Sorcha Dallas

Of the many successes in the visual arts in Scotland over the part twenty five years, it is the increasing number of artists from abroad now living and working here which merits serious acknowledgement and in presenting the exhibition New Scots, The Royal Scottish Academy is seeking to bring this important development to the attention of a wider public. The Royal Scottish Academy has a history of embracing artists who have come from other countries and settled in Scotland as Joanna Soden explains in her catalogue essay. Amongst current members are Beth Fisher and Joe Fan, born respectively in Portland, Maine USA ad Hong Kong. Both feature in the New Scots exhibition.

Without doubt, the re-emergence of Glasgow as a city with strong international links in the visual arts has helped to re-shape perceptions of Scottish art across the world and this in turn has led artists to make the decisions to base there. If we pause for a moment to consider what was happening in Paris in the earl years of the 20th century we find the Spaniards, Picasso and Gris, the Russians, Chagall and Stravinsky, the Italian, Modigliani, the Romanian, Brancusi, the Scots, Peploe and Fergusson, etc all involved in an exchange of ideas, all driving the whole Modernist movement forward. Their contribution of those New Scots from New York, San Francisco, Winnipeg, Bergen, Brussels, Newcastle ad Brighton will surely prove to be. As Sam Ainsley points out in her catalogue essay “I like to think that some of these artists from other countries make a distinct and dynamic contribution to the art world here and even become ambassadors for Scotland when, and if, they return to their native countries.

Of the artists comprising the New Scots exhibition, Louise Hopkins and Alex Pollard have already represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale, and Shauna McMullan has created a large sculpture for the walls of the Scottish Parliament. Traveling the Distance is a sculpture that pays tribute to the women of Scotland, symbolizing the significance of women’s place in Scotland’s history, its democracy, and its future. McMullan has cast the words of women, in their own handwriting, from all parts of Scotland in porcelain and she has said that Traveling the Distance grew out of a desire to build a collective narrative where it would be possible to hear many voices coming from different perspectives in which all of us, both authors and viewers of the work were familiar and identifiable.

Nathalie de Briey’s work deals with ephemerality and touch. She is currently engaged in making a new body of work inspired by a visit to Japan an to the archives of the Museum of Meteorology in Ebayama and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Ilana Halperin has long maintained a dialogue with geology as a means to understand our relationship to a constantly evolving world. Her poetic response, especially notable in her watercolours and drawings form a fascinating narrative dealing with geological phenomena and their effect on our lives.

Erica Eyres sets out to examine human nature in her drawings and videos. The awkward figures created by Eyres are depicted in drawings – usually in stark ballpoint pen, or are brought to life by the artist in film. David Shrigley, on the other hand, subverts conventions at every available opportunity. Although he works with various media, he is perhaps best known for his humorous books – including his weekly carton for the Guardian’s Saturday magazine.

Despite the pioneering role of Scottish photographers in the 19th century photography has taken a long time to gain acceptance as an art form. Thomas Joshua Cooper was recently elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy and has lived in Glasgow since the early 1980’s where he established Scotland’s first Fine Art Photography course, a course which has played a leading role in attracting European students to Scotland. Cooper clearly springs from the North American tradition of photography His is a romantic vision and no wilderness on the planet has escaped his discerning eye. Face to face with Cooper’s photographs it is possible to believe again in the idea of great art.

Sam Ainsley’s efforts to bring a new approach to the teaching and further development of young artists is vividly described in her catalogue essay. Interestingly, she relates that she found the discussion and debate around art much more passionate in Scotland than in England and that the emphasis on rigour and discipline and drawing in the Scottish art schools more widespread. Sadly, these distinctive Scottish traditions are now endangered as the art schools move closer to the University model.

Although not far from Scotland and linked through strong historical associations, Norway and Scotland differ profoundly I cultural matters. Hanneline Visnes studies ad developed as an artist in Scotland and if her experience of the Norwegian art scene is somewhat removed, she is acutely aware of the differences. “It seems to me that the art scene in Scotland has the confidence to really question the authority of the institutions, or not even bother with them at all. I think that diversity is recognised as important … and there is a lot of mutual respect between artists in Scotland, making for a more permissive environment”.

Gerry Hassan, one of the most perceptive observers of the New Scotland has recently argues that post-devolution government and official Scotland has art and culture centre-stage, but without a real understanding of what they are supposedly championing. Hassan continues “There are god stories to be told about Scotland now and hope for the future. If the recent past is anything to go by, our future as a nation is going to be as much influenced by our artists as it is by our politicians. This is something to be welcomed and celebrated”. In presenting New Scots The Royal Scottish Academy wishes to show how art in Scotland has been remade an reconstructed in the past 25 years ad how an influx of artists and ideas can help us to challenge, imagine and dream of a new Scotland.