Adventurous Artist Exhibition in Glasgow
November 9, 2012 by Louise Wilson · Leave a Comment
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Intrepid artist Phillip Gray is holding an exhibition later the month to raise funds the The Hope Foundation in conjunction with Breeze Art Galleries.
Phillip Gray, whose artwork is coveted by many celebrities, including Dolly Parton and George Bush, will display many of his works in the two-hour exhibition, including a brand new exclusive painting of the Scottish Highlands landscape as requested by Breeze Art Gallery. This piece will encapsulate the country’s wild nature and will be for sale during the exhibition.
Phillip Gray, a self-proclaimed extreme artist, creates landscape pieces which will be on display at the exhibition. His inspiration comes from the most extreme and harshest climates known to man, including 20,000ft up Mt Everest or the North Atlantic seabed. When asked about his art, he claims it is a form of expression designed to push his thoughts to extremes.
He says: “My extreme journeys into the unknown bring new challenges that push the boundaries of my mind body and soul. Voyages of discovery, sometimes dangerous, are a stimulus to drive me forward creatively and explore new worlds of emotional expression.”
Phillip Gray will also be giving a live demonstration of how he works to guests of the event. He builds on a feeling of his surroundings to create his amazing pieces. One of his most recent pieces include a landscape of the volcanic eruption in Iceland back in 2010. This stunted travel plans for many Europeans, but Phillip only saw the excitement and potential in thsi situation.
Philip added: “The contrast between fire and ice inspired me to paint with a wider palette and freed my imagination to create paintings that are both science, yet somewhat surreal too.”
Breeze Galleries are very excited to work with Phillip in order to raise funds for such a great cause. Proceeds will go towards The Hope Foundation, a charity close to the artists heart supporting children in India and the Philippines. The Hope Foundation, based in Kolkata, provides education, healthcare and general support for children without parents.
Bob Corsie, founder of Breeze Galleries, said: “We are very excited to be welcoming Philip Gray back to Glasgow, especially as he will once again be providing us with a live demonstration. Philip’s work is stunning and visitors to the exhibition will no doubt be captivated by the massive, colour filled canvases, which seem to pull those looking at them right into the heart of the landscape he is depicting.”
The exhibition will be on November 18th, between 2-4pm in the Breeze Art Gallery in Frasers, Glasgow. For an invitation to the event call Breeze Galleries on 0800 1300 345 or go to the Breeze Gallery website here.
More information on The Hope Foundation and what the charity does to help orphaned children can be found on their website here.
Cashback for Communities helps young filmmakers
July 5, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Scotland’s Culture Secretary was in Glasgow yesterday to see how cash confiscated from crooks is supporting young people to develop their creative skills.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, visited the Glasgow Media Access Centre (GMAC), where young people from targeted areas of the city are benefiting from Mad About Movies – a programme of free activities designed to boost their knowledge and understanding of filmmaking.
The centre has been awarded £39,205 in Cashback for Communities funding through Creative Scotland.
The funding is supporting GMAC’s Mad About Movies programme which includes regular movie clubs and a filmmaking summer school. A training programme, also delivered through the project, will give teachers and youth workers the knowledge and skills to set up film projects for young people in their own communities.
Ms Hyslop went to an acting workshop at GMAC today, where Scottish actor Atta Yaqub, star of ‘Ae fond kiss’, was talking to the young people involved in the Mad About Movies project about his own skills and experience.
She said:
“Through Cashback for Communities, the Scottish Government has reinvested more than £46 million recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, back into communities to benefit Scotland’s young people.
“In particular, the creative strand of Cashback is helping thousands of young Scots to access life-changing opportunities to boost their skills, improve their employability and reach their full potential through engagement with creativity and the arts.
“Today I was proud to meet some of the young people whose lives are being impacted by this important work. The Mad About Movies project is an excellent example of how Cashback funding is making a real difference to their enthusiasm, confidence, outlook and skill base.”
Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland, said:
“During the Year of Creative Scotland 2012, the creative strand of the CashBack programme will allow over 8,000 young people across the country to create a film, choreograph or perform in a dance production or record their own piece of music.
“Taking part in creative activities can make a real difference to the lives of our children and young people. It provides an opportunity for young people to shine and express themselves and learn how work as part of a group. We look forward to the continued success of this life-changing programme for years to come.”
Beth Armstrong from GMAC, said: “GMAC has a proud 30 year history of championing diversity and equality within the Scottish film industry. We are delighted to be part of Cashback for Communities which allows us to offer this amazing programme of free film activities for young people from all over Glasgow. If you’re 10 – 19 and Mad About Movies then get in touch and get involved”!
Flower Master Class at Blythswood Square
February 2, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Do you ever look at beautifully styled images in glossy magazine and gasp at the fabulous flowers which celebrities have all around them? Then why not go along to the Flower Master Class at Blythswood Square, Glasgow, when top florist Nick Priestly of Mood Flowers will demonstrate the latest trends – while enjoying a glass of prosecco and a sumptuous afternoon tea!
Nick has designed pieces specifically for ‘A’ list celebrities visiting Glasgow including Keira Knightley, Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper and it was his flowers which greeted P Diddy when he stayed in the Penthouse at Blythswood Square. He said: ‘Every client is different whether celebrity or not and I love the challenge of creating something which blends their personality perfectly with the backdrop for the arrangements.
‘For P Diddy I created beautiful vase arrangements of trailing crisp white phalenopsis orchids and tropical foliages which looked gorgeous in the Penthouse while for Rihanna’s hotel suite and dressing room at the SECC it was lots of mini vase arrangements using ivory Avalanche roses and nude coloured Vendela Roses.’
The Flower Master Class being held on Sunday 26th February is the next in a series at Blythswood Square. Nick added: ‘Guests joining me for this session will see me create current trends in floristry along side signature pieces. They will then have the opportunity to put together their own mini masterpiece which they can take home together with some ideas to help them create the boutique hotel look in their own home.’
The Flower Master Class costs £60 per person (maximum 20) and includes a glass of prosecco and afternoon tea. Also includes a beautiful arrangement of seasonal flowers created personally by each attendee. For further details on this event, the Master Class on 10 June or to book, visit www.blythswoodsquare.com or call 0141-248 8888
Getting out of Glasgow – The Edinburgh School exhibition in Crinan
October 6, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
'Overlooking Plockton' by Adam Bruce Thomson OBE, RSA
If you are lucky enough to be travelling on Scotland’s west coast during October then point your car, carriage or sailing boat in the direction of the Crinan Hotel. At the end of Crinan’s famous canal you will find an inspired collection of drawings and paintings by a group of 20th century Scottish artists collectively known as The Edinburgh School.
As friends and colleagues they all studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the years before and just after the second world war. They went on to become some of Scotland’s most acclaimed artists. Amongst them were Sir William MacTaggart, John Maxwell, Sir William Gillies, Denis Peploe, Anne Redpath, John Houston and Adam Bruce Thomson. The Edinburgh School is known for its virtuoso displays in the use of paint using vivid and often non-naturalistic colours. Their subjects range across still-life, seascape and landscape
A collection of around thirty paintings and drawing by these artists is on display during October at the Crinan Hotel. While many of the artists found inspiration from their travels in France and Italy, a number also found their subject matter nearer home. Houston’s dramatic East Lothian sunsets contrast vividly with Redpath’s townscape of Menton in France. Add watercolours by Blackadder and McTaggart and you have every reason to make your way to Crinan’s Gallery with Rooms. A very decent seafood bar and good autumnal rates for accommodation also make the journey well worthwhile.
The ‘Edinburgh School’ Exhibition runs until to 24th October 2011
The Crinan Hotel, Crinan by Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31 8SR, Tel: 01546 830 261
By All Means Necessary – Glasgow School of Art
April 27, 2011 by Kirsty McLaren · Leave a Comment
An innovative student exhibition sparks the interest of ‘arty types.’
Friday 22 April saw Glasgow’s art lovers flock to the top floor studio at uber-cool hangout, The Art School, to witness a special exhibition of recent work by artists Jackson Marlette and Robin Leishman.
The two students in their final year at Glasgow School of Art put together the unique event, calling it By All Means Necessary, in a matter of weeks, and greeted the many guests with a cold beer and a polite eagerness to discuss the concept for the exhibition:-
“The idea was to show that massively differing personal inspirations can sit side by side in a harmonious habitat through linking imagery,” said Robin.
“We wanted to show that art doesn’t need to be consciously curated together to work collaboratively in this sort of space. There just needs to be an overlap in passion to allow the work to make sense together, and in our case what links our work is the psychology, imagery and military motifs.”
Indeed, walking into the exhibition space, sparse but for the adorned walls, visitors were confronted with two very different fine art styles.
Jackson Marlette’s work used primarily paint and spray paint on canvas (materials that are sometimes considered ‘primitive’ in a contemporary sense), and focused on memory and paranoia.
The most striking aspect of his work was the imagery of guerrilla militia and live arms, set against a background of vivid primary colours and erratic brush strokes to create a contrast between the unsettling and the childish. Needless to say, the result was disturbing, yet captivating.
Like Jackson, Robin’s work also focused on childhood and memory, however the materials used in his case included photography, and pine and steel etchings.
A favourite among visitors was a mural of photographs showing toy soldiers carrying a wounded comrade away on a stretcher. The photos had been stitched together with thread to create one large, touching scene.
Robin said: “I wanted to explore the relationship that we all form with inanimate objects in order to stimulate an organic memory of the past.”
“It’s privately a shrine to the memory of my father. By using the military toys that he once played with as a child, I was hoping to create a bridge to a man that I never knew by developing a relationship with his possessions, and using their motifs to engage in a visual dialogue.”
If the effect of By All Means Necessary was to show that different styles of art can exist in the same space harmoniously, linked only by one single inspiration, then the brief was undoubtedly met.
Guests at the exhibition marvelled at the unique notion of a joint showcase, and Leishman and Garrett have certainly caught the attention of Glasgow’s art luvvies, which will surely stand both artists in great stead for the future.
You can next see Robin Leishman and Jackson Marlette’s work displayed at the Glasgow School of Art’s Fine Art degree show from June 11- 18.
Photography exhibition launched at Cookie
December 1, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Rapidly earning a reputation for itself as a unique space within which to exhibit an eclectic range of art works, on 1 December at 5.30pm Cookie, the award-winning bistro in Glasgow’s southside, will launch ‘Creative People’, a month-long photography exhibition by portrait photographer Paul Harkin.
The exhibition comprises a series of 20 images of writers, musicians, actors and philosophers, with subjects including authors Jason Donald, Ewan Morrison, Elizabeth Reader and Beatrice Colin as well as musicians Zoey van Goey and members of Glasgow-based choir the Parsonage.
Cookie co-founder Domenico Del Priore said: “Having hosted a series of fine art shows over recent months, ‘Creative People’ represents Cookie’s first foray into photography. The majority of Paul’s images are studio based or use artificial lighting, which structures the mood. They draw on the traditions of the painter rather than the photographer, where the artist creates a likeness in collaboration with his sitter.
“In this sense they negate photography’s advantage of capturing a fleeting moment. The removal of this only goes to reinforce photography’s dilemma of seemingly representing reality, though never quite being capable of it.
“Each sitter is presented literally under a spotlight. In doing so these photographs beg the questions: do they say something more about the sitter or the photographer? Is this technique a more accurate likeness of the person? What can you understand of the nature of the person in the photograph? These questions in themselves make Paul’s work an interesting show to be seen over Christmas at Cookie.”
Paul Harkin is a Glasgow-based photographer whose images have been used in magazines and on book jackets. ‘Creative People’ was immediately preceded at Cookie by ‘International Satellite’, an exhibition pulling together artists from all over the world from the ‘Low Brow’ genre, curated by Recoat Gallery.
Recently named Glasgow Newcomer of the Year 2010 for breaking the mould of local eating and drinking, Cookie is based at 72 Nithsdale Road, Pollokshields, Glasgow. For further information about Cookie and future events log on to www.cookiescotland.com or check it out on Facebook.
The Glasgow Boys are back – in London
November 4, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
n October 2010 the Royal Academy of Arts presents the first major exhibition in London for over 40 years to celebrate the achievement of the Glasgow Boys, the loosely knit group of young painters who created a stir at home and abroad in the final decades of the nineteenth century. The exhibition at The Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, features over 80 oil paintings, watercolours and pastels from public and private collections by such artists as Guthrie, Lavery, Melville, Crawhall, Walton, Henry and Hornel. Together they presented a new art, which had a major impact at home and abroad in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The resultant works were, from c. 1880 to 1900, among the most experimental and ambitious to be produced in the UK.
Taking inspiration from such French Naturalist painters as Bastien-Lepage and also from Whistler, the Glasgow Boys produced some of the most revolutionary painting in Britain, drawing praise in London, Munich, Vienna and further afield. Their symbolist pictures were admired and emulated in secessionist circles in Germany and Austria.
The exhibition maps the Glasgow Boys’ responses in both subject matter and technique to developments in art which were taking place in Paris in the 1870s and 1880s. These artists sought to liberate their art from the staid, dark toned narrative paintings being produced in Glasgow and Edinburgh in order to explore the effects of realist subject matter and the particular effects of light captured through working out of doors, directly in front of the motif.
More information from The Royal Academy website