Summer is fast approaching, and galleries are embracing the new season with creative zeal. Read on for our roundup of the most exciting art openings
Have sunnier skies reignited your creative spark? Get your diary out – we’ve put together a rundown of the best art to see across the country in May and June.
Out of this world
Glasgow’s Tramway is the first UK venue to present a new body of work by the acclaimed Brazilian sculptor Solange Pessoa, and it’s the first on our list of openings to visit. Drawing on the colonial, agricultural and archaeological histories that have shaped the physicality of both Brazil and Scotland, her large-scale pieces use ceramics, bronze and even Hebridean fleece in their construction.
Tramway
25 Albert Drive
Glasgow
G41 2PE
e. info@tramway.org | t. 0141 276 0950
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Taste of summer
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Nostalgic is perhaps the best word to describe Kate Jenkins’ delectable work for this year’s Brighton Open Houses, an innovative festival where artists show their work in local people’s homes. Jenkins’ latest pieces, a celebration of quintessential seaside holiday fare, look as if they could have been confected in her kitchen, but are in fact the product of her Brighton studio.
Visit the Artist Open Houses website | Follow Artist Open Houses on Instagram
Tidal marks
The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh is showing the tranquil, sea-inspired work of Peter Davis and Ross Ryan this May. Davis draws inspiration from Shetland in his latest series of watercolours, with their intriguing ‘tidemarks’ left by the drying paint. Ryan, meanwhile, gives his depictions of Scotland’s rugged coastal landscapes a hazy, dreamlike quality thanks to a pleasingly muted colour palette.
The Scottish Gallery
16 Dundas Street
Edinburgh
EH3 6HZ
e. mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk | t. 0131 558 1200
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En plein air
Alison McWhirter, best known for her vivacious, semi-abstract flower paintings, has a solo exhibition at Norfolk’s Fairfax Gallery this summer. The cheerful works on show, many inspired by the poems of William Carlos Williams and Hilda Doolittle, are an ode to the outdoor world in all its unspoilt glory.
The Fairfax Gallery
23 The Pantiles
Tunbridge Wells
EH3 6HZ
e. andrew@fairfaxgallery.com | t. +44 1892 525 525
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Pomp and ceremony
No monarch had more of an impact on the shape of the United Kingdom than James VI and I. To mark the 400th anniversary of his death, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh is staging a comprehensive exhibition, looking at the key players of the times, such as his mother, Mary Queen of Scots (below), but also delving into themes with relevance today – national identity, queer history, belief and spirituality.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1JD
e. enquiries@nationalgalleries.org | t. +44 131 624 6200
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Pause for thought
New York-born, Glasgow based artist Christian Noelle Charles explores solitude from the Black female perspective in her new solo exhibition, WAIT A MINUTE?!! at Glasgow Print Studio. Inviting viewers to consider the difference between isolation and aloneness, Charles challenges our hyper-connected reality, encouraging us to revel in the quietude of a solo moment.
Glasgow Print Studio
103 Trongate
Glasgow
G15HD
e. info@glasgowprintstudio.co.uk | t. +44 (0)141 552 0704
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Showstopper
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A major new performance work from pioneering feminist artist Linder will be presented in two parts this summer. The first is an exhibition at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute, opening on 14 June, and the second is at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
Mount Stuart
Isle of Bute
Scotland
PA20 9LR
e. contactus@mountstuart.com | t. +44 (0) 1700 503877
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Look out
Garden Futures presents the humble garden as an outdoor laboratory, with innovative examples from notable gardeners past and present, such as Piet Oudolf, Mien Ruys and Derek Jarman, the V&A Dundee asks how our outdoor spaces might be part of a greener, fairer future.
V&A Dundee
1 Riverside Esplanade
Dundee
DD1 4EZ
e. info@vandadundee.org | t. +4401382 411 611
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Set in stone
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There are eight exhibitions taking place internationally this year – in Italy, Spain, New York and beyond – to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Ian Hamilton Finlay. Edinburgh’s Ingleby Gallery is displaying a group of significant stone sculptures by the artist who is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest, including Three Columns, Capital and Five Finials.
Ingleby Gallery
15 Calton Road
Edinburgh
EH3 6NX
e. info@vandadundee.org | t. +4401382 411 611
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Sense of self
Working across sculpture, installation and performance at Jupiter Artland, Jonathan Baldock gives visual expression to myth and folklore, fusing humour and wit with a dark side. He uses tactile materials like clay, felt and hessian to evocative effect, spotlighting trauma, stress, sensuality, mortality and spirituality, and forcing us to consider our relationship to the body and the space it inhabits.
Jupiter Artland
The Steadings, Bonnington House
Wilkieston
Edinburgh
EH27 8BY
e. enquiries@jupiterartland.org | t. tel: 01506889900
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Inner city
A joyous exhibition at Edinburgh’s Upright Gallery in Bruntsfield brings together two artists with a common interest in the built environment, whether real or imagined. Charles Young plays with architectural models, drawing on the bones of city plans and adding invented elements to fanciful effect. Ros Lawless is similarly inspired by construction, to very different ends; most recently, she has been working with wall rubbings, considering the interplay between public and private spaces.
Upright Gallery
3 Barclay Terrace
Edinburgh
EH10 4HP
e. ian@uprightcreative.com | t. 01312210265
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Step into colour this summer at The Dovecot’s zany IKEA exhibition.
IKEA Museum’s Magical Patterns exhibition brings playful design to Dovecot Studios
