Black and White @ David Dale Gallery & Studios

Recently set up by embarrassingly young Glasgow graduates, the David Dale Gallery & Studios already looks to be a prominent part of the Scottish art scene. With their recent show of site specific work by the Edinburgh based artist Kevin McPhee, the gallery set a high bench mark for future shows to strive towards. With their upcoming members’ show (and with members including Rachel MacLean, Maximilian Slaven and Desmond Church) there shouldn’t be a problem this time round.

To avoid the clutter of the salon-style rammy typical of members’ shows the adroit committee has decided to create a two part, themed show, one entitled Black (7-15 August) and the other White (21-29 August). The participating artists are expected to produce a wide range of work that will not only look at the formal aspects of these two tones but also the deeper connotations that they might imply.

Curiously, we are told, those working in the medium of film and video have chosen to exhibit in the Black component of the exhibition while those more inclined to wall based works and an implicit critique of the white cube space, common of contemporary galleries, have tended toward the White.

A hub of creativity in the heart of Bridgeton, Glasgow, the gallery also plays host to sporadic ‘crit sessions’ where artists are invited along to display and discuss work in progress, making for a relaxed and open atmosphere where practitioners can examine work like they once did, many moons ago, when still at art school. Critical awareness is a skill too often lacking in an art scene and it’s about time that we stepped beyond the mindless dichotomy of good and bad. It’s not always so black and white, after all. [Jonathan Williams]