Art News
Silver stars
North Berwick’s Cone 9 Ceramics is one of only three Scottish
venues invited to contribute to British Silver Week (June 10-17).
All the silversmiths contributing to the Cone 9 exhibition are based
in Scotland, including the world renowned Malcolm Appleby and
Roger Millar as well as rising stars such as Sarah Hutchison,
Shimara Carlow and Ryan McClean. British silversmiths are
currently enjoying a renaissance and are considered to be among
the best in the world. During British Silver Week participating
designers will create signature or limited edition pieces to
captivate both collectors and novices with the finest workmanship
in contemporary design. The Cone 9 exhibition, the only one
during British Silver Week to solely promote Scottish silversmiths,
continues until July 24. Further info www.britishsilverweek.co.uk
Full bloom
Art lovers looking for a suitable hotel in Brussels might
want to check out Hotel Bloom. By the end of the year,
all 306 rooms – over 4,100 square metres of bedroom
wall space - will have an individual fresco created by
young ‘artists in residence’ from 31 different countries
chosen from top art schools and fine art academies by
the European League of Institutes of the Arts.
A fragment of each fresco is displayed in the
corridor, so that people passing through can see all
the works of art on a particular floor. A ‘reference
work’ in the reception area explains more about the
project. The students’ work is also promoted on the
hotel’s website and in-house television channel, and
their photos and CVs are displayed in the rooms.
www.hotelbloom.com .
Look east
A new arts space in East Lothian will stage its launch
exhibition this summer curated by Dunbar-based
Polarcap. Formerly a Victorian mill, The Gallery at
Eskmills in Musselburgh will also be developing an
annual programme of art, music, drama and dance.
Malcolm Gillies, owner and developer of Eskmills
explains: “I believe that business and the arts can coexist.
Bringing them together here, where one will help
and benefit the other, will allow both to flourish.” Gillies
envisages the Italienate courtyard and surrounding
buildings being used for sculpture, sound installations,
paintings, drawings, performance art, photography, video
and digital projection. The launch exhibition, ESKIMO,
comprises work by 14 artists in a variety of media.
Picture rail
Eurostar and the National Gallery have unveiled
the world’s first interactive digital art gallery
in London at the magnificently restored St
Pancras International station, the high-speed rail
gateway between the UK and mainland Europe.
The ‘Station Masters’ interactive gallery gives
travellers unprecedented access to some of the
nation’s best loved works of art.
The system enables users to explore a database
of 100 highlights from the National Gallery’s
collection of Western European painting,
including masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci,
Rubens, Titian, Holbein, Caravaggio, Constable,
Van Gogh and Monet.
Travellers can take a sofa-style seat at one of six
touch-screen coffee tables. After searching the
database, the picture they select is displayed on
one of six free-standing plasma screens situated
within the brick archways running along the wall
of the departure lounge, thus creating a constantly
evolving art gallery for fellow travellers.
Viewers can zoom in and see much more detail
than on the originals. For example, in the case
of The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck (1434),
zooming in on the tiny circular mirror on the far
wall reveals a remarkable reflected scene being
played out behind the artist’s viewpoint. Travellers
can also use ‘Station Masters’, which is free, to
send an e-card of a favourite painting to friends or
relatives with a short message.
Scottish art in Cornwall
If you’re down on the south coast of Cornwall this summer, check out Truro’s Lemon Street Gallery, which
has a long-standing tradition of featuring Scottish artists. Upcoming exhibitions include: Iain Robertson:
New Paintings and Henry Kondracki: Recent Works (Sat June 14–Sat July 5); Ann Oram RSW: Journeys from
Europe and Hamish MacDonald: West Coast Perspective (Sat July 12–Sat Aug 2); and Summer Show 2008,
a mixed exhibition featuring some of the gallery’s favourite Scottish artists, such as David Martin RSW, RGI,
Matthew Draper, Stephanie Dees RSW, John Bellany OBE, RA, Christine McArthur RSW, Doug Cocker, Ronald
Smith RSW, RGI, Denise Findlay, Carlo Rossi and Hamish MacDonald (Sat Aug 9–Sat Aug 30). Catalogues
available upon request. Lemon Street Gallery, 13 Lemon St., Truro, Cornwall TR1 2LS,
T 01872 275757, www.lemonstreetgallery.co.uk
Current Issue
Click on the link below to see the current issue in PDF format.
