w w w. p e a c o c k v i s u a l a r t s . c o . u k
jun - sep 06
360TV
Lindsay Gordon director
artist’s projects
Dana Swanson Reception, sales & classes
exhibitions
Michael Waight Linsay Croall printmaking
Jack Keenan 360TV David McCracken Mark McCracken framing Nina Eggens press & marketing Monika Vykoukal curator Alison Kennedy accounts
Peacock visual arts is an educational charity supported by Aberdeen City Council and the Scottish Arts Council. Its purpose is to bring artists and public together to explore and share ideas and to make and present art in new ways. To do this it has the widest range of visual arts production facilities openly available anywhere in the country and provides expert training in their use. If you would like to get involved in any of the projects or events at Peacock, or have an idea in which you would like to involve us, please get in touch with any of the team.
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Sandy Simpson Douglas Colvin factota Kerry Becker saturday sales assistant
photography
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contents
What’s on at Peacock visual arts this season? Between May and September you can again visit a varied series of contemporary art exhibitions in both our galleries. May starts off with ‘Word Order’, an inspirational show, part of the annual Aberdeen University ‘Word Festival’, in which you will learn about the link between visual art and poetry. For this Peacock’s printmakers have editioned a beautiful, ‘poetic’ series of new screen prints by David Bellingham, Thomas A. Clark and Alec Finlay. Other exhibitions include ‘Defining Place’, a show about recent Scottish Architecture, and ‘Awl-love’, an exhibition and film by Glasgow artist Stuart Gurden, exploring step ladders and prehistoric stone circles and ‘The Folio Suite’ a collaboration between printmaking students and tutors at Gray’s school of art. Check our diary in the back of this brochure for dates and times of special events like preview nights and artist’s talks.
edito & diary
welcome
Adam Proctor Paul Farquharson digital imaging & video
printmaking
Let’s bring out the news: Peacock visual arts has a fantastic new website! Clear and user-friendly, with up-todate information on current and upcoming projects and exhibitions. Have a look at www.peacockvisualarts.com and see more about what we do and how you can get involved!
Like to be active and creative at the weekend? Why not sign up for one of our weekend workshops! We regularly organise classes in different printmaking techniques, photography and life drawing. Classes run on demand, so get your name on the list to ensure your place. Peacock visual arts is looking forward to seeing you soon! www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
WORD ORDER Concrete Poetry and its Influence
Word Order includes a display of historical publications together with new wall pieces by Scottish artists David Bellingham, Thomas A Clark, Julie Johnstone and Alec Finlay, poets and artists working with text and often referring to the legacy of Concrete Poetry.
David Bellingham defines his interest in the use of writing in visual art: When the word is treated objectively it can be understood as an element of the material world; this straightforward acknowledgment of the word as thing among other things is the great legacy of concrete poetry. The word is just another part of the world.’ Edinburgh-based artist Julie Johnstone says: I’m interested in what happens to a word when you place it alone in different parts of a page, when you give it a slightly different shade of colour, when you enlarge or decrease its point size, change the font, when you repeat it, when you place it alongside another similar word, when you explore connections in language in a playful way. How is the word then read differently? To coincide with Word Order, Peacock visual arts has commissioned a series of new screen prints by the featured artists. The prints are for sale at the exhibition. Left: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Opposite top: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Opposite bottom: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
WORD ORDER 13 May - 17 June Preview night: Friday, 12 May, 6-8pm Events: Saturday 13 May, 5.30pm: Tom Leonard Word Festival reading by scholar, poet and polemicist Tom Leonard, one of Scotland’s most original and controversial voices, whose readings are fiercely honest and always engaging. Saturday, 20 May, 3pm: And I too am a Painter: Twentieth Century Visual Poetry in France, Italy and Scotland Peter Read will present Italian Futurist ‘words in liberty’, ‘lyrical ideograms’ by Guillaume Apollinaire and picture poems by Edwin Morgan and Ian Hamilton Finlay. The result will be a bridge of words and images across the twentieth century, between calligrams and concrete poetry, between Scotland and mainland Europe. Peter Read is Professor of French at the University of St Andrews. He works on modern French literature and the visual arts, and his publications include ‘Apollinaire, The Cubist Painters’ (translation and critical edition, Berkeley, 2002). He writes regularly for’ The Times Literary Supplement’ and ’The Art Book’.
word order
word order
Peacock visual arts contributes to the annual Aberdeen University WORD< Aberdeen Universities An Festival’ with the exhibition Word Order. This exhibition, curated by Thomas A Clark of Cairn Gallery in Pittenweem, explores the historical connections between poetry and visual art.
Concrete Poetry emerged in the late 50s and flourished as an international movement through the 60s. It reduced poetry to its basic elements using the page as a space within which to build simple compositions. Its influence continues to be felt in the work of a few poets and in that of many artists using text, such as the contemporary Scottish artists in this exhibition.
Aberdeen University Word Festival: 12 – 14 May For more information Word Festival events please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/word www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
“What’s this cable for?”
Geraldine: “360TV has been a brilliant opportunity to get to use the cameras and a lot of other equipment. It’s great to work without too many rules and without having to follow conventions. At the same time you also learn to understand why some conventional ways work, because some stuff just looks better when you hold the camera still and shoot.” Another great aspect of 360TV, according to Geraldine, is that participants learn a lot from each other by sharing knowledge and experience. “We work well together. When things go wrong, there’s always a solution.” Geraldine produced ‘Mothering Nature’ through Station House Media Unit in Aberdeen, with funding from Firstlight Films, an organisation providing grants to youth projects. Her first film so far and she already has ideas for new projects. “I’d love to turn film making into a career. First I need to know where all the wires are going though, and why. My cable tidying skills have grown by leaps and bounds.” To keep up to date with what’s on at 360TV visit the website www.360tv.org.
uk. The exact date and time of the broadcasting of ‘Mothering Nature’ will soon be available online. All 360TV shows are archived and can be watched through www.superchannel.org.
QUITE A SITE! www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk Check out
new website
360tv
Behind the scenes of Peacock visual arts’ 360TV many young, enthusiastic volunteers are helping out. 20-year old Geraldine Heaney from Aberdeen is one of them. She recently produced her first short film ‘Mothering Nature’, which 360TV will broadcast soon. As a volunteer, Geraldine is rapidly improving her filming skills.
the latest news on special events background information about our exhibitions art classes 360tv updates new print aditions and much more! ... get clicking
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folio suite 06
Peacock visual arts presents the fourth annual ‘Folio Suite’ by the final year printmaking students at Gray’s School of Art.
Kate Sisley Raynor
Donna Briggs
Robert Walker
Kathryn Sharpe
Margat Montgomery
Ruth Breardsworth
Michelle Murry
Lennox Dunbar
The Folio Suite is an exiting collaboration between students, tutors and invited artists including David Henderson, Ruth Beardsworth and Lennox Dunbar. The suite combines the versatility of both traditional and contemporary printing techniques.
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
Sandy McEwan
The prints are beautifully presented as a box set and will be available for purchase from the date of the preview for only £330 each.
folio suite 06
David Henderson
The Folio Suite 16 May - 15 July 2006 Preview: Saturday 2pm 13 May 2006 Background image: Eve Humber
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
Defining Place
Architecture in Scotland 2004 – 2006
There are many types of place around us. They are a complex aggregate of characteristics, not all physical, which can be ever-changing and consequently difficult to define. Over time, many philosophers and thinkers have tried to define ‘place and as it exists in many realms, from the anthropological to the architectural, there are many ways of discussing it.
‘Defining Place’ is a touring exhibition created by The Lighthouse, Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, Glasgow, and is part of the National Programme of activities informed by the Scottish Executive’s Policy on Architecture.
Architecture in Scotland 2004 – 2006 looks at seven, diverse, recent building projects, opening up the idea that - regardless of their typology and use - these buildings affect not only what happens within them but also what lies beyond their built thresholds.
Defining Place 1 July – 5 August Preview night: 30 June, 6 - 8pm A’Chrannag The Drum Phase 3 JKS Workshops Pier Arts Centre Robin House Children’s Hospice Seton Mains House The Storr: Unfolding Landscape
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By beginning with a question that is specific to each project we explore ideas and definitions of ‘place’, stimulating a wider debate not only regarding the extent to which the projects themselves are successful at making good places - but what it is that defines ‘place’.
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
Gokay Deveci Malcolm Fraser Architects gm + ad architects Reiach and Hall Architects Gareth Hoskins Architects Paterson Architects nva
Additionally we look at ‘non-place’, included because more and more we find ourselves in, or more likely, passing through these ‘non places’ which reflect the ambiguities of the contemporary urban condition.
MPsix Listening to your city 10 – 15 July 2006 In this five day workshop a group of 15 to 17 year old Aberdonians will produce an audio guide to their city. Together with guides to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness, the Aberdeen guide will be available on the MPsix Website as a podcast. Together with local creatives, such as writers, actors or architects, Peacock visual arts 360TV coordinator Jack Keenan will coordinate the workshops.
defining place
defining place
Examining ideas of place through seven new buildings
The quality of the places we inhabit can significantly contribute to our sense of well being. We all engage with places in our everyday lives and quite often we sense, rather than consciously understand, their qualities. When we are within them they can engender a sense of belonging or, at other times, a desire to belong.
To check out the young people’s vision of Aberdeen, follow links from our website www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk later this summer. www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
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Peacock visual arts has a large collection of artworks by local, regional and international artists in a variety of media and price ranges. Our staff look forward to welcoming you and are happy to help you choose that special artwork for your home or office or find that important gift.
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Corporate Sales
We all know the importance of first impressions. Selecting the right artwork for your premises not only adds the finishing touches to a décor, but also gives a positive impression about your company to your clients and peers as well as developing a creative working environment for your staff.
OWN ART With a 0% loan Buying a piece of art is now easy and affordable. Through ‘Own Art’ you can buy a work of contemporary art at Peacock, interest free. You can borrow up to £2,000, or as little as £100, and pay back the loan over ten months.
Over the last 30 years the premises of oil companies, hospitals, hotels, interior designers, universities, accountants and local authorities have been successfully revived by Peacock. Complemented by our specialist framing service, we can tailor a package to meet all your needs.
‘Own Art’ is an initiative by the Scottish Arts Council. For a list of other participating galleries in Scotland log on to www.scottisharts.org.uk
For more information, contact: dana@peacockvisualarts.co.uk
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
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shop/framing
Shop
Framing
Our expert framers can advise on all aspects of conservation and presentation. Offering an extensive range of readymade and hand-finished mouldings, we will help you choose the right frame for your paintings, prints, drawings and photographs. We are also experienced in providing quality frames for the exhibition of artworks at galleries, offices, art schools and other premises. For more information contact Mark or David: framing@peacockvisualarts.co.uk www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
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stuart gurden www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
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facilities
user fees 2006
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Diary
Word Order Exhibition Preview Reading Tom Leonard Reading Peter Reid
3 May-17 June 12 May, 6-8pm Saturday 13 May, 5.30pm Saturday 20 May, 3pm
The Folio Suite Exhibition Preview
13 May-16 July Saturday 13 may, 2pm
Defining Space Exhibition Preview
1 July-5 August 30 June, 6-8pm
edito
welcome
Exhibitions and events
Awl-love. Stuart Gurden Exhibition 19 August-23 September Preview 18 August, 6-8pm 18
www.peacockvisualarts.co.uk
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