Current Exhibition: 7 Artists, Edinburgh Soul

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7 Artists, Edinburgh Soul:

5 August 2010 - 6 September 2010

Collaborating for the first and probably only time, this exhibition unites some of Edinburgh’s finest contemporary talents in a powerful and emotional display.  This is an exhibition of contrasting styles and content which creates cohesion through the quality of the work and the stature of the artists.  Each of the exhibiting artists has gained international recognition for unique and evocative work that challenges and satisfies the viewer.
Philip Braham’s meticulous and finely observed ‘Drift’ series is both reflective and challenging.  The iconic, powerful studies of Graham Flack are full of tension and beauty, whilst Michael McVeigh’s dream-like paintings transport us to another world.  Having been a major contributor to Scottish figurative painting over the last 30 years, David Hosie continues to produce influential and demanding work that is universally admired.  Award-winning artists Olivia Irvine and Henry Kondracki offer their unique perspectives on 21st Century life and family.  For many years, Edinburgh sculptor John Brazenall has worked as a fine art bronze founder, collaborating regularly with such luminaries as Ian Hamilton Finlay and, in New York, Julian Schnabel.  His own work, rarely exhibited, is anarchic, playful and beautifully conceived.
An exhibition featuring seven of Edinburgh’s finest and most exciting artists, full of iconic and powerful imagery, and exploring some great home-grown talent.

Click on artists pages to view full collection.

Have a look at this superb video of the exhibition hanging and subsequent opening:

Snapshots in the life of a gallery from stewart bremner on Vimeo.

 

Future Exhibitions:

 

Ella Novo Loco:  Derek McGuire Solo Exhibition:
9 September 2010 - 4 October 2010

ELLA NOVO LOCO
Derek McGuire New Paintings

Union Gallery is proud to present over 20 new paintings from artist Derek McGuire.  With pieces ranging from postcard size to large scale, and dealing in stylistic hybrids from abstraction to figuration, this is his most diverse exhibition to date.
In the past Derek used a surrogate motif for more personal ideas. Now the shackles are off and the title of the show ‘ELLA NOVO LOCO’ refers to the ‘Novo Loco’, or ‘New Place’, Derek finds himself inhabiting, surrounded by a loving family, the latest addition being his second child, 21month old daughter Ella. The joy fatherhood brings helps to light up the dark palette. The chaos of caring for often unruly, and often sweet, daughters has helped Derek produce a body of work he never imagined. These are paintings borne out of turbulence and untamed vitality.
Derek’s paintings are dark not only in terms of the palette, but also in the spookiness of their moody atmospherics. When other colours brighten them - lurid pinks, warm yellows or infected greens - they take on a neon, plastic or toxic light. They are painted on variety of surfaces, cardboard, wood, canvas and he uses varying densities of paint and intensities of colour resulting in a vibrant, tactile surface.  Paintings like the ‘Pink Painting, Mascara Sky is Crying’, with its rods of wax colour and the unsettling yellow/green, of ‘Cityscape with a Fear’ have an overarching sense of tension, of trauma and edginess. There are signs of aggression in the making of these works and a physicality implying violence. The scale and the dense layering of these large paintings have a size and visual weight that gives the image an intimidating presence.
Derek’s way of painting is strongly improvisational, with amalgams and connections being made which require constant change and movement. His thinking revolves around an interplay between figurative and abstract elements constantly juggling. Derek devours newspapers each day and at times he’s stimulated by passing items of interest, encapsulated in brief sentences, reports or statements.  Much hangs on the titles of these works: the title animates our often pointedly political reading of a picture. By placing the title up against the language of painting, Derek has explored new means of transgressing or destabilising the easy relationship the viewer has with the painting. Derek’s titles often subvert expectation or tease with meaning, which opens up a space for contemplation and engagement with the viewer.

There is a considerable level of quotation. ‘The Rears of the Charging Chasseurs’ makes direct reference to the first exhibited Gericault painting and studies of the same name. The horses are at rest and the power in their rears is evident, exposing tension or pent up violence. There are also images of humour, hope and celebration of Derek’s young family and their relationship with the natural environment, in particular their secluded garden. ‘Expressionist Garden with Bees, Ponies and Unicorn’ and ‘The Relaxing Pleasure of Shitting in the Woods’ are differing takes on our relationship with nature.

This is an exhibition of extraordinary diversity and depth, that will challenge, amuse and entertain the viewer.  In his most important exhibition to date, Derek McGuire has used his unique voice to superb effect.

Derek McGuire (b.1964, Fife) lives and works in Edinburgh. He is a lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art and is also currently involved in teaching projects at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia. Recent exhibitions include the innovative group project at Albany Lane Gallery, Edinburgh and 1989-2009, Celebrating 20 Years of the Alastair Salvesen Art Scholarship at the Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh.

ELLA NOVO LOCO 09.09.10 – 04.10.10

Opening Hours:
Mon – Sat 10.30 to 18.00
Sunday 12.00 to 18.00

 

 

 

Landmarks II:
7 October 2010 - 1 November 2010

A fine, mixed exhibition of landscape paintings, including new work by Hazel Cashmore and Martyn McKenzie

 

 

Synaesthesia II:  New Paintings by Trevor Jones:
4 November 2010 - 29 November 2010

Union Gallery is pleased to present the first major solo exhibition by abstract artist Trevor Jones.  Inspired by the music of various contemporary Scottish bands and singers, which the viewer will be able to enjoy through a personal MP3 player whilst viewing the work, Trevor Jones paints with a remarkable awareness and sincerity, creating artworks that are emphatic and revealing. Layers of thought are built up with paint and mixed with various other media as he responds intuitively to the world around him. Working in a unique, free flowing manner whilst incorporating rhythms and patterns, text and textures, the paintings evolve until the essence of the subject matter reveals itself. Both challenging and rewarding, each piece is approached individually yet a powerful coherency threads its way through his very distinctive style.

There is a long history of both scientists and artists attempting to establish links between music and colour. However, while no meaningful relationship has been measured, it hasn’t hindered the creation of artworks that are stimulating, insightful, challenging or simply beautiful and engaging. Trevor’s current paintings are not an attempt to ‘make right’ where the others before him ‘went wrong’ and they are not a scientific experiment to further investigate this elusive parallel. These paintings are, in a sense, a tribute to those past artists who, like him, were inspired by the phenomenon of colour and its transcendental and ineffable connection with music.

A beautiful, challenging exhibition full of depth and colour that reaffirms the rising reputation of one of our finest abstract painters.