The Royal Scottish Academy
While Visiting the Royal Scottish Academy, the RSA Open Exhibition of Art was displayed. The exhibition takes art from artists across the whole of Scotland, showing and celebrating the variety in Contemporary Art. The exhibit displays around 400 pieces of work every year, which are chosen through open submission and include paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and photography. The maximum width of any artwork is 80cm.
Nicole Scott
Nicole graduated from University with a BA Textile (hons) specialising in Weave. On graduating from University Nicole was chosen to exhibit her work in the New Designers Show in London (June 2014) and took part in Pop Up Scotland’s exhibition in Ocean Terminal (July 2014). Scott continues to develop new designs, incorporating a range of patterns, structures and colours for her various customers. The weave shown in the RSA exhibition was from her graduate collection ‘Illusion’.
The ‘Weave 2' shown in the exhibition was very striking and the way the weaving was done made me want to look closer and deeper at the artwork. The limited use of the earthy green colour added a sense of dimension and depth to the piece. The contrast between the 2 halves of the work is really interesting. It looks as if the right hand side is a close up of the left, showing you in detail the layout of a weave. The way in which each line of weave is offset differently to the other creates depth in the piece, and what looks like a curve in the weave. You can tell that this comes from Scott’s ‘Illusion’ collection as it tricks your eye into thinking theres different layers and depths within the piece when in fact, it is all one. When first seeing the artwork, I thought it was a representation of a block of flats, each square being a window. But after looking at the context behind Scott’s work, it became apparent that it is abstract and an ‘Illusion’, trying to trick the viewers eyes into seeing various depths and shapes.
Alison Pidoux
I love the painting style and technique shown here by Pidoux. The liveliness and expression of the pen/outline marks creates the sense of movement within the painting and still life. The thin black line works very well with the style of drawing and media that Pidoux has chosen. Her use of a limited colour palette keeps the form looking organic and natural. The way her pen marks become more constricted and lively in certain areas makes this drawing effective. The shadows of the body are conveyed through the use of white space and charcoal/ pastel. I find it really interesting how the simple shape of the right thigh is so effective in portraying the image of a bent leg. The drawing is very flat, but the use of rubber marks and charcoal create a sense of depth and form. The large amount of white space shown in the background draws the viewers attention to the main drawing, leading your eyes around the different shapes and forms. It looks like a very quick still life drawing, but made successful by the simplicity of it and the way in which Pidoux uses the pastel and charcoal. I find it very interesting to look at and study due to all the different lines and marks created on the paper. Each mark is carefully made in relation to the shape of that body part. The knee is a very square form, therefore Pidoux has made her marks very linear around that area. The stomach is more curved, shown by the swooping, circular marks made by the pastel around the lower stomach.
Will Collier
Collier is a fine art photographer based in Leith, Edinburgh. Before he pursued his passion in photography, he was a sculpture conservator . His work has been displayed in the RSA open exhibition for the last 6 years, they now have a display of 15 limited edition prints by Collier.
After entering the exhibition, I was drawn straight to this photograph. The contrasting image created by a man bent over, struggling to walk and a Beyonce World Tour poster grabbed my attention. It represents an image of life and the inequality within the world. It is a very powerful image which communicates a strong message and emotion from one frame. Life is unfair and there is a huge amount of inequality in the world. To me it suggests all the hidden poverty that goes on which we all choose to ignore and how celebrities live in a bubble, away from the reality of the world and its problems. I feel it is also quite iconic that there are 2 big dustbins in front of the poster, suggesting that many celebrities know that we live in a world of problems, but choose to rise above it and live a separate life. It may not be of relevance to Beyonce, but to alot of celebrities it is.
