Scottish Art Events & Exhibitions: November 2023

In Ayr, Rachel Maclean has inhabited an empty shop unit in the town’s high street with her surreal installation Don’t Buy Mi (until 23 Dec), a reincarnation of her installation at Jupiter Artland and in Perth. 

At the CCA in Glasgow, Rhona Mühlebach’s multifaceted, richly textured installation Ditch Me (until 2 Dec) explores the history and contemporary resonance of the Antonine Wall through a constellation of intriguing characters. 

Also in Glasgow, a presentation of new paintings and sculpture by Alberta Whittle fills The Modern Institute’s Osborne Street space (until 11 Nov). “Even in the most beautiful place in the world, our breath can falter” references the works of writers and poets including Kae Tempest, Jean Rhys and Rabindranath Tagore. In The Modern Institute’s Aird’s Lane and Bricks Space, Matt Connors' Finder (until 18 Nov) is based around ideas of digital layering, the title being drawn from the Apple file manager. 

At Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket, Zarina Bhimji’s exhibition Flagging It Up (until 28 Jan) comprises of works that span her career. Bhimji’s examination of institutional power structures operates across films, photographs and installations. At Collective, Thomas Abercromby’s John explores the intersections of grief, family and the complexities of social class. The moving image work, with an all working-class cast and crew, juxtaposes lavish gallery interiors with snapshots of Glasgow’s urban landscape and candid moments from the film’s production. Also at Collective, Liza Sylvestre’s asweetsea explores how her experience as an artist who is deaf lives within the structure of her family. Made in collaboration with the artist’s daughter, the central moving image works reimagines a cartoon from Sylvestre’s childhood, alongside three large scale drawings. Both exhibitions continue until 23 December.