Document Scotland: The Ties that Bind

Surprising exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery by the photographic group Document Scotland examining Scottish identity following the referendum.

It consisted of four sets of pictures, one by each of the group looking at different aspects of Scottish life and history. I will admit I did go expecting it to be a bit dull and worthy but it was really interesting and highlighted different aspects of Scottish life.

Stephen McLaren looked at the legacy of the slave trade in Scotland contrasting where the men who made the money came from and where it was made. This included a nice set off portraits of people in the West Indies with Scottish surnames which had probably derived from their ancestors being the property of plantations owned by Scots men.

Colin McPherson looked at the rituals of football and particularly at the lower league Scottish clubs. These were poignant pictures of empty dilapidated terraces and devoted men. The names of the grounds were the sounds of final score on a Saturday afternoon, Cowdenbeath, Alloa Athletic etc.!

Sophie Gerrard looked at the landscape through the eyes of six women farmers and shepherds creating set of photographs of them and their lives usually with a portrait of them alongside pictures of their land and their homes.

Finally Jeremy Sutton looked at the old festival of Common Ridings which still take place in the border regions of Scotland where a banner is carried round the boundaries of the town by Braw Lassies and Honest Lads or Left  Hand Lassie and Right Hand Lads. Looking at the pictures of them they had a strange look of prom kings and queen photos and it did leave me speculating how many romances had blossomed between the Lassies and the Lads!

Closes on 24 April 2015.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B was
Read more

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my
Read more

Courtauld summer school day 1

Image
Today has been my first day of this year’s week at the Courtauld Institute’s summer schools. This year I am doing “Painting in Renaissance Venice” which is being led by Michael Douglas-Scott. It was nice to see some familiar faces and there are at least five of us who did Michael’s course last year. Today has been two lectures. Firstly setting out the background of Venice in this period looking at how the city had set up a myth of itself, the role of the Doge. the nature of the Republic and the role of citizens. The second lecture looked at why the nature of Renaissance was different in Venice. There was still a sense of the coming of antiquity and humanism but in Venice it fused with the Gothic and Byzantine rather than replacing it. The day ended with a choice of gallery talks. I went to one on the second floor of the Courtauld on the coming of Modernism. In essence it looked at the Impressionists and discussed what they were reacting against and what themes they portrayed. All in a
Read more