART SUPPLIES & SERVICES ART BOOKS 21 54 READ ALL ABOUT IT! PAINT IT, FRAME IT, INSURE IT, SHIP IT! SHOWCASE REGIONAL NEWS ARTISTS & CRAFTMAKERS DIRECTORY 56 ABERDEEN & NORTHEAST SCOTLAND 27 AYRSHIRE 29 WIN! BORDERS 30 TICKETS TO: EDINBURGH ART FAIR 48 DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY 33 PRIVATE PREVIEW!...HANDMADE 35 DUNDEE & ANGUS EDINBURGH OPENING NIGHT EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS 36 WIN! PREVIEW!...CHRISTMAS AT THE FIFE 44 BOTANICS EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW! GLASGOW & GREATER GLASGOW 45 Media Partners ; HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS 47 SUBSCRIBE TO ARTMAG! PERTHSHIRE 50 STIRLINGSHIRE & CLACKMANNANSHIRE 52 GIVE YOURSELF OR A FRIEND THE GIFT OF ART! 25 NORTHEAST ENGLAND 53
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 5 two of Scotland’s foremost performing companies The magical, botanical, illuminated trail scottish ensemble & AT vanishing point CHRISTMAS THE BOTANICS
TABULA RASA a powerful new theatre production SET TO THe music OF ARVO PART Raymond Gubbay
Edinburgh Traverse Theatre 9-11 Nov Inverness Eden Court 16 Nov 24 NOVEMBER – 30 DECEMBER Glasgow Tramway 22-24 Nov rbge.org.uk/christmas 08716 207 051 A single charge of £2 per transaction applies for print at home tickets, £2.50 for tickets sent by post. tabula-rasa.show Not open every day. Check website for full details. No fees for bookings made in person at RBGE.
HHHH Verdi The Guardian HHHH LA The Scotsman Revival of the 2008 co-production with Welsh National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu & Teatro Real, Madrid TR AVIATA Sung in Italian with English supertitles THEATRE ROYAL HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE EDEN COURT FESTIVAL THEATRE GLASGOW ABERDEEN INVERNESS EDINBURGH 19 – 28 OCT 2 & 4 NOV 7 – 11 NOV 15 – 25 NOV 28 NOV – 2 DEC scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SC037531 Scottish Charity Number SC019787
6 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 ON THE COVER
Hironori Katagiri, ‘Eclipse - Oval’, 2009, Japanese basalt. From the 154th Annual Open Exhibition of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI), Nov 11-26, 3d/2d’s exceptional..... www.royalglasgowinstitute.org Born in Kesennuma, Japan, in 1958, Katagiri Christmas initially worked as Assistant Director of the Symposion Lindabrunn, an artist’s colony for stone sculptors in Lower Austria. As a Art, Craft and key member of the International Sculpture Symposium movement in Europe and Japan, he spent winters in Scotland developing Design Fairs ideas for his sculpture. He now works between studios in Edinburgh and Japan, working on large scale public commissions.
READ ARTMAG ONLINE FOR THE LATEST Glasgow: 25-26 Nov NEWS & MORE ARTICLES! WWW.ARTMAG.CO.UK Royal Concert Hall, Sauchiehall St.
Artmaguk @artmaguk @artmaguk
PUBLISHED BY Instant Publications Ltd., T 0131 661 0765, Edinburgh: 2-3 Dec 07968 191032 PUBLISHER Christie Dessy, [email protected] EDITOR Ian Sclater, [email protected] SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE Assembly Rooms, 54 George St. MANAGER Camilla Baier, [email protected] PROOFREADER Tina Rose FOOD EDITOR Malcolm McGonigle, [email protected] EDITORIAL DESIGN & PRODUCTION Lisa Douglas ADVERTISING DESIGN 3d/2d’s carefully selected makers, artists and Ian Farmer WEBMASTER David Marek, webproduction@ designers sell only their own work artmag.co.uk ART BLOGGERS Camilla Baier, Joanna Zuchowska, Andrew Etherington - around 120 of them at the Edinburgh event
DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES Scotland: T 0131 337 4455, - and around 70 at the Glasgow event. Northeast England: T 07984 344254 Perfect for some Christmas shopping! © 2017 Instant Publications. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the written permission - large cafes with plentiful seating. of the Publisher. Instant Publications does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material. Printed in the UK - both open: 10.30 to 5.00 each day. on paper sourced from sustainably managed forests - tickets valid all weekend. using a solvent-free printing method. 93% of all wastes generated during the production process are either Glasgow - Full: £1.50, Concs: £1, (under 12yrs free) reused or recycled. ADVISORY Readers are advised to Edinburgh - Full: £3, Concs: £2, (under 12yrs free) check all listed information before - half price before 11.00 on Sunday! attending an exhibition or event. www.3d2d.co.uk 0131 661 6600
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 7 ART NEWS KEEPING YOU IN THE PICTURE
FILMING SEASON FIVE OF from depression, the theory goes, van Gogh EXHIBITION ON made his way to Scotland and a successful SCREEN career as an art dealer, while Reid moved to the Continent, going on to cut off his ear and ultimately take his own life. A related theory is that van Gogh (Reid?) was actually shot by a local youth in Ile-de-France. Google ‘Was van Gogh murdered?’ for more details. It is conceivable that the two could have swapped professions. Van Gogh came from a family of art dealers and was once an employee at the renowned Goupil & Cie in Paris, while Reid was a painter before selling other artists’ work. What is certain is that for six months Reid and van Gogh shared a flat in Paris belonging to Vincent’s brother Theo and that during a night of heavy drinking they discussed a suicide pact, presumably thinking ART FILMS doppelganger? In ‘Rogue’s Gallery: The Rise the better of it once they had sobered up. (and Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers’ (pub. One of van Gogh’s portraits of Reid has been The excellent Exhibition On Screen series of Profile Books), Phil Hook, Sotheby’s senior identified as having been painted in Theo’s gallery and museum films for the cinema has international specialist in Impressionist and flat, the only known depiction of it. Spoiler returned for a fifth season. Each film traces Modernist art, poses the tantalising notion alert: Reid later returned to Scotland, where the personal and creative lives of famous that the Dutch artist and the Scottish art his father and son would no doubt have artists or the emergence and evolution of key noticed if a Dutchman had joined the family. art movements. Titles in the the new series Still, nice story – or as someone else might include Canaletto and the Art of Venice, say, fake news. David Hockney at the Royal Academy of Arts and Cézanne: Portraits of a Life. Screening dates: www.exhibitiononscreen.com. ART APP(RECIATION) Earlier films are available on DVD or for paid A new free app with virtual reality may put download. the art world at your fingertips. ArtPassport offers anyone, anywhere access to high FAIR DEALS resolution images, descriptive texts of exhibitions and 360-degree panoramic 3D/2D has more than 20 years’ experience views of contemporary art from some of the organising quality selling events uniting makers, artists and designers with the world’s leading galleries and art museums. buying public. Exhibitors show and sell only Users can zoom in on art they are interested their own work. Look out for their popular in and press a Virtual Reality icon to use Christmas Craft, Art & Design Fairs in a Google Cardboard headset for a more Glasgow (Royal Concert Hall, Nov 25 & 26) immersive experience. Other ArtPassport and Edinburgh (Assembly Rooms, Dec 2 & 3) features include visitor information with maps and directions and daily updates www.3d2d.co.uk VAN GOGH’S PORTRAIT OF THE SCOTTISH ART DEALER ALEXANDER REID on new exhibitions. Future versions of the app will include functions such as Search, VINCENT AND... dealer Alexander Reid, who looked so much Sort, Favourites and NearMe. ArtPassport is ALEXANDER? alike that van Gogh’s portraits of him were available on iPhone at Here’s one for conspiracy theorists: Did for years misidentified as self-portraits, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ Vincent van Gogh trade lives with a Scottish agreed to swap lives. With both suffering artpassport/id1220878305?mt=8
8 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 ART NEWS
LITTLE WONDER The ‘world’s finest living art forger’ and the OPEN STUDIOS KEEPING YOU ‘greatest micro-sculptor on earth’ have IN THE PICTURE collaborated to create a version of the world’s best known artwork valued at one From kitchen table to garden shed to million pounds. Forger John Myatt has spare room to custom-built studio, artists painted an indistinguishable copy of the and craftmakers work wherever they can. As open studios season draws to a close, be sure to sneak a peek into their work spaces, speak to them about their methods and inspirations and buy or commission an original piece. Some will even let you try your hand at their skill. YOU CAN VISIT HENRY FRASER’S STUDIO DURING OPEN DOORS @ ST MARGARET’S HOUSE, EDINBURGH AYRSHIRE Courtyard Studios, Irvine, Oct 7 & 8, Nov 25 & 26, www.facebook.com/ www.irvineharbourside.org/places_ patriothallgallery waspstudios.php Open Doors @ St Margaret’s House, Oct 21 & 22, www.edinburghpalette.co.uk BORDERS JOHN MYATT AND WILLARD WIGAN MBE, ‘MONA LISA: Biggar Little Festival Open Studios Trail, SECRET IN THE EYE’ (DETAIL) Beaverhall Studios, Nov 25 & 26, Oct 28 & 29 (Festival runs Oct 18-29) www.facebook.com/BeaverhallStudios www.biggarlittlefestival.com ‘Mona Lisa’ into whose right eye Willard NORTHEAST ENGLAND Wigan MBE has created its smallest EDINBURGH Ouseburn Open Studios, Newcastle, Nov 25 replica, painted with the hair of a fly Patriothall WASPS Open Studios, & 26, www.ouseburnopenstudios.org and measuring less than one millimetre squared.
Wigan, who was awarded an MBE in 2007 for his services to art, has to go into a CHERRY WOOD LAMP BY STEPHEN trance-like state to slow down his nervous NEW GALLERIES FINCH (SFMA/CUSTOM LANE) system so that he can work between heartbeats. His work is often many times smaller than the full stop at the end of this sentence. It is frequently displayed within the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. He is recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records for sculpting the world’s smallest artworks.
In 1999 Myatt, whose work has confounded experts and sold in Christie’s and Sotheby’s, spent four months for art fraud in Brixton Prison, where he was known as “Picasso”. He now runs his own company, JUNOR GALLERY Genuine Fakes, with customers all over the world. In his TV show Fame in the EDINBURGH Frame he paints celebrities in the style of A new centre for design and making on a famous artist, such as Stephen Fry as if Leith’s Commercial Street, Custom Lane by Velazquez. ‘Mona Lisa: Secret In The is hosting the Scottish Furniture Makers Eye’ can be viewed at www.veryfirstto. Association (SFMA) annual exhibition, where FIFE com. John Myatt visits Castle Fine Art in you can see up close the skills of some of Currently showing in St Andrews’ newest Edinburgh (Sat Nov 4, 1-3pm) to showcase the finest designer-makers in the country exhibition space, Junor Gallery, is Maps of his latest collection, Vincent. and appreciate the timeless beauty they can the Imagination, a selection of map-based coax from a lump wood. Nov 4-12, work by five contemporary Scottish and www.customlane.co international artists. www.junorgallery.scot
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 9 SFMA Annual Exhibition 2017 November 4th - 12th ~ Admission Free Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ~ Sat 10am-5pm Sun 11am-4pm Explore the work of our members Custom Lane, Custom Wharf, from across Scotland at the 67 Commercial Street, Leith, following exhibitions: Edinburgh, EH6 6LH The Crafters Art & Design Fair November 18th - 19th Sat & Sun 10am-5pm Springwood Park, Kelso TD5 8LS See www.sfma.org.uk for more details…
EDINBURGH GLASGOW
27 OCTOBER 5 NOVEMBER 2017
WWW.AFRICAINMOTION.ORG.UK
10 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 CRAFT & DESIGN HAND-MADE FOR YOU and your home
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1. A 2016 BA (Hons) graduate in Printed Textile Design from Gray’s 4. Jim Whitson of Blazing Blacksmith creates striking work to School of Art in Aberdeen, Edinburgh-based Emma McDowell enrich homes and gardens with innovative designs to meet creates collections of contemporary ‘concrete’ products, practical requirements, while being sympathetic to the setting. including vessels, art objects and home wares, each item Pictured: Woodland stair with oak and ivy unique in colour, texture and design. Pictured: Rectangular vase www.blazingblacksmith.co.uk www.emmamcdowall.co.uk 5. For Louise Oppenheimer weaving is a meditation. She says: 2. Katharina Vones translates the harmonious imperfections of “I try to convey my appreciation of the land and waterscape growth patterns found in nature and architecture into her multi- surrounding me, often focusing on a particular view or a faceted jewellery. Towering skyscrapers with their reflective memory of a walk in the woods, by the shore or in the hills.” glass facades are a particular influence on her work. Pictured: ‘Glen’ (in process) www.louiseoppenheimer.com www.kvones.com 6. Made from ash and finished with lye and matt lacquer, the 3. Hand-sculpted in the UK by Urban Cottage Industries, these Attentive chair collection by Jonathan Rose is designed for amber glass cylinder lampshades create an oasis of glowing, ‘active sitting’. The convex, leather seat pad enables you to warm light. An online configurator enables you to choose pivot without moving the chair and handholds on the back and everything from the colour of the cable to the design of the bulb. seat allow it to be easily positioned with one hand for optimum www.urbancottageindustries.com back support. www.jonathanrose.co.uk
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 11 ASIAN ART An invitation to consign Tuesday 5 December Edinburgh We are now inviting entries for our forthcoming Asian Art sales in Edinburgh, London and Hong Kong.
ENQUIRIES AND APPOINTMENTS 0131 240 2299 [email protected]
Bonhams 22 Queen Street Edinburgh EH2 1JX
A SILVER WIRE INLAID BRONZE MODEL OF GUANYIN SHISOU MARK 18th century Sold in Edinburgh for £47,500, July 2017
bonhams.com/edinburgh Prices shown include buyer’s premium. Details can be found at bonhams.com
12 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 AUCTION HOUSES GOING, GOING, ...
GEORGE HENRY RA, RSA, RSW, ‘THE HOUR GLASS’, EST. £30,000-40,000 SALE DATES (SCOTTISH ART, AYRSHIRE Shapes Every first Saturday BONHAMS, OCT 11) Thomas R. Callan, Ayr Every Art & Antiques Thursday Interior sales, incl. www.shapesedinburgh.co.uk/ antiques & contemporary auctions household furnishings Thomson Roddick Oct 12, www.trcallan.com 19, 26 & Nov 2, 9, 22 Home BORDERS Furnishings & Interiors & Collectables Nov 30 Antiques Border Auctions, Hawick & Works of Art Oct 14 General, Antique & www.thomsonroddick.com Collectables See also DUMFRIES & www.borderauctions.co.uk GALLOWAY SCOTTISH ART DUMFRIES & GLASGOW The collection of Scottish art assembled by the Weir family, founders GALLOWAY Great Western Auctions Oct of the pioneering Scottish engineering company The Weir Group, Thomson Roddick, Dumfries 7, 21 & Nov 4, 18 Antiques & forms the core of the Scottish Art sale at Bonhams in Edinburgh. Oct 24 & Nov 7, 21 Home Collectables Dec 1 & 2 Fine Art Featured artists include George Henry (1858-1943) whose ‘The Furnishings & Interiors & Antiques Hour Glass’ (c.1910) depicts his wife wearing a kimono in a possible www.thomsonroddick.com www.greatwesternauctions. reference to the year Henry spent in Japan with fellow “Glasgow Boy” See also EDINBURGH & com Edward Hornel. Other works on the block from the Weir collection LOTHIANS include ‘Couple and Rainbow’, a colourful painting by John Bellany McTear’s Oct 11, Nov 22 (est. £12,000-18,000), the charming ‘Still Life with Flowers’ by Thomas EDINBURGH & British & International Pictures; Dow (1848-1919) and several works by George Houston (1869-1947), LOTHIANS Scottish Pictures Oct 13, 27, best known for his landscapes, especially of Argyll, Ayrshire and Bonhams Oct 11 Scottish Art Nov 10, 24 Antiques & Interiors Iona. Nov 29, www.bonhams.com/locations/EDI Nov 15 Home & Interiors Nov Oct 29, Nov 15 Jewellery 28 Jewellery Nov 29 19th & Nov 5 Scottish Contemporary JEWELLERY 20th Century Pictures Art Nov 16 Silver Nov 16 www.bonhams.com/ Asian Works of Art; British & Following our article in the August/September issue of Artmag on how locations/EDI Continental Ceramics & Glass period jewellery is out-performing the housing market in Scotland Nov 17 Works of Art & Furniture as an investment, here are the best-selling jewellery periods. Art Franklin Browns Every Nov 22 Scottish Pictures Nouveau: A late 19th century movement characterised by organic second Saturday Alternating www.mctears.co.uk forms Belle Epoque (also referred to as the “Garland Style”, approx. between Antiques and 1871-1914). A genre of refined, delicate jewels to complement a Collectables Mulberry Bank Auctions Oct woman’s tightly corseted figure Art Deco: The inter-war period of www.franklinbrowns.co.uk 20 & Dec 1-2 Fine Antiques & the 1920s and ‘30s, when jewel design embraced clean, geometric Collectables Lyon & Turnbull Oct 25 lines and dazzling colour www.mulberrybankauctions. Decorative Arts: Design Since combinations Retro: the com 1860 Nov 22 Five Centuries: mid-1930s to ‘50s, when Old Masters to 19th Century STIRLINGSHIRE large, sculptural jewels Art Robertsons of Kinbuck, were popular, and the 1960s www.lyonandturnbull.com Dunblane Every Wednesday and ‘70s, a time of social Alternating between Antique Ramsay Cornish Every change, when ‘statement’ & Collectables and Modern & Thursday Vintage Lane Sale jewels which expressed a General Every Sat General interiors Oct woman’s individuality were www.kinbuckauctions.co.uk in vogue. 21 Antiques & Decorators Sale Nov 11 Collectors Auction Check websites for details of www.ramsaycornish.com viewings prior to sales. 10.28CT MARQUISE DIAMOND RING (COURTESY BONHAMS)
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 13 SCENIC ARTISTS
SettingTHE SCENE BRINGING THE BACKGROUND PAINTERS TO THE FOREGROUND
A DETAIL FROM HEAD SCENIC ARTIST FIONA CLARK’S BACKDROP FOR THE ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE’S PRODUCTION OF ‘GLORY ON EARTH’. PHOTO: DREW FARRELL
hether working for stage, there to support that. It’s about managing She concludes: “Every show is great fun. film or TV, they are for the expectations and making people happy. Most of the time, you’re going, ‘I’m getting most part unsung heroes, That’s the hard bit - getting to the point of paid to do this. Brilliant!’” happy for their work to knowing what you’re doing. The actual remain literally in the painting work itself is a joy.” One of Britain’s busiest freelance scenic Wbackground. Artmag spoke to some leading artists, Alison Irwin has racked up a lengthy scenic artists about a role in the creative In describing the end result of her work, she list of credits such as Outlander, the recent industries that not many people know about. repeats the credo of a former colleague: Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Meet Me At Dawn’, ‘Nice from afar, but far from nice’. She Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre production Head Scenic Artist at Edinburgh’s Royal expains: “That’s all you need onstage a lot of ‘Grain in the Blood’, the Olivier award- Lyceum Theatre, Fiona Clark has a modest of the time. It’s in the background. Our job is winning ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ and the attitude to her work. “Basically,” she says, helping to create a picture and helping the BBC TV children’s drama Teacup Travels. “it’s painting and decorating.” audience believe what the actors are doing. If people are sitting looking at the set, we’re She outlines one of the challenges facing She describes the hierarchy a scenic artist in big trouble. It’s there to support the drama. traditional scenic artists: technology. works under: “The director, designer and I’m here to provide a service for somebody “Painting cloth for the theatre is a lovely lighting designer are the Holy Trinity. You’re else.” thing to do,” she says, “but they are few
14 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 SCENIC ARTISTS
and far between now, because it’s a very just want to spend my days looking at it.” long, thin room, the Victorian construction expensive thing to do. A lot of companies get When working on ‘Don Pasquale’ Kelvin is fitted with winches which enable scenic stuff printed now. You still get the occasional explained the process of creating the 10 artist Neil Haynes to move the canvas cloth, but it’s a big investment for a theatre metre by 15 metre backdrop: “With this wherever he wants to paint it. Neil says: “It’s company in terms of the cost of the cloth and particular cloth we’ve had to draw it out so a beautiful, adaptable space and a painter’s the materials and the time it takes, and you that we can separate areas that need to dream. I’m very honoured to be working on need a big space to do it in.” be dyed or painted. In this case, because it. It’s a pleasure to be working on such large there’s a perspective involved, we have to canvases.” “Prints don’t light as well, because you’re be fairly precise in our initial drawing and to not using high-pigmented paints A scenic artist for 20 years, designed to be used on theatre including thirteen at the Citizens, sets and react with the lighting. For Neil is shy about calling himself example, with the Rosco* paints an artist: “An artist is someone who we use, a lighting designer will comes up with an original idea, know how his gels (filters) affect the whereas a scenic artist’s job is colours of the paint when it’s lit. You to interpret someone else’s idea have to consider that when you’re for the stage and make it real. painting. Not what it looks like in It’s absolutely fine being in the the workshop, but what it’s going to background. It’s not necessarily look like onstage.” about getting any recognition for *brand name it. It’s not a piece of fine art on the wall. I think the general public will Scenic artists need a range of tools, go to a show and not think about such as trowels, rollers and spray- the work that’s gone into the set guns, not to mention a Personal and just accept it as being a piece Protection Equipment (or PPE) kit, of theatre.” including gloves, masks, goggles and steel-capped shoes. Neil downplays the threat of technology to his job: “When a Says Alison: “I’m like a tradesman. I printed stage cloth is onstage, have a bank of knowledge of what SCOTTISH OPERA’S HEAD SCENIC ARTIST KELVIN GUY WORKING ON THE SET OF THE 2016 PRODUCTION OF ‘THE MIKADO’. PHOTO: JULIE HOWDEN it’s not got any artistic input to it. a material will do, so I will know You can always tell under stage what I need for a particular job. It’s a bit of re-establish that between the layers of paint, lighting that it’s just a printed cloth. There’s an alchemy. There’s a lot of mark-making to which is quite a laborious thing. It means no life to it. Whereas a painted cloth has the bring life to something.” inking in, painting over, inking in. There’s a painter’s hand, brushstroke, your particular repetitive process to it, but it slowly inches technique of doing it. It’s very personal. Kelvin Guy has worked for over 30 years its way along. When we finish it, it will be You couldn’t ever replace scenic art in the at Scottish Opera, where he is Head Scenic hung in the theatre. Any notes that need to theatre.” Artist primarily responsible for painting be done, like strengthening dyes or shading the large cloth backdrops for countless down areas for lighting purposes, will be Since Artmag interviewed Neil, he has now productions. His work is renowned done then.” joined Kelvin Guy’s team at Scottish Opera. throughout the theatre art world and this year he received the Technical Award at the He adds self-effacingly: “I hope the SCENIC ARTIST NEIL HAYNES AT WORK IN THE CITIZENS Sunday Herald Culture Awards. audience have a really good time and THEATRE’S PAINT FRAME, THE OLDEST IN SCOTLAND. PHOTO: ALEX BRADY forget about the For their production of ‘Don Pasquale’ set artistry - if that’s the and costumer designer André Barbe and right word - that goes stage director Renaud Doucet were in doubt into it and just enjoy about the main attraction of working for the music and the fun.” Scottish Opera. André explains: “We realised Watch Kelvin Guy at that they had many strengths, but the work: www.youtube. biggest strength was the scenic painting. So com/ watch? v=2Pd_ when we did this production, we said, ‘Oh, 5RVors4&t=139s we need to use the talent of Kelvin, because he’s so wonderful.’ It’s a pleasure to go into The Citizens Theatre Kelvin’s workshop, see him stretch those in Glasgow has the huge canvases and put on classical music oldest paint frame in and immerse himself in this atmosphere. I Scotland. Basically a
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 15 ART & TRAVEL
Ludwig Museum, Budapest LOVE ART? LOVE TRAVEL? luxury bed and breakfast Visit our website to visit some of Europe’s top galleries in the heart of the Scottish Borders and museums www.artmag.co.uk/travel Book your luxury short break at Fauhope Country House, a secluded, award winning ‘5 star gold’ B&B near Melrose in the heart of the Scottish Borders, with views that have inspired artists, writers, poets and musicians over the centuries.
Gattonside Melrose TD6 9LU Call. +44 (0)1896 823184 Email. [email protected] www.fauhopehouse.com Bode Museum, Berlin Museum of Fine Arts, Bordeaux Acropolis Museum, Athens Rooftop Gallery at the Crinan Hotel Regular exhibitions take place throughout the year Come out to Crinan and join our 2017 included: famous three day New Year Party Gordon Mitchell RSW, RGI, RSA Champagne, freshly landed Crinan Jumbo Prawns & Rowan Mitchell lobster and the finest Scottish beef Carol, Lara & Kim Scouller Boat trip to the islands Glen Scouller RSW, RGI Ceilidh band, fiddle band & piper David Smith RSW Ronnie Smith RSW Painting demonstration by Frances Ross Ryan Frances Macdonald (during October & November) Macdonald in the Gallery on New Year’s Day George Wyllie RGI (permanent collection of sculptures)
Artist in Residence Frances Visit our website www.crinanhotel.com Macdonald welcomes artists and or phone 01546 830261 for more aspiring artists to paint in the Gallery information about visiting Crinan and full or on the Gallery Balcony details about special offers and events throughout the year
16 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 ART & TRAVEL
WANDERING SPIRITS South Tyrol’s artists and designers are spreading their influence throughout the world
taly’s largest technique of and most woodcarving to northerly create mostly Iprovince, figurative South Tyrol works. With a derives its strong physical ARON DEMETZ, ‘SEQUOIA COMPLETA’ uniqueness presence, from the fusion of Austrian and Italian the region have dispersed to pursue their which also deeply engages the viewer on a cultures which influences the design, careers, taking their design, fashion and art psychological level, they seem to transcend architecture, cuisine and language of the to the world. Many of them dine together the possibilities of wood as a material. region. Little wonder that tourism is the No.1 every December 26 as members of the business (with 29 million overnight stays a Wanderer Collective to swap experiences Demetz does not present polished, year at the last count) and that the provincial and celebrate their shared origin. perfected works. After the figure has been capital, Bolzano, which is both the hottest carved out of a block of wood, the material and coldest town in Italy, has been ranked The collective includes: the internationally is submitted to different ‘injuries’, as its the best in all Italy for quality of life. renowned wood sculptor Aron Demetz, surface is roughened, burned, scarred or who represented Italy at the 2009 Venice otherwise distressed. South Tyrol is renowned for its spectacular Biennale; London-based designer Martino scenery (the famous, jagged-toothed Gamper, who came to fame with his project A favourite techique is to cover the works Dolomites mountain range, a World Heritage ‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’; Andrea Lissoni, with resin, which trees produce in nature Site, has over 350 summits above 3,000 Senior Curator of International Film at the to heal ‘wounds’ and create a new bark. metres), flourishing wine and agriculture Tate; fashion and fine art photographer Says Demetz, “The resin is the blood of the industries, including every tenth apple Brigitte Niedermair; and Stefan Siegel, trees. You have to respect the soul of the grown in Europe (thanks to 300 days of founder of the fashion brand Not Just a materials. With the resin I give them back a sunshine a year, the same as Crete) and Label. Artmag spent time with two of the soul.” healthy mountain air, making locals the Wanderer Collective in their ‘Heimat’, or longest living people in Italy. homeland. Another technique is to burn or char an object. He explains: “To burn a sculpture is South Tyrol’s creative scene lives and Still living and working in the same mountain for me to rid it of all that is superfluous. To breathes on five continents. That is how far valley in which he was born, Aron Demetz clean it. A new, delicate and fragile surface afield a group of over 50 creatives from has adopted a traditional South Tyrolean is created, which allows us to read the
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 17 KIRKER MUSIC HOLIDAYS FOR DISCERNING TRAVELLERS Kirker Holidays offers an extensive range of holidays for music lovers. These include tours to leading festivals in Europe and a series of exclusive chamber music festivals throughout Europe & the UK, featuring highly acclaimed musicians in elegant surroundings. During 2018 we shall be sailing from Liverpool on three Music Festivals at sea, including the sub-tropical Azores, Spitsbergen in the Arctic Circle, and a cruise through the Scottish isles.
ATLANTIC DISCOVERY A FOURTEEN NIGHT CRUISE ON BLACK WATCH | 4 MAY 2018 Liverpool – Horta, Azores – Ponta Delgada, Azores – Funchal, Madeira – Lisbon – Oporto – Liverpool with The Castalian String Quartet; Janis Kelly soprano; Gary Matthewman, piano; and four young singers selected from the country’s leading conservatoires Departing from Liverpool we will sail directly for the unspoiled Atlantic archipelago of the Azores, where we shall visit several different islands, including the pretty port of Faial on Horta and Sao Miguel, the largest island, where we see a dramatic volcanic landscape. Heading back east we will find a veritable floating garden on the lush, sub-tropical island of Madeira, before calling at Lisbon and then Oporto on the Portuguese mainland.
Prices range from £2,640 per person for an inside cabin to £4,995 per person for a Superior Suite and all include full-board, private drinks parties and admission to all the concerts.
SPITSBERGEN & THE ARCTIC CIRCLE A FIFTEEN NIGHT CRUISE ON BLACK WATCH | 27 JUNE 2018 Liverpool – Leknes, Lofoten Islands – Tromso – Honningsvag (North Cape) – Pyramiden Longyearbyen, Svalbard – Klaksvik – Torshavn, Faroe Islands – Liverpool with The Sacconi Quartet From Liverpool we will round the coast of Scotland and enjoy some of the most dramatic scenery in the world along the Norwegian coast, before we cross the Arctic Circle. We then call at Leknes on the Lofoten Islands; Tromso, the “Gateway to the Arctic”; and Honningsvag on the North Cape, but the real adventure begins at the glorious but remote Svalbard Islands. We will stop at two evocative ports and take in magnificent views before returning south, via the Faroe Islands. Prices range from £3,125 per person for an inside cabin to £5,895 per person for a Superior Suite and all include full-board, private drinks parties and admission to all the concerts.
Speak to an expert or request a brochure:
020 7593 2284 quote code GAR www.kirkerholidays.com ART & TRAVEL work anew.” Demetz also uses a special electrical tool to churn parts of a figure into a mass of whorls, representing moss growing on trees. www.arondemetz.it
Insisting on his own cultural roots as his starting point, Demetz’ style echoes that of traditional local craftsmen in style. Across the road from his Val Gardena workshop, 3D Wood is using modern technology to continue a tradition of wood carving thought to derive from a centuries-old custom of farmers making wooden toys in the ‘dead’ MUSEION days of winter. This evolved into a tradition of sculpture, especially of church items such as altars and religious figures. It was the ts huge picture windows facing east and west, the beautiful, angular, glass- area’s main industry at one time. Appealing encased Museion, Bolzano’s museum for modern and contemporary art, is to the tourist trade, shelves in the 3D Wood flooded with dazzling light. The “Wow!” moment comes when entering the top shop are laden with traditional wooden Ifloor gallery, where most visitors can do nothing but gasp and gawk at the ornaments, from cherubs, saints and sight of the surrounding mountains. Each year is marked by a year-long special nativity scenes to local wildlife and Alpine exhibition of works from the museum’s permanent collection. This year’s theme, huntsmen. Behind the scenes craftsmen The Force of Photography, examines notions of identity through portraits and self- create one-off, hand-carved pieces or work portraits. The exhibition also features a selection of sculptures and videos around using machinery to produce anything from the same theme. www.museion.it small series items to thousands of units. Even a fine sawdust-spewing, computer- programmed robot gets in on the act. www.3dw.it FURTHER INFO www.wanderersouthtyrol.com, www.suedtirol.info Now based in London, Martino Gamper started as an apprentice furniture maker in his native Merano, 30-odd kilometres north explaining: “My intention was to investigate of Bolzano. He went on to study sculpture at the potential of creating useful new chairs the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna before by blending together the stylistic and completing a Masters at the Royal College structural elements of the found one, like of Art in London. Gamper now specialises in a three-dimensional sketchbook.”. It has interior design for high end retail stores and since been shown internationally as an one-off furniture commissions. installation.
For his best known project ‘100 Chairs For his one-off commissions Martino works in 100 days’ Gamper collected disused with the Mairhofer Tischlerei in the tiny chairs from alleyways and friends’ homes hamlet of Proveis, where the German and reassembled them - one per day - word for joinery (Tischlerei) belies the into poetic and often humorous forms, sophisticated work turned out in the remote little furniture factory. On the day Artmag visited, Martino was supervising the completion of a beautiful table for a New York client - a classic example of how this tiny corner of Europe is having a worldwide impact on the creative industries. www.martinogamper.com, www.tischlerei-mairhofer. com
3D WOOD SCULPTOR GREGOR PRUGGER CARVES A REPLICA SAINT JOSEPH TO REPLACE A DAMAGED ONE FOR A TABLES BY MARTINO KAMPER CHURCH CLIENT
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 19 ARTSPEAK“ TALK ABOUT GIVING ART A BAD NAME. (NAMES WITHHELD TO PROTECT THE GUILTY.) The expansion required by this project, the shifting” identities of centre and IN THE