Kirsty Whiten - Schemie Centaurs

The plain ugliness of the eponymous Schemies, here depicted for our amusement as a threatening pack centaurs, comes across as rather patronising

Article by Celia Sontag | 14 Aug 2006

Kirsty Whiten's stock is on the rise. Voted Young Scottish Artist of the Year in '99; recently nominated for an award at the RSA; and last year thrown out of the Pittenweem arts festival after churchgoers complained about her images of lingerie models cavorting with wolves. You just can't buy publicity like that. Here Whiten presents a series of new drawings showing strange crossbreeds; the offspring of mythical creatures and the kind of everyday folk you might bump into on your walk down to the dole office. The title of the exhibition (one hopes) comes across as quite light-hearted, but there is something uneasy in the way Whitten deals with class in some of these images.

The plain ugliness of the eponymous Schemies, here depicted for our amusement as a threatening pack centaurs, comes across as rather patronising; particularly as the works are being exhibited in the uber-chic milieu of the Analogue bookshop. Elsewhere though, Whiten's humour comes across more successfully. The expressions on Whiten's Harpies will definitely raise a smile and her bawdy Special Faun equally so.

The execution of the works is impactful but somewhat heavy handed throughout; the hard edges and plain backgrounds emphasising their cartoonish quality more than anything else. Nevertheless this is memorable exhibition and one which will increase Analogue's reputation as a serious gallery space.

Analogue Books, Edinburgh. This show has now closed.