This is my favourite time in the festival planning cycle – when we not only know what’s going to be in the festival programme, but we can talk about it. This year is a particularly significant one for us as we celebrate our tenth edition – a kind of coming of age (although we are still the youngest of Edinburgh’s August festivals). Our programme reflects our growing ambition. We’ll have 45 exhibitions in over 30 venues across the city, as well as our largest programme of publicly sited commissions to date.

I’m really looking forward to having the time to reflect on what happens when artists collaborate with one another. This is something we have been considering in our Parley commissions programme, and there are some great exhibitions dedicated to this too. Inverleith House’s Mostly West explores the collaborations of the recently deceased Franz West with such major and diverse figures from the contemporary art world as Douglas Gordon, Mike Kelly, Sarah Lucas and Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Jupiter Artland is looking at the longstanding collaboration between Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, in an exhibition which includes the amazing Steam Powered Internet Machine (and for people who didn’t make it to Documenta last year (or did and loved it), there’s a one in a lifetime opportunity to see Sam Durant’s Scaffold).

Paul Rooney with Leeds United at Edinburgh College of Art is another interesting collaboration. Paul Rooney originally studied at ECA, and has been attracting increasing attention since winning the Northern Art Prize in 2008. If Mostly West shows us jointly authored works, Rooney and the artist collective Leeds United are making an exhibition which deliberately blurs the edges between each other’s practice – less a collaboration than a deliberate obliteration or confusion of the boundaries of individual authorship.

There’s some great new work by younger artists featured in this year’s programme. Rhubaba’s project with Polish artist, Lucy Pawlak, is a definite must see – the artist will set herself up for duration of the festival in the role of a Producer of a narrative feature film, and visitors, as well as invited experts will be invited to become involved in the creation of the final piece.

National Museum of Scotland have the second in a series of commissions which invite contemporary artists to work with their collections – Ilana Halperin has been exploring the museum’s geological and mineralogical collections. The other must-see at the museum is the Mary Queen of Scots exhibition which explores the elaborately crafted myth around the Queen which still retains its power today. It’s just one in a series of exhibitions in the programme which offer a timely reflection (in view of a certain impending date) on Scottish identity and its constructions. Bourne Fine Art’s exhibition considers how for over two centuries, artists have been crucial in the building a visual picture of Scottishness. While Rachel Maclean’s solo exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers offers a very contemporary response to some of those same questions.

And lest we think it’s all easily expressed with thistle and tartan, Talbot Rice’s Nam June Paik exhibition (which is also part of the Edinburgh International Festival) reminds us of the profoundly international outlook of Scotland as a nation. Pat Fisher, Senior Curator at the Talbot Rice recently gave a lecture at a Nam June Paik conference in Seoul, entitled ‘Nam June Paik; Honorary Scot’ – and faced with the enticing prospect of the first exhibition in Scotland (birthplace of electromagnetic theory and John Logie Baird) of the artist who incorporated the television into the world of art, it is hard not to see this as a homecoming of sorts.

Ikon is an internationally acclaimed contemporary art venue situated in central Birmingham. Housed in the neo-gothic Oozells Street School, it is an educational charity and works to encourage public engagement with contemporary art through exhibiting new work in a context of debate and participation.

The gallery programme features artists from around the world. A variety of media is represented, including sound, film, mixed media, photography, painting, sculpture and installation.

Blind Spot magazine, Issue eight (1996), Art direction by Tony Arefin. Courtesy Blind Spot.

Ikon’s off-site programme develops dynamic relationships between art, artists and audiences outside the gallery. Projects vary enormously in scale, duration and location, challenging expectations of where art can be seen and by whom. Education is at the heart of Ikon’s activities, stimulating public interest in and an understanding of contemporary visual art.

Bomb magazine (Winter 1996), Art direction by Tony Arefin. Designed by Miranda Dempster.

Through a variety of talks, tours, workshops and seminars, the Learning Team aim to build a meaningful relationship with Ikon’s audience that enables visitors to engage with, discuss and reflect on contemporary art.

Yael Bartana: And Europe Will Be Stunned, Zamach (Assassination) (2011) Commissioned by Artangel. Production Still by Marcin Kalinski.

Ikon Gallery have the following upcoming exhibitions from 12 September – 4 November: a retrospective of the work of Tony Arefin, who was a graphic designer prominent during the YBA period of the 1990s, and the trilogy And Europe Will Be Stunned, by Israeli artist Yael Bartana. Additionally, Ann Veronica Janssens returns to Ikon with her video work Oscar (2009), a portrait of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer at the age of 102.

Yael Bartana: And Europe Will Be Stunned, Zamach (Assassination) (2011) Commissioned by Artangel. Production Still by Marcin Kalinski.

Ikon Gallery can be found at 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2HS.

Find out more:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

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From time to time we feature galleries and spaces that showcase & encourage grassroots artists. Browse through more of our Featured Venues.
Contact us to talk about a feature on your venue.

Anna Bruce is an Edinburgh based artist who works in a variety of mediums including film, sculpture & photography.

What’s in the blog:
Anna’s blog is a mix of documentation of past exhibitions, as well as posts about her current work. It’s a very clever resource of Anna’s work and who she’s worked with.

Why we like it:
As well as being a visual delight, we like that Anna’s artist statement seems to evolve. There are insights into what she as an artists, and as a person, is learning through her research and collaborative projects. It’s a nice touch.

Hidden treasure:
Tucked away in one of her posts, Anna mentions a participatory project she runs called STREET-SIDE, which essentially is a collection of photographs of interesting roadside attractions (or distractions). Its well worth a look.

Where to find out more:
Read Anna’s blog here.
Follow Anna Bruce on Twitter.
Contribute to STREET-SIDE here.

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Want to take a look at more suggested blogs by artists? Look here.

Cassandra Harrison is a print and textile artist based in Edinburgh. Originally from Nebraska, USA, Cassie creates artwork which experiment with textures, textiles and printmaking.

As well as an account of current commissions or personal projects the artist is undertaking, This is how I roll also features reviews about exhibitions Cassie has been to, and links to interesting artists she comes across in her outings. There are also some very good hints and tips interwoven in the posts about being a working artist.

Whether you are a fan of Cassie’s work, want to find out about the art scene in Edinburgh or need a bit of motivation to start your own project, we recommend you bookmark this blog.

Read Cassie’s blog here.
See more of Cassie’s work on her site here.
Follow Cassie on Twitter here.
See more work by Cassie on flickr here.

Since its inception in 1993 – formed in response to what was seen as a cultural vacuum – the gallery continues to be run by a group of voluntary directors on a two-year rolling basis. Through its dynamic and challenging programming Catalyst supports young and emerging local talent, often showcasing new names alongside established and international artists. Over the years Catalyst has continually promoted contemporary art practices in Belfast, and serves as a training ground for artists, curators and arts administrators.

Catalyst Arts is a non-profit organisation supported by a large members base and holds an annual member’s show, giving all its members a chance to showcase their work in the gallery.

Upcoming exhibitions:

Vicinity
22nd March – 13th April 2012
Vicinity is a group exhibition investigating temporary, adaptable and
transitory methods for exploring Belfast city. Artists will work in an
engaged manner, using the mile radius of the gallery as a starting
point to make new work in the gallery and at off-site locations.

The gallery is situated at 5 College Court, Belfast BT1 6BS and opens Tuesday to Saturday, 11am – 5pm.

For more details about past, present and future exhibitions and opportunities, or to become a member, please visit Catalyst website or visit the gallery on Facebook.

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From time to time we feature galleries and spaces that showcase & encourage grassroots artists. Brows through more of our Featured Venues.
Contact us to talk about a feature on your venue.

Local project was founded in 2003 by a group of friends trying to keep the new art going in the emerging Long Island City neighborhood.

Soon LP became a home for artists and people from different backgrounds, in some cases part of the LP community found in the space opportunities to grow as artist, LP doesn’t just offer an art space but a HOME, a place to share, to talk and dialogue.

Local Project holds art shows since 2003, we have exhibit artists from all over the world, all disciplines, fostering interaction between artist and the community.

Our idea also is to create a bridge breaking down the walls between establish Art Institutions and the general public. Local Project made that real working together community based projects with the Queens Museum of Art, Museum del Barrio and recently we establish a program of art lectures in LP with the MOMA Museum.

As artists we understand the need for a space. We understand that a platform is needed for new artists to emerge and show their work, to get in contact and get the necessary feedback from the audience: that is why we created this space.

A forum for artist where the community can find inspiration, direction, friends, guidance, sin limites, LP is never boring, LP is vital for the arts and the people of New York.

The space is also home to the MadeinRoath arts festival headquarters. A community festival with interactive exhibits. Highlights from last year’s festival included the Open House art trail, artist Jennie Savage’s Guide to Getting Lost in Roath at Milkwood Gallery, SWN festival’s showcase at The Globe, a sound installation in Roath Park’s conservatory and Roath’s first pop up arthouse cinema at Milgi.

Milkwood’s firmly established alternative, eclectic space where visitors can enjoy art, craft and design in a welcoming, friendly environment. They have also hosted Gallery based workshops for local schools and groups as well as ‘make do and mend’ courses: the learning of traditional skills whilst also encouraging sustainability.

Current projects include In Hand by Heloise Godfrey. An experiment involving massaging people and recording the sound of the experience and stories that they tell.

Carboard House is also currently running and invites designers from any discipline to propose showing an object from their own ‘household’ collection juxtaposed with an original household object which they have designed and made out of cardboard.

visit the milkwood website.

You can see more photographs of the day here, or go here to see the artists talks from Sunday’s event. Keep reading to find out what the weekend was all about and who joined us.

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WHAT? Day One…events round and about Glasgow, bus ride, special tours, private talks and a soundtrack launch / screening Full listings below.
Day two…tell us who you are, meet other members, have a drink or two on us, go to the pub. Bring a friend. Full listings below.
WHEN? Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of November 2009
WHERE? Glasgow

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We’re taking the online community into the the real world, giving members an opportunity to meet us and each other over the course of two days.

Join us on our bus on Saturday 14th for a tour of some of Glasgow’s lesser and better known creative spaces. Bring yourself and bring a friend. See inside studios, galleries and facilities, meet the people who run them, listen to the people who work and exhibit at them. Then come along to a soundtrack launch and screening at the Panoptican in the evening, all for a feature film that hasn’t been made yet…

On Sunday afternoon we’re having a few glasses of wine at Sloans and listening to a selection of our members talk about what it is they do. After that we all get to join in. Chat around some of the topics that interest you, get your teeth into the issues, delights and problems facing creative people. All topped off with an evening of music, dominos and great beer at the State.

Saturday 14th
>11.30am…have a cuppa & meet the team at Mono
>12pm…Workshop tour: Sarah Raffel shows us around her jewellery workshop and store at Brazen
> 1pm…Artist talk: Colin Gray introduces In Sickness and In Health at Street Level
> 2.30pm…Designer talks:  John Galvin & Joachim King introduce us to their furniture currently exhibiting at Che Camille
> 2.30pm…Artist talk: Michael Thomas Jones introduces Modernista at The Lighthouse
>2.30pm…Exhibition: come with us to see Torsten Lauschmann’s exhibition at Mary Mary
>3.30pm…Artist talk: Afternoon tea & a chat with Erin McGrath about the new exhibition at the GFT’s Cafe Cosmo
>3.30pm…Artist talk: Artist in residence Edwin Pickstone gives a tour of the Glasgow School of Art’s letterpress facility
>3.30pm…Exhibition: PASSING PLACES: Landscapes of Glasgow and Western Scotland by Dan Williams
> 5pm…Gallery tour: Fun Makes Good give us a preview of their upcoming exhibition at Welcome Home
> 5pm…Artist Talk: Jennifer Nicolson talks to us about her exhibition at The Tiny Gallery at Maisonette
> 5.45pm…Meet the Artist: Ciara Phillips introduces her exhibition at Washington Garcia
>5.45…Exhibition: last chance to see Warehouse of Horrors exhibition at +44 141 Gallery
>5.45pm…Studio Tour: Exclusive tour of UK’s only Dolby Premier Mix Theatre at Savalas
> 7pm…Screening & album launch: Dummy Jim, The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington at the Panoptican
> AND…you can add your own event to the map. No matter where you are. We’re curating a mini cultural olympiad. Find out more here or see what’s already on the map here.

Sunday 15th
>12pm…Common of Houses Exhibition at George Square
>12.30pm…Scottish Digital Shorts Launch 2010 at GFT
>2pm…This Is… and Who Are You? at Sloans
> 5pm…GSA Mutual present Sunday School at The State

Images by Patrick MacDonald & Suzy Glass

Lost and Found Street level

“King’s Ransom (Hybrid Tea), Linder, Sorcha Dallas

Still Life, Dan Miller, SWG3 off site Osborne St

Better World Sandy Smith, SWG3 off site Osborne St.

Metal Urban Jim Lambie, Modern Institute 14-20 Osborne St.

Musique d’ameublement A tribute to Erik Satie, Played by Jamie Bolland at Le Drapeau Noir

New work from Europe was part of a two-part location exhibition a selection of work from the Outsider Art Biennale previously held at the Rackstad Museum in Arvika, Sweden.

The work again was wonderful, the inhibition, and subject matter infer playful uncensored qualities and adult content. I think this combination is more prevalent in children than we like to admit and takes a state of mind where all content is un- censorable and all expression is direct and honest.  I always go away with a sense of relief and liberation when I go to project ability. I am under no duress or  am I subjected to “politically correct” art or “fashionable” content, just contact with un- inhibited content by people expressing their life and ideas.

Street Level has a fantastic collection of video installations that have been largely unseen from previous exhibitions.

Kevin Atherton

Stephen Littman

Pictorial Heroes

Zoe Redman

Stephen Partridge

Tony Sinden

These works are exciting and have survivied time as film media  and progressive technological advances are making even showing these works quite a challenge.

See them while you can it might be your last opportunity. The quality of the installation is superb.

Linder at Sorcha Dallas. This exhibition of new and old works is fabuloso. Don’t be afraid of masterbating women, take it in stride it’s not new it’s just not normally presented in a gallery for all to enjoy. Ah the strength of this work makes me feel a little better about being a woman artist in Glasgow. (A little personal insight into my own artistic interest) The collages are stunning and the sculptural installation makes me feel like I am still in the presence of the Cakewalk. On till May 22^nd it will be getting another visit from me.

Still Life by Dan Miller. The text accompanying this show explains the intellectual relationship you might have with the exhibition… I just liked how white, damp and phallic it was. What  a great space, I hope SWG3 can do more with spaces like this, it is so much more accessable than the Warehouse.

Better World by Sandy Smith

This is a very interesting show. “promiscuous tarts” is used in the writing about this exhibition. I think that is a wonderful

description, I would say that the text is indulgent but so is the work and that’s what makes it great. It is exacuted  beautifully with extreme material contrasts, lots of shiny reflective surfaces in the midst of lots of colourful shiny lights. I f I were to describe this show out loud, I doubt it would sound like it worked, but there is a beauty in all the contrasts, persoanable suggestive texts, technology and architecture.  It is seductive and dream like, as a viewer I don’t always like a lot of intellectual talk to ruin my experience of a work; my inner child was awoken from the night I used to play with my light brite, and leave it on all through the night. “  never felt closer to you than this” is a great way describe the otherness that accompanies this exhibition.

Jim Lambie Metal Urban at the Modern Institute,

Coloring and compression, the combination of things recycled, walked upon, reflected and mirrored. Lots of color, lots of  compressed metal sculptures. I didn’t not like it, it was inviting, it had a Brancusi like feeling to the forms, not similar in simplicity, but the feeling of effortless exsistance.  It was like walking into a night club full of art, bright and mod. This was one of the last things I checked out that afternoon. I think I need to revisit it. ®®®®

Musique d’ameublement A tribute to Erik Satie, Played by Jamie Bolland at Le Drapeau Noir

 My last quiet event of the night. It was music being played on the piano, music of Saite. There was a strange guest amongst the crowd, I feel as if I have really missed something because I couldn’t make the historical connections.

Hopefully someone can fill me in. The atmoshere was lovely and I behaved.

28/4 Radius in Motion

New Work from Europe Touch Base, 43 Middlesex st. Kinning Park G41 1EE

Vulnerable threads Argyle and Kelvinhaugh st

Vestiges Park Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Prologue Endless Renovation,

New Work from Europe A selection of work from the Outsider Art Biennale held at the Rackstad Museum in Arvika, Sweden. It’s a little out of the way, Touch Base, 43 Middlesex st. Kinning Park G41 1EE, but I find that most exhibitions produced by Project Ability are filled with stunners.  There are some incredibly honest and genuine paintings that are full of joy, after Christoph Büchel New Commission it reminds me that art has a vast spectrum of impact, and these works are worth going to see. The energy and sophistication these paintings have can only come from a lack of inhibitions on the

artist part and I would like to have lived with these paintings; they remind me of why I am interested in art, intimacy, expression, beauty, and imagination. I will be checking out the other half of this collection of paintings at Project Ability, Trongate 103.

Vulnerable Threads have splendour of a work on the corner of Argyle and

Kelvinhaugh st. It is something that your eye just goes to and is in an innocuous corner, it’s more of a habitat that surrounds this work; the idea of fly posting on top of remnants is so exciting and finding the work that has been secretly posted by Vulnerable Threads. I have really enjoyed hunting them down and seeing them in an environment that everyone can access.

Vestiges Park A lowsalt exhibition. So fun and wonderful. Mythical, a secret country brought to light by the OOlite Sisterhood. I spent an hour in the park exploring the work, it really wasn’t enough time, and I hope I can go back. There are 15 to 18 different works, it’s a little hard to tell as they are all part of the environment, there’s a beautiful map that helps you navigate through this small park that feels so much

bigger. I’m going to include images to wet your appetite, you do the rest!

Prologue: Endless Renovation, Corin Sworn, Washington Garcia

There is beautiful simplicity to this work in its conception and in it’s aesthetic. Discovering the identity of someone through slides that have been thrown away, the audio of this exhibition is slightly difficult to hear, but they have printed the transcript for you and you can read it later, the idea stays in my mind as I wander away from the exhibition. My curiosity is peaked. It is the opposite of indifferent but not quite love.

Events coming up

Saturday May1 THE CLYDE IS RED: A MANIFESTO MAYDAY MEANDER

A ramble through the radical history of the river with Tam Dean Burn and Linda Duru. Starts on the river walkway in front of the Central Mosque Going to La Passionara statue.

Meet 12:00 Central Mosque

Mosque Avenue

Glasgow

G5 9TA

Saturday May1 International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day

18:00- 21:00 meet Clyde walkway

Clyde St

A subversive act of reclaiming a small part of the city that needs attention with interaction and fun. Working with nature to beautify an abandoned urban area in a short term mission with a long term outlook

Get involved in some guerrilla gardening, seedbombing or both to make a positive impact in your urban environment!

What to bring (optional): a bedding plant / gloves / a trowel / sunflower seeds No experience nessesary, just drop by and join in the responsible rebellion! This is a Radius event in association with Kabloom and Glasgow Guerrilla Gardening

SUNDAY 2ND MAY 2010: 12-5: This is the final Atypical Root party, which hosts the Launch of the Govan Armada, Bike-So-Cool, and an exhibition at the Govanheim. Riverside Hall will be providing food, and Govan Fire Brigade will be present, showing off their fancy fire engine. This is your final chance to see the trail- you can join the Bike-So-Cool convoy, leaves at 12 noon from David Dale Gallery (Bridgeton) travelling through town via GI exhibitions to reach Clydebrae Street for the Launch of the Govan Armada at 2.30.

Time-table:

12-1 Judging of boats

1-1.30 Welcome by local councellor

Blessing of the Armada

Announcement of prizes

2.30-3.30 Launch of the Govan Armada

3-5 Bike-So-Cool/ Govanheim

This is a chance to meet the Atypical Root artists, check out several Atypical artworks and Root projects, see the AMAZING Govan Graving/Dry Docks, and munch on the finest Riverside Hall burgers (free to the first 100 people)… and more.