Edinburgh
Art Festival Top Ten Shows to See
1
Andy Warhol: A Celebration of Life
and Death, National Gallery
Complex, until October 7, £8/£6
Marking the 20th anniversary of Andy Warhols death, the National
Galleries have attracted 200 of the artists best works to Edinburgh,
many of them straight from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Marilyn
Monroe, Liz Taylor and Elvis Presley will all feature, as well as
Warhols famous Brillo Boxes. Part of a record £400,000
sponsorship deal with Bank of Scotland, the show will fill two floors
of the gallerys exhibition space on The Mound.
The most comprehensive Warhol show ever mounted in Scotland, the exhibition
will cover a broad range of work from the early 1950s to 1986, revealing
the artists deep-seated obsession with life and death. Silver
Clouds, a roomful of floating helium balloons, will be included in
the display, and there will be a special recreation of Warhol's 1983
Zurich exhibition, Paintings for Children, hung at child's eye level.
Elsewhere, Edinburgh College of Art will present a programme of films
by and on Warhol (August 4 September 9, free), and in Glasgow,
the Gallery of Modern Art will show a special exhibition of 125 original
Warhol posters (until September 2, free).
2 The Naked Portrait, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until
September 2, £6/£4
Looking forward to a sizzling summer, the Portrait Gallery has bared
all with a stunning collection of naked portraits from around the
world. Taking in 150 works of 20th century art and photography, its
the gallerys first ever show to take up two whole floors. Lucian
Freud and Egon Schiele rub shoulders with Tracey Emin and David Bailey
in this long, hard stare at an overlooked genre. Whether you want
to wrap your mind around some meaty issues, or simply gaze with admiration,
theres plenty here to satisfy.
3 Picasso on Paper, Dean Gallery, Until September 23, £6/£4
Never before has there been a major Picasso exhibition in Scotland,
and like buses, suddenly two have come along at once. While the National
Museum of Scotland hosts the artists ceramics, the Dean gallery
has landed a cornucopia of the best prints and drawings made by Picasso
over a career which spanned 70 years. The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
has lent 100 graphic works from its world-renowned collection, supplemented
by 25 more from public and private collections. All of Picassos
styles are represented, including his Blue Period, Cubism, Surrealism
and collage.
4 Hand, Heart and Soul, City Art Centre, until September 23, £5/£3.50
Considering the massive contribution Scotland made to the Arts and
Crafts movement a century ago, its amazing that this is the
first major show devoted to it. Three floors are crammed with 350
precious objects, all hand-made for the sake of beauty, craft, and
making the world a better place. Fighting against the spiritual emptiness
of the new mechanical age, artists devoted their hand,
heart and soul to making exquisite textiles, ceramics, furniture and
much more. Look out for showstopping examples by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
and Phoebe Anna Traquair.
5 Richard Long: Walking And Marking, Scottish National Gallery
of Modern Art, until October 21, £6/£4
The first major retrospective in 16 years of one of the worlds
best known land artists, this show was selected and arranged by Richard
Long himself. He makes the most of the Gallery of Modern Arts
elegant corridors, alternately lining them with neat series of framed
photographs, and walloping them with copious quantities of Firth of
Forth mud. Dating back to the start of Longs career in 1967,
the show also includes new works both indoors and out, from the man
who turned walking into an artform.
6 Eight Days Project, Ingleby Gallery, ongoing, free
To celebrate its 10th birthday, Ingleby kicks off an unusual year
of exhibitions during the festival, promising an ambitious 26 shows
over the next 12 months. More a series of artistic conversations than
exhibitions, each eight-day event will introduce an unexpected pairing.
The festival period sees David Batchelor setting his work against
that of Russian Suprematist Nikolai Suetin (August 11-18); American
minimalist Richard Serra in combination with photographer Francesca
Woodman (August 25 to September 1); and perhaps most intriguing of
all, this week sculptor Rachel Whiteread will share space with Robert
Burnss breakfast table (until August 4).
7 William Eggleston Portraits 1974, until October 14, Inverleith
House, free
A roll of film taken in 1974 by the father of colour photography
is to be seen for the very first time this summer at Inverleith House.
Born in Memphis, William Eggleston is renowned for his colour photographs
of Americas deep South, monumentalising everyday subjects. It
was in 1973 that Eggleston started experimenting with commercial colour
processes, and this roll of film comes only a year into that crucial
period of Egglestons career. The photographs have been printed
for the very first time, and arranged in the gallery by Eggleston
himself.
8 MAGAZINE 07, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, August 4-26, free
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
has come out of its shell for this years festival show. Twelve
artists have been commissioned to make works for the buildings
exterior, its garden, and the surrounding area of Newhaven, and music
has been commissioned from artist group FOUND. A host of events will
kick off with Anthony Schrag climbing the building on August 4, and
a miniature boat race through Leith on August 5. At the Shore, The
Lighthouse will be transformed, charging from the sun by day, and
emitting a ghostly glow at night.
9 David Batchelor: Unplugged, until September 29, Talbot Rice Gallery,
free
Following on from his successful interventions at the old Royal High
School last year, David Batchelor returns for a full-scale solo exhibition
at the Universitys Talbot Rice Gallery. Known for his illuminated
sculptures made from cheap urban plastic, this time hes showing
them unplugged, basted in light from the gallerys
usually hidden windows. His hoards of garish urban detritus
gathered in Londons East End and from Scottish cities
are united in a forest of unnatural colour, a far cry from the gallerys
usually tasteful hues.
10 William Kentridge Prints, Edinburgh Printmakers, until September
8, free
The celebrated South African artist, known particularly for his work
in theatre, drawing and animation, is represented by a host of prints
never seen in Scotland before. Working in a wide variety of traditional
print-making techniques, Kentridge explores his countrys painful
recovery from the wounds of apartheid. The show includes classics
such as the Ubu Tells The Truth suite, as well as several brand new
series seen here for the first time. Its all topped off by an
award-winning documentary on the artist, including excerpts from his
bewitching animations.
Catrìona
Black, Sunday Herald 29.07.07