Scottish Art Events & Exhibitions: December 2024

At Dundee Contemporary Arts, Soft Impressions (7 Dec-23 Mar) brings together the work of artists Helen Cammock, Ingrid Pollard and Camara Taylor. Spanning both gallery spaces, the exhibition includes new and existing print works from the early 2000s to present day, focusing on the artists’ shared engagement with the medium of printmaking. Nearby at Generator Projects, a solo show by Belladonna Paloma titled The Grave in Full Vigour (until 15 Dec) sees the Shetland-based artist transform the gallery into a necropolis-cum-reading room devoted to the divine and abject nature of the trans body. 

In Edinburgh, Fruitmarket’s final exhibition of the year is a treat. The first retrospective since his death in 2021, In a State of Flux brings together numerous sculptural works by the late Barry Le Va. One of the most important American artists of the 20^th century, this major exhibition spans five decades of his career. Continues until 2 February.

In Glasgow, Tramway presents an immersive exhibition by the late Scottish-Ghanaian poet, artist, photographer, writer, curator, gallerist and publisher Maud Sulter. Curated in collaboration with the Maud Sulter Estate, the exhibition is the largest showcase of Sulter’s expansive practice in Scotland and showcases the artists' rarely exhibited moving image and spoken word archives as well as large scale photographic works. Continues until 30 March.

At the Hunterian Gallery, Digging in Another Time: Derek Jarman’s Modern Nature (until 4 May) draws inspiration from the renowned writer and artist’s diaries. Bringing together works from across his career, the exhibition also features commissions by six contemporary artists – Andrew Black, Luke Fowler, Jade de Montserrat, Tom Walker, Matthew Arthur Williams and Sarah Wood. 

It's your final opportunity to catch Marlene Smith’s exhibition Ah, Sugar at the Reid Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art (until 14 Dec). Curated by Seán Elder, the exhibition brings together newly-commissioned photographic and sculptural work that demonstrates the artist’s ongoing interest in the material and bodily qualities of artistic practice.