Scottish Art News: March 2016

March brings many screenings, openings, talks and workshop events. Here's the rundown of what to look forward to in Scottish Art throughout March.

Article by Adam Benmakhlouf | 01 Mar 2016

This March sees the British Art Show 8 continue across Edinburgh, with events throughout the month, as well as a new exhibition from Sara Barker, and the Scottish presentation of Graham Fagen’s Venice Biennale work.

Let’s start with the newest Scottish contemporary art, at the Royal Scottish Academy’s New Contemporaries 2016. Opening on 5 March, the RSA assembles their pick of the degree shows from five of the Scottish art schools. It’s a nice opportunity to check in with some of the recent graduates almost a year since finishing, and to see how they’ve got on with the visual arts’ equivalent of Second Album Syndrome. This is open until 30 March – read about our own picks here.

Also on 5 March is the first of this month’s British Art Show 8 events. Between 2pm and 3.30pm in Inverleith House, writer Mara Fusco and poet Sam Riviere discuss Charlotte Prodger’s work Northern Dancer. In this work, Prodger combines four monitors which display a sequence of racing dogs’ names, with a cycled eight-minute voiceover about the difficulty of reading Gertrude Stein’s manuscripts.



Bobby Sinclair, Blackfriars Two – part of RSA New Contemporaries 2016


The following Thursday (10 March), from 6.30-8.30pm in Inverleith House again, there is a screening by exhibiting artist James Richards and Director of Lux Scotland Isla Leaver-Yap. Together, they present a series of artists’ films, then present a discussion on Richards’ influences and work. There are then further talks and events through the month and into April – check britishartshow8.com for full details.

In the first of this month’s re-presentations, the Poster Club will be exhibiting in Dundee's Cooper Gallery from 10 March. Made from mainly Glasgow-based artists (with one in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and another working in Brussels), Poster Club combines several artists who have strong and separate practices. Designing and making posters together, they engage in the complexity of collective practice, and make works that question 'political, social and economic discourses'. There's an artists’ talk on 10 March from 4.30pm, with a preview taking place from 5.30pm. Titled NEW Wheat, NEW Mud, NEW Machine, it continues until 23 April.

On Friday 11 March from 6-8pm, Glasgow-based artist Sara Barker previews her new exhibition in the Fruitmarket Gallery. Barker’s work is also featured in our review of Mary Mary’s group show, which runs until 19 March. Frequently combining painting and sculptural elements, and working across a range of scales, Barker allows the paintings to invite the form and dimensions of the sculptural elements which are often protruding from the two-dimensional works.



Poster Club, exhibiting at Cooper Gallery this month


A week later, on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March, there is an open weekend at Hospitalfield to mark the beginning of Graham Fagen’s exhibition there. He will be re-presenting the sculptural, drawing and video works fresh from the 2015 Venice Biennale. There will be a talk on the Saturday between Fagen and curator Dan Kidner about the work from 3-4.30pm. On Sunday, Laura Aldridge presents a workshop on eco-dyeing from 11am. Both available to book online, with the workshop costing £5 per person.

Finally, you can also book now for BAS8-exhibited artist Linder’s ballet in Dovecot. Titled Children of the Mantic Stain, this will be its only showing in Scotland. Coming from a collaboration between the tapestry studio and the artist, the work begins with a rug exhibited now in the National Gallery of Modern Art, and is based on collaged imagery. On the night, the rug will migrate to Dovecot for one evening to be part of the experimental choreography. 30 Mar, tickets £8-20.