Daubing and Befriending Birds: This Week in Scottish Art

It's become customary for the last month for this opening paragraph to contained information on degree shows, and degree show shows. It’s the latter this week, with 6 Foot Gallery showing the Best of Degree Show 2015. 6 Foot Gallery has curated from the degree shows across Scotland their version of the cream of the crop, and preview their selections from 6-8pm this Friday.

Earlier in the week in Glasgow, at the Old Hairdressers, there is The Joy of Daubing. This exhibition features the work of 4 painters based in Glasgow – Andrew Black, Robin Everett, Alexandra Leach and Calum Matheson. Though diverse in their various subjects and interests, they all admit to taking some joy in the act of painting itself. It’s for one night only, and starts at 7pm this Wednesday (8 Jul).

Into the week to Thursday, and there’s more painting courtesy of Scott McCracken. McCracken moves though crude representation, purer abstraction and generally shifts his pictorial language whilst also moving the register conceptually from painting as picture, practice and philosophy. While questioning the value of painting, and its history and process, he also posits “the impossibility of not painting”. We’ve Met Before, Haven’t We? previews at Bargain Spot in Edinburgh this Thursday from 7-9pm, then continues until 14 July.

Also in Edinburgh, on Friday France-Lise McGurn previews 3am, the exhibition of the work she completed as part of the Satellites programme with Collective Gallery. The preview runs from 6-8pm this Friday; the show has also received a shout-out in our monthly events column, where you can read more about McGurn's work – and plan more broadly for the weeks ahead while you're at it.

This Sunday at Jupiter Artland near Edinburgh, Edwin Burdis brings another dimension to his installation The Thickening. For his installation at exhibition, Burdis has created a cure centre, an environment he uses to explore the treatment for cancerous diseases. This heaviest of topics is explored using Burdis’ typical chaotic performances and cacophony of bulbous painted, drawn and sculpted works. On Sunday at 3pm, Burdis will perform with his band of sculptures and paintings.

Drawing to a close this week is Stills gallery's exhibition of the work of Anna Atkins (1799-1871) and Margaret Watkins (1884-1969). A necessary companion to the comprehensive, but somewhat male-dominated, history of photography provided by Photography: A Victorian Sensation at the National Museum, Stills showcases the work of Atkins, one of the earliest pioneers of photography. Atkins' work displays alongside pieces by modernist photographer Margaret Watkins, who was based in New York before relocating to Glasgow in the late 1920s. The exhibition concludes this Sunday (12 Jul).

Over in Glasgow, this Saturday (11 Jul) marks the annual summer party at the Whisky Bond, home of Glasgow Sculpture Studios. Throughout the day, there are workshops in making instruments (drop in 11am-2pm) to create horns and amplifiers with artist Alys Owens, befriending birds and creating bird boxes (drop in 12pm-5pm), a barge cruise (3pm from GSS), and a metric tonne of other options to choose from on the Whisky Bond website.

Elsewhere in the Whisky Bond on Saturday, Marysia Gacek will preview her GSS exhibition Pleasant Setting from 5pm. In her work, Gacek suggests a personal symbolism, with references to her own memories crossed with cultural referents, looking for the universal in the everyday particulars. Working across a range of media including painting, clay, textiles and video, Gacek loosely makes narrative connections between works made, starting with an image or specific memory and allowing for loose connections and different modes of representation. The exhibition continues until 5 Sept.

Later in the day on Saturday, Duncan Marquiss previews new exhibition International Motley. Recent winner of the 2015 Margaret Tait award, Marquiss works predominantly with drawing and the moving image. In his practice, he often “spots analogies between discrete subjects and material processes, or by playing on the multiple meanings of a word”. Extracts of his video work can be viewed here. Marquiss' exhibition takes place in the Glasgow Project Room, and previews this Saturday from 7pm.

Meanwhile in Dundee this week, there are continuing exhibitions at galleries across the city. In Hannah Maclure, there is contemporary print exhibition Edition Two, while DCA exhibits work by Swiss artist Roman Signer (until 20 Sept) and Generator Projects host group show Hold, Sway, running until 26 July.