Fashion, Film and Free Society: Scottish Art News for May 2015

Article by Adam Benmakhlouf | 28 Apr 2015

Two years on from his stunning show at The Modern Institute, this month Nicolas Party presents Boys and Pastel in Inverleith House, his first major solo exhibition in the UK. As before, Party will cover the entirety of the exhibition space with wall murals painted in situ, through all seven galleries, stairwells, hallways and corridors. Also in the exhibition, there will be displayed new painted and drawn works, including landscapes, still life and portraits in Party’s characteristic and superlatively 3D irreality. Boys and Pastel is open from Saturday 2 May until Sunday 5 July.

Also from Saturday 2 May until Sunday 7 June, Tramway will exhibit a film by German artist Grace Schwindt, titled Only a Free Individual Can Create a Free Society. In this film work, within open film sets situated on a vantage point that overlooks London, a 'tightly scripted choreograhy' of dancers, lighting, camera and sound takes place. Set within large photographic prints referencing cityscapes, country sites and domestic spaces, OFICCFS poses explictly questions of 'how freedom was and is understood,' who can access it and what can be done create a freer society. At 73 minutes in length, this is one to set aside a bit of time for.

You can find our interview with iconic stylist, photographer and designer Maripol here – accompanying the exhibition Spring/Summer 2015 at Dundee Contemporary Arts is a series of talks, performance and screenings throughout May. On Thursday 14 May, fashion historian Mairi Mackenzie contextualises Maripol’s work, specifically looking at the music, fashion and popular culture she has inspired and been inspired by. Artist and writers Laurie Figgis and Valerie Norris have prepared performance and prints as their respective responses to the exhibited work. On Sunday 17 May, curator Graham Domke will give a tour of the exhibition ahead of a screening of Maripol's Downtown '81, described as 'a classic day-in-the-life picaresque tale of the then unknown Jean-Michel Basquiat.' On the following Sunday, there is an Artists' Choice screening of cult 80s sci-fi Liquid Sky, which combines a UFO landing with modelling, clubbing and dancing decadence. 

Back to mid month, it's officially the height of spring as Jupiter Artland reopens for the season. Located in 100 acres of woodland and meadows just outside Edinburgh, Jupiter Artland is a vast collection of outdoor sculpture, and on Saturday 16 May, the park's spring programme opens to the public. For the first time since opening, the collection will be open to the public every day throughout July and August. We'll be covering the opening on the website, with interviews from the two featured artists, contemporary Argentine artist Mika Rottenberg and London-based artist, composer and performer Edwin Burdis

Artist-designer duo Lucy McKenzie and Beca Lipscombe's Atelier EB (standing for 'Edinburgh Brussels', their respective places of origin) have got an exciting May planned. From 2-30 May, Atelier EB and Panel (the independent curatorial practice led by Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan) will present The Inventors of Tradition II in the Palace of Art – which sits in the grounds of Glasgow's Bellahouston Park. Both an exhibtion and a shop, Atelier EB will present their new collection for sale. Accompanying the exhibition is Steel Upon Sward: The Films of Murray Grigor, a series of three screenings in GFT throughout May. For 40 years, Grigor has contributed to the arts in his positions as filmmaker, writer and exhibition curator. Three double bill screenings take place on the 9, 10, and 30 May, spanning Scottish cultural subjects including new town Cumbernauld, renowned Dundee-educated artist Eduardo Paolozzi, and finally The Fall and Rise of Mackintosh