Article which reviews the annual SSA exhibition, held at the RSA, Edinburgh.



'Other stand-out work includes Andrea Geile’s vast yet delicately designed haybales, Level the Field No8 - No12, made from corten steel with their sensual rounded sides, and Inge Panneels’ Off the Map, which is a zig-zagging sea of glass on which a wee glass ‘paper boat’ floats. The spirit of the late George Wyllie, a pioneering president of the SSA from 1986-1989, and architect of The Paper Boat (1990) lives on.

Bruce, Keith

Sunderland University Institutional Repository

Bruce,  Keith  (2015)  The  Society  of  Scottish  Artists  118th  Annual  Exhibition. [Show/Exhibition] Downloaded from: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/5996/Usage guidelinesPlease  refer  to  the  usage guidelines  at  http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/policies.html  or  alternatively contact sure@sunderland.ac.uk.BUSINESS DIRECTORY  DATING  ANNOUNCEMENTS  BOOK AN AD  SUBSCRIBE !  " SEARCH# REGISTER | $ SIGN IN%  &Glasgow 2.7¡c↸ NEWS  POLITICS  SPORT  BUSINESS  OPINION  ARTS & ENTS  LIFE & STYLE  HOMES  MOTORS  JOBS  PUZZLESArts & Ents TV & Radio  Music  Film  Stage  Visual  Books & Poetry  Opinion  Listings  FOA 2016  Celtic ConnectionsThe Society of Scottish Artists 118th AnnualExhibitionKeith Bruce, Arts Editor / Saturday 26 December 2015 / Arts & EntsShare &  %  (  )Keep in touch with local newsSign up for email alertsLoading video ...Labour's Neil Findlay issues half-hearted retraction ater callingSturgeon a "liar" over tax2Cameron's "generous" £4.5bncompensation ofer to break fiscaldeadlock rebufed by Sturgeon3Kallum Higginbotham slams"attention-seeking" Rangers full-back James Tavernier for Twitterpost4University department let red-faced ater sending insulting tweetto Jim Murphy5Sturgeon urged to step in amidclaims SNP race row councillor is'victim of smear campaign'6Scots warned to prepare for snowas Met Ofice issues severe weatherwarnings7Scottish politicians on Twitter:The Society of Scottish Artists 118th Annual ExhibitionAS regular readers of this page might know, Ilike a history lesson served up with my art.With this in mind, ater visiting The Society ofScottish Artists (SSA) annual exhibition, I dugout the handsomely illustrated The Societyof Scottish Artists: The First Hundred Yearsfrom my bookshelf. This book, published tocelebrate the SSAÕs centenary in 1991 ispacked with images and anecdotes whichtell its collective story.In a comprehensive introduction, formerGlasgow Herald art critic and champion ofthe visual arts, the late Cordelia Oliver laysits history bare. The way Cordelia tells it, there werenÕt many artists of note who didnÕt get alook-in at the SSAÕs annual exhibition. From early on Ð alongside internationally feted livingartists such as the sculptor, Auguste Rodin, and much later, Edvard Munch, it set out its stallas a place where art stars of the future would receive all-important exposure for their work.In 1902, an unknown 19-year-old called Francis Cadell had a painting accepted. Two yearsMost Popular Most Commentedsometimes safe, sometimes silly,rarely strident8FirmÕs owner cheated youngtrainees out of wages in scam9New chief executive quits NHS 24six months ater being appointed10MSP shouts "liar" at NicolaSturgeon during First Minister'sQuestions11Treasury insists its tax powersofer is "logical and fair" but MPsback SNP government's stance12Scots dentist and practicemanager struck of ater reusingdirty equipment for four years13Exclusive: watch our trailer forstunning new Douglas Henshallmovie Iona14House of Cards drops a dramaticseason 4 trailer and announcesnew guest stars15SNP MSPs in shock u-turn as theyblock move they recommendedone month ago16'Choose Life' anti-abortioncampaigners begin 40 days ofaction outside hospital17Critics slam Edinburgh airport over'disingenuous' flightpath report18Kazim-Richards: Istanbul switchshowed my character but nochance I'll leave Celtic for Rangers19FMQs sketch: Class war 20Scots council agrees to fly IrishTricolour for Easter 1916anniversary amid fears of backlash1Labour's Neil Findlay issues half-hearted retraction ater callingSturgeon a "liar" over tax2Cameron's "generous" £4.5bncompensation ofer to break fiscaldeadlock rebufed by Sturgeon3Kallum Higginbotham slams"attention-seeking" Rangers full-back James Tavernier for Twitterpost4Promoted storiesTop 10 Cars that Keep TheirValue (Money Advice Service)This Morning Force AmandaHolden To Apologise(Entertainment Daily)How Older Men TightenTheir Skin (The Modern ManToday)20 Of The Most GruesomeMethods Of Execution FromHistory (LOLWOT)17 Celebs Who ShamelesslyDid Adult Movie BefoRe GettingFamous (Whats Buzzing Now)22 Chilling ChildhoodPhotos of The Most Evil Peoplein History (ViralMozo)Recommended bylater, his friend Samuel Peploe entered the field. Jessie M. King, who would go on to makeher name as a designer and illustrator was another early exhibitor, proving the organisationwas female-friendly from the outset Ð not a given in an era which saw women artists barredfrom the all-important life drawing class in art schools. Her friend, Charles RennieMackintosh also exhibited his delicate botanical studies.As Cordelia comments in her introduction: ÒOnly to glancethrough the list of exhibitors over the years is to realise what anursery this Society has been for much of the finest creative talentout country has produced in the visual arts.ÓThe definition of visual art may have moved on, but the SSA ethosremains the same. This year youÕll find sculptures made ofshadows (Jenny Smith), 196 specimen jars of interactive waterand plant life gleaned from 150 miles of coastline fromFraserburgh to Dornoch (Lynne Strachan), two short filmsinfluenced by early German cinema playing with concepts ofScottish identity, heritage and language (Charis Edward Wells)and a playfully hilarious installation which turns Farrow & Ball onits head called Blackburn & Breich (Ewan John).Ten invited graduates from ScotlandÕs art schools arerepresented Ð and this includes a strong showing from theoten-overlooked Elgin-based Moray School of Art in the shape ofStrachan and Wells.The outward-facing nature of the Society is writ large in thehandsome upper galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy, witharound 20 artists associated with Minneapolis Gallery, Rosalux, showing work as part of anexchange with the US gallery, which showed work by SSA artists earlier this year. Anotherongoing partnership is highlighted in the work of this yearÕs Engramme prizewinner, LiseVzina from Quebec. Her delicate work on the subject of memory in le Tendre le tissu dutemps is an exhibit which consists of hundreds of prints and matrices as well as musicalboxes.An eye-popping 1,254 artworks were submitted for consideration this year and of these, 236works were selected. Of this number, 18 prize-winners were announced earlier in the week;including three recent art college graduates (Abi Baikie of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee,Kayley Meldrum of GrayÕs School of Art, Aberdeen, and Moray's Lynne Strachan),demonstrating the SSAÕs support of those just embarking on their visual arts careers.You will also find many familiar names on the Scottish art scene, who have earned their SSAspurs (as demonstrated by their inclusion in the centenary book), but who continue to makefine work. ThereÕs work by artists such as Paul Furneaux, whose Spilling Water: Falling Seedmixed media work is a thing of delicate yet robustly joyful beauty, and Dawson Murray, whohas made a gorgeous etching/aquatint called Driting Triptych, which defies categorisation.ItÕs abstract yet not. Murray may be assailed by MS in body but his creative spirit remainsjoyful and free.Kate DownieÕs pastel on paper, Steel Web, is another belter which marks her out as a geniusdratswoman. I also liked Joyce Gunn CairnsÕ visceral oil painting, Ghosts of the Past. Clearlyothers did too as it won The Pauline Fay Lazarus Prize for work using the human form.Edinburgh-based Ruth Nicol is on cracking form with a HUGE work, Stromness, 2014, GeorgeMackay Brown, painted as part of a major project to chart the places which were importantto leading Scottish poets of the 20th century. Nicol has been awarded The Glasgow Art ClubPrize for this work, which serves up an exhibition opportunity at the famous club as well asyearÕs free membership.Another simple yet beautiful work is Kirsty LorenzÕs Votive Oferings. An altar-like prize-winning installation consisting of 45 paintings and five drawings on paper. LorenzÕsdepictions of posies of wild flowers made around Scotland over the last couple of years, areall painted to scale in watercolour. They are pinned to the wall at each corner with insectpins. The piece explores the significance of the posie as an ofering to the Gods, to the livingand to the dead. The spirit of Charles Rennie Mackintosh lives on.Other stand-out work includes Andrea GeileÕs vast yet delicately designed haybales, Level theField No8 - No12, made from corten steel with their sensual rounded sides, and IngePanneelsÕ Of the Map, which is a zig-zagging sea of glass on which a wee glass Ôpaper boatÕEdinburgh's Open EyeGallery at 35The Scottish state schools Arts News: HogmanayPeople who read this article also readUniversity department let red-faced ater sending insulting tweetto Jim Murphy5Sturgeon urged to step in amidclaims SNP race row councillor is'victim of smear campaign'6Scots warned to prepare for snowas Met Ofice issues severe weatherwarnings7Scottish politicians on Twitter:sometimes safe, sometimes silly,rarely strident8FirmÕs owner cheated youngtrainees out of wages in scam9New chief executive quits NHS 24six months ater being appointed10MSP shouts "liar" at NicolaSturgeon during First Minister'sQuestions11Treasury insists its tax powersofer is "logical and fair" but MPsback SNP government's stance12Scots dentist and practicemanager struck of ater reusingdirty equipment for four years13Exclusive: watch our trailer forstunning new Douglas Henshallmovie Iona14House of Cards drops a dramaticseason 4 trailer and announcesnew guest stars15SNP MSPs in shock u-turn as theyblock move they recommendedone month ago16'Choose Life' anti-abortioncampaigners begin 40 days ofaction outside hospital17Critics slam Edinburgh airport over'disingenuous' flightpath report18Kazim-Richards: Istanbul switchshowed my character but nochance I'll leave Celtic for Rangers19FMQs sketch: Class war 20∠ More storiesShare article&  %  (  )floats. The spirit of the late George Wyllie, a pioneering president of the SSA from 1986-1989,and architect of The Paper Boat (1990) lives on.To quote Cordelia Oliver, "I realise that I am now entering invidious waters: there are so manynames deserving of mention and so little space to serve me.ÓWhatever floats your boat, thereÕs a lot to see (and buy) in this exhibition.The Society of Scottish Artists 118th Annual Exhibition, RoyalScottish Academy, The Mound, Edinburgh until January 18(closed today)www.ssaexhibition.co.ukPromoted StoriesRecommended byThis simple trick could cut yourenergy bills by £160(Cheap electricity and Gas | UK EnergySupplier | Ovo Energy)22 Unexplained CreaturesWashed Up On The Beach(Animal Mozo)This Could Be The Best Video EverFilmed With A Drone. Take ALook!(Full Throttle LEGENDS)Don't Buy Any of These 15 Cars(Forbes)recommended by societymagazine Tatlerinnovation, Society ofScottish Artists show, StMungo Festival.The art of buying prefectpresents"SNP bad" is contributing toan infantilized politicalcultureSt Peter's Seminary revealsits new life, and a newHinterland at CardrossEdinburgh's Open EyeGallery at 35The Scottish state schoolsrecommended by societymagazine TatlerArts News: Hogmanayinnovation, Society ofScottish Artists show, StMungo Festival.GLOBALEXHIBITIONSbec-display.comAttend acorporate expoevent. Visit ourevent calendaronline.The art of buying prefectpresents"SNP bad" is contributing toan infantilized politicalculture                  GLOBALEXHIBITIONSbec-display.comAttend acorporate expoevent. 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If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO hereWe moderate all comments on Herald Scotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderatedbasis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and ifwe know you well and trust you then your comments will be subject to moderation only if otherusers or the moderators believe you've broken the rulesREAD THE NEW RULES HEREModeration is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwiththose hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.Comments are closed on this article.

The Society of Scottish Artists 118th Annual Exhibition

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