Rough Cut Nation @ Scottish National Portrait Gallery

In an art world constantly chasing the new and the unexpected, perhaps the biggest surprise of the EAF comes from that most unexpected of venues, the Scottish Portrait Gallery. Currently closed for renovations, the 120 year old institution is being reopened for three weeks over the festival to host an exhibition by local urban and graffiti artists. Yes, graffiti artists. Who are being allowed to paint on the walls. In the Portrait Gallery.
Taking Sir William Hole’s existing decorative murals (figures from Scottish history stand in a line on a gold background) as a starting point, the various artists, including Fraser Gray, Elph, Kirsty Whiten and Jason Nelson, are spraying, stencilling and pasting onto the gallery walls to create a contemporary vision of Scotland and its history. With accompanying events including weekly gig nights courtesy of Avalanche records, Rough Cut Nation flies in the face of all we would expect from the traditional Portrait Gallery, neatly sidestepping common perceptions of a Scottish visual culture swimming in tartan and Landseer to showcase work from the contemporary city. Who knew the National Galleries had it in them? [Rosamund West]