Short Courses

2022 Art Exhibitions to Visit Across Scotland

University of Edinburgh's Short Courses Art Teaching Fellow Ed Bruce rounds up his top exhibition recommendations you won't want to miss across the country this spring and summer.

There is a real appetite at the moment for getting out and about to see performances and art exhibitions.

We’ve all had to curtail this pleasure for a while, so now Scottish art galleries and exhibitions spaces are encouraging us, albeit with some restrictions still in place, to visit some enticing new shows this Spring and Summer.

As an artist and Teaching Fellow in Printmaking at the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Open Learning I am excited about getting out to see some art ‘face to face’ and enjoying the many fantastic art spaces we have here in Scotland.

From Orkney to Glasgow, I’ve compiled my ‘Top 6’ list of exhibitions to share with you and have included three classy print exhibitions from different artists who delve deep into the incredibly diverse world of printmaking.

Ed Bruce outside the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre

 

1.  Workshop | Edinburgh Printmakers (8 April-26 June)

Workshop at Edinburgh Printmakers focuses on the late-1970s onwards with three themes:

  • Bold Impressions, a selection of graphic, colourful and experimental work from the archive.
  • 'Ditto,' a small cohort of artworks selected in pairs from the archive.
  • Texting Voice presenting a selection of work in which artists have used text or responded to fiction, poetry and prose.

 

2. Douglas Gordon | Dundee Contemporary Arts  (7 May- 7 August)

Now onto video and performance and the upcoming exhibition at the DCA in Dundee featuring the work of the Glasgow-born artist and former Turner Prize winner, Douglas Gordon.

K364 is a video and audio piece shown on multiple screens that features two Polish-born Israeli musicians on a train journey from Berlin to Warsaw. They travel through a landscape that has seen violence and tragedy to reach the Warsaw Philharmonic concert hall where they perform Mozart’s Köchel Composition k.364.

 

3. Céline Condorelli / After Work | Talbot Rice Gallery (25 June - 3 Sept )

Now we're headed back to Edinburgh to the Talbot Rice Gallery’s summer show featuring the work of Céline Condorelli.

Playing with ideas of inside and outside, work and leisure Condorelli is an artist who crosses art, architecture and design with installations that respond to the architecture of the gallery.

 

4. Pier Arts Centre | A British Museum Touring Exhibition Pushing Paper: Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now (2 April- June 4)

To Orkney now and the fantastic Pier Arts Centre for their British Museum touring exhibition Pushing paper: contemporary drawing from 1970 to now. This looks really interesting and mind expanding, promising to explore how artists use drawing experimentally in relation to the different characteristics of paper.

The exhibition features the work of 56 artists including David Hockney, Rachel Whiteread, Sol LeWitt, Anish Kapoor, Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Hamid Sulaiman and Rachel Duckhouse.

 

5. Frances Walker: Printing On | Aberdeen City Council (19 March-12 June)

Over to the wonderful Aberdeen Art Gallery for Frances Walker: Printing On. The show is also a celebration of the great Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen where Frances works and where she was a founding member back in 1974.

One of Scotland’s most celebrated living artists, Frances Walker is a painter, printmaker, teacher and graduate of Edinburgh College of Art.

 

6. Elizabeth Blackadder | Glasgow Print Studio (9 April-28 May)

And finally to Glasgow Print Studio where another printmaking legend the late Elizabeth Blackadder’s work will be on display. Elizabeth began printing at Glasgow Print Studio in 1984. Her very recognisable style and locations ranging from Scotland to Japan make her work always popular and fascinating.

 

Feeling inspired? We are offering a wide range of both in person (with some online) art courses this April to help you express your creative side this spring.

Booking closes 8 days before the course start date!

 

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