Art News: Graham Fagen heads to Venice Biennale, Richard Demarco's art collection finds a home

Article by News Team | 26 Mar 2014

GRAHAM FAGEN WILL REPRESENT SCOTLAND AT THE VENICE BIENNALE IN 2015
Glasgow-based artist Graham Fagen has been selected to represent Scotland at the 2015 Venice Biennale, it was revealed this week. Fagen, whose work encompasses video, performance, sculpture, sound, music and text, is also a Senior Lecturer at Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College. His exhibition at the 56th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale will be commissioned and curated by Hospitalfield Arts of Arbroath. Fagen's subject matter, which has in the past included flowers and popular songs, reveals a fascination with the way ordinary people live their lives, and the powerful natural forces which shape them.


The Making Of Us, by Graham Fagen

"It is a fantastic honour to have been invited to represent Scotland at the Venice Biennale in 2015," says Fagen. "The Biennale is one of the most important events in the international calendar for the visual arts and I hope that I can do justice to its history and Scotland’s participation in it."

Lucy Byatt, the Director of Hospitalfield Arts, also comments: "We could not be more delighted to be offered this opportunity to commission Scotland’s contribution to the Venice Biennale in 2015. It is an outstanding opportunity for Hospitalfield Arts to work closely with an artist such as Graham Fagen and to bring to Venice a project that emerges from our work in Arbroath in the beautiful region of Angus."

Fagen has exhibitions coming up at the Glasgow School of Art, and at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art as part of GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art from Scotland, in coming months. You can read The Skinny's coverage of the 2013 Venice Biennale, featuring Bedwyr Williams, Richard Mosse, Ed Atkins and many more, at theskinny.co.uk/art/venice_biennale

RICHARD DEMARCO'S ART COLLECTION FINDS A PERMANENT HOME
Richard Demarco, the Edinburgh-born artist and promoter of visual and performing arts who co-founded the Traverse Theatre, and established his own Richard Demarco Gallery, not to mention being an instrumental figure in the cultural landscape of both the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was given the Edinburgh Award this year in recognition of his contribution to the city's arts and culture. Now, the gigantic private art collection that Demarco has amassed over the years is to be given a permanent home, according to The Scotsman.

Having supported countless artists, exhibitions and events over the years, Demarco has collected a treasure trove of unique artworks, memorabilia and photographs, the majority of which have been kept in archive since the closure of the Demarco Gallery in 1974. The collection has had to be moved several times, with portions of the 4,500 item archive currently residing in the National Galleries of Scotland and at Summerhall. Now, a new taskforce has been formed by the Scottish Government to find a place where Demarco's collection can be put on permanent public display.

Demarco has previously battled with Edinburgh Council over the storage rates they charged to house his collection. Speaking to The Scotsman this week, he commented: "I don’t really see it as an archive myself, it is more like a total work of art. It would be a disaster if its future is not secured before I pass away. I really want to see this resolved."

EXHIBITION: EMMA HERMAN-SMITH @ NORTH LIGHT ARTS, DUNBAR
The North Light Arts gallery in Dunbar will be presenting a new exhibition by Emma Herman-Smith throughout April. Showcasing the fuits of two recent residencies, one in Dunbar and one on the Isle of Mull, Herman-Smith will present sculptural and printed works that "capture the dynamic actions of nature in the process of growth and decay."

Emma Herman-Smith - Biodiversity 1: Tadpoles to Toads

Herman-Smith has been taking casts of geological features in and around The Beach Hut in Dunbar, looking at the landscape so precious to pioneering conservationist John Muir. Her exhibition at the Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery will be part of the John Muir Festival. The exhibition runs from 5 April to 3 May. Find out more here.

EXHIBITION: YURI PATTISON – COLOCATION, TIME DISPLACEMENT @ THE TELFER GALLERY, EDINBURGH
Glasgow's Telfer Gallery will be showcasing a new exhibition entitled colocation, time displacement by Yuri Pattison, a Dublin-born, London-residing artist whose installation-based work examines themes of time, space and visual communication. His new exhibition was inspired by the story of John Titor, a self-proclaimed 'time traveller' whose blog posts about his displacement in the time-stream were an early viral hit in the early 2000s.

An image from 'colocation, time displacement' - the new exhibition from Yuri Pattison

The 'colocation' of the title referes to "the provision of computing services in a third-party colocation centre, being in more than one place at the same time (a physical location and virtual location or multiple telepresence appearances)." The exhibition is also inspired by WikiLeaks, data storage policies, and communications infrastructure. There will be a preview on 2 April, and the exhibition runs until 27 April. Find out more here.

EXHIBITION: BROTH MIX @ KINNING PARK COMPLEX, GLASGOW
As part of Glasgow International, socially engaged arts organisation the Open Jar Collective will be taking up residence in Kinning Park Complex in April, Their residency, Broth Mix, will feature a temporary cafe open daily from 12-5pm from Monday 14 to Sunday 20 April. The cafe will host free workshops, music, film, and family events, as well as delicious soup (hence the name), made fom ingredients donated by artists and local residents, and cooked on site each day – soup will be given to anyone who makes a small donation to Kinning Park Complex.

Highlights include a workshop on creative upcycling (10 April), a traditional tea dance (14 April), an afternoon of music, spoken word and performance featuring Stevie Jones and Alistair Quietsch amongst others, followed by an evening of film screenings including A Growing Exchange, by artists Alex Wilde and Annechien Meier, exploring the role of artists in urban food (15 April), and a workshop on guerilla gardening which will teach you how to make 'seed bombs' and moss graffiti (19 April). Find the programme here, and more info at the Glasgow International site

ROUTE 75: ARTS & CULTURE TRAIL IN GLASGOW, THIS WEEKEND
An 'arts and crafts trail' is being organised in Glasgow this weekend, following the route of the number 75 bus route north of Cowcaddens. The trail will be in action on Saturday 29 March from 12-4pm, and is organised by Depot Arts and Glasgow CAN. This is its third annual outing – last year's event featured live performances from poets and musicians on the 75 bus itself, as well as shop-front projections, pop-up exhibitions, installations and displays, and a host of other activities.

Bands and musicians performing this year include How to Swim, Gavin Prentice of Over the Wall, The Glasgow School of Art Choir, First Tiger, Ross Clark of Three Blind Wolves, members of the State Broadcasters and Blochestra, the West of Scotland Ukulele Players, and more. Events and things to do include a craft fair, and a look at the diverse cultural activities happening in this part of the city. Download a map of the featured artists' spaces and event locations here, and find out more here.