AATWOMANWORK
Barbara Hepworth makes an impact at Modern Two ANDSHOWTELL A piano recital and poetry reading fuse community and art
1 BirdsNest Review Issue 02, Summer 2022 ING TRADITION NURTURING Curio: Hidden Gems PANDORA’SOPENINGBOX Our latest exhibition marvels at the unique and strange MYTHOLOGISINGTHEHOME Our guest writer, Hannah Gardner Seavey, takes us on a trip to Kellie Castle
Curio follows our successful Flaming June exhibition, which was a meeting of opposites: sun and shade, youthful life and death, dreams and waking. Featuring two significant Scottish artists, MaryAnne Hunt and Andrew Fitzpatrick, this exhibition spanning June and July 2022 prompted reflection upon the presence of beauty and love and the spaces that have defined us. Throughout the journey of curating our latest exhibition and compiling this issue, we have been encouraged by your positive feedback and contributions, so thank you for your presence, dear readers. The BirdsNest Review is nothing without you. We hope that you enjoy reading our latest issue and that these words, thoughtfully crafted and true, prompt you to reflect upon the presence of beauty and love in your own life, experienced in relation to the unique spaces and people that surround you.
editorial
As summertime drifts on, with its greater hours of sunshine and blossoming flowers, our gallery is experiencing a similar sense of warmth and flourishing. This has been an exciting season of evolving plans, trying new things, and expanding our network of beloved BirdsNesters. We have felt deeply privileged to interact with so many new faces and to gain an even richer appreciation of the wonderful arts scene within Edinburgh. Our last edition, A Woman’s Touch, set the tone and established our new print format, forging exciting connections and examining divergences between masculine and feminine gazes. It must be said: it is one endeavour to make such an advancement, and it is quite another to maintain momentum in the projects that follow. With Curio, we hope to build upon the impact of our prior issue even as we refine our focus. Rather than covering the work of a great breadth of artists and examining their place within the art historical canon and societal constructs, now we elect to attend to the idiosyncratic and the unique with great care and detail, revealing the stories behind individual works. This prioritisation of the (seemingly) minute, the curious, and the particular, rather than attempting to find common threads throughout a subject viewed on a sweeping scale, comes across in this publication as well, with writing emphasising studio visits with specific artists, pivotal inner “eureka” moments, and more.
–The BirdsNest Team
3 Contents FOUNDATION OF THE COLLECTION PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS “A Woman’s Touch” “Flaming June” A PLETHORA OF POEMS: READINGS FOR A WOMAN’S TOUCH AND FLAMING JUNE BIRDSNEST CALENDAR COVER STORY CURIO: Hidden Gems from the BirdsNest Collection Artist Spotlight: Mary Bowen Artist Spotlight: Andrei Bludov Artist Spotlight: Robert Sawyers COLUMNS Fate and Familiarity in J.H. Lorimer’s ‘A Peaceful Art’ Book Review ‘Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female ReviewBodies’ of ‘Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life’ BIRDSNEST DIARY Studio Visits: Jo Perkins and Danielle Hewlett Ladies Takeover London Flaming June Recital Reflection BEFORE YE GO... MEET OUR STAFF 27242322201918151312109429313234
Fig.1 In honour of Flaming June, we reorganised the iconic Brand Wall, selecting old favourites and new acquisitions alike connecting our collection to our summer exhibition; these stunning artworks all related in some way to forms of love and loss.
The art collection houses over 300 artworks, built around the original collection of Sho’s late husband, Christopher Brand. With his keen eye for art, he was responsible for establishing a strong foundation for this very eclectic collection. Continuing his legacy, we have also contributed many artworks and are constantly on the lookout for more to acquire. Our collection mainly focuses on Scottish, British, and European paintings, sculptures, limited prints, and photographs from the 18th century to the contemporary.
Foundation oF tHe ColleCtion
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Recurrent motifs of roses—seen in displayed works by Heather Copley and Hilda Goldwag—alluded to Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s design for the Glasgow School of Art, a place which looms large in the work of Andrew Fitzpatrick. A Venetian chair nodded to Fitzpatrick’s odes to Venice, one golden painting featured his son Louis posed by a delicately detailed butterfly screen. MaryAnne Hunt’s oeuvre largely revolves around childhood, which led to the selection of Eleanor Christie-Chatterley’s sculpted “Child’s Face”. Both of these featured artists exhibited a preoccupation with absence and longing, themes encapsulating Reginald Barber’s striking Victorian painting: “We Look before and After, and Pine for What Is Not”. Fig.1
By Natalia Brand
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Fig.2 Hanging Committee
When ‘The Hanging Committee’ was shown in the annual exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1985, another sculpture was also displayed on the balcony of the RSA: ‘The Prodigal’ by Alex Main. Christopher greatly admired this subject. Hailed as Scotland’s greatest portrait sculptor of his generation, Main liked to work in bronze. This particular work narrates the return of the prodigal son, a biblical parable taken from Luke’s Gospel. The chasm between father and son has been reconciled by the extended shadow. It is a tale of one’s repentance and the other’s forgiveness, and their union has been movingly captured by Main’s understanding of the human soul. This piece was situated for a time in Chris’ bedroom; every morning, when the shutters opened, a ray of light would shine through as the sculpture captured its glow. For the entire day, it would cast a moving shadow. ‘The Prodigal’ has now been in the collection for 37 years. This beautiful piece portraying the bond of love between father and son was prominently displayed in our Flaming June exhibition.
Our BirdsNest team had the honour of attending the preview for the Royal Scottish Academy’s annual exhibition. Looking at all of these exciting artworks, we began pondering how these artworks had been chosen. One etching from 1985 suggests exactly what is going on during the process of selection; it is called ‘The Hanging Committee’. This amusing scene was created by the Forfar-born figurative artist John Johnstone. John Johnstone was particularly influenced by Dudley D. Watkins’ comic strips for the Dundee-based publishers DC Thomson. At school, a remarkable art master, John Frith, took him under his wing and nurtured his artistic ability. Later, he studied at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, where he worked in an Expressionist style but gradually developed the more detailed, illustrative one we know today. His work is full of humour and includes scenes from his own environment as well as famous characters from popular culture. He is a painter and etcher obsessed with storytelling. The artist’s surrealistic approach comes across in this highly perceptive etching, describing an RSA hanging committee. The word “hanging” has great ambiguity, adding a sense of drama to the possible outcomes for the hopeful artists. Rather than an attempt to choose the best artwork, he regards the selection process as a circus performance where the judges sit together assessing rare species. Everyone is out to impress the judges! Several well-known figures from the art world are represented, including the unmistakable figure of James Cumming RSA (far left). Here, Johnstone creates a great contrast between the dark shadowy figures of the judges in the foreground and the rhythmic linear drawing of the circus performers, bathed in light, behind. Each figure in this composition has their own distinctive gesture. What will it take to get a work of art accepted by this august body— the RSA? E.A. Bucchianeri offers us relevant words of wisdom: “Art is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will have their own interpretation” Fig.2 John Johnstone (1941- ), ‘The Hanging Committee’, 1985, 51 × 32 cm, Etching, Signed, A.P., Purchased from the RSA Annual Exhibition 1985, The Brand Collection Fig.3 Alex Main (1940-2010), ‘The Prodigal’, 10 × 18 x 6 cm, Bronze, wood base, Signed, Purchased from the RSA Annual Exhibition 1985, The Brand Collection Fig.3
Jankel Adler’s
He joined the Polish Army in France and was discharged from the army on medical grounds in 1941. He then moved to Glasgow.
In Glasgow, Adler was an influential refugee. He exhibited his work at the New Art Club, established by J.D. Fergusson and was associated with the Scott Street Art Centre, established by David Archer as a meeting place and resource centre. Along with other Polish artists, including Joseph Herman and his flatmate William Crosbie, he was part of these meetings. He moved to London in 1944 and therein influenced several young Scottish artists, particularly Robert McBryde and Robert Colquhoun. Drawings
6 Fig.4 Fig.5 We are delighted to have acquired two drawings by Jankel Adler (18951949). These works were recently featured in our Flaming June exhibition (June-July 2022), which centred on exploring bonds of love. Next, we turn to Adler’s ‘Two Women’.
There are several examples of two nude women leaning together in his art. This is probably the most daring piece showing this keen subject of his. This rhythmic drawing uses an economy of line to bring together a female couple to create a beautifully balanced composition in perfect harmony. It is drawn by an experienced engraver who understands the power of positive linear shape. The other drawing is called ‘Composition with Figures, OPUS 13’.
In a way, this imaginative drawing provides insight into his exciting paintings. The combination of strong figure drawing with almost accidental ink blotches creates a burlesque figure composition reminiscent of Picasso. The title gives us a clue about the relationship between this work and the emotional Beethoven’s 13th symphony, ‘Pathetique’. It demonstrates the power of music and its relationship with art. Born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Poland, Jankel Adler was known for his abstract depictions of figures and still lifes., He moved to Germany in 1914 and attended art school there, later settling in Düsseldorf in the early 1920s. In Düsseldorf, he formed friendships with Otto Dix and Paul Klee. Both of them, in addition to Picasso, heavily influenced his art. In 1937, his works were shown at the “Entartete Kunst” (Degenerate Art) exhibition.
Fig.4 Jankel Adler, ‘Two Women’, 1944, Ink on paper, 34 x 26 cm (13.25 x 10.25 in), Signed Fig.5 Jankel Adler, ‘Composition with Figures, OPUS 13’, 1943, Ink on paper, 23.75 x 18 cm, Signed
A lonely man sits contemplating the world with his small hand holding a tiny cigarette and a cup of coffee by his side for company.
Fig.6 William (Bill) Crosbie (1915-1999), ‘Jankel Adler Talking with Friends in Crosbie’s Studio’, c.1940, 25 x 35 cm, Ink on newsprint paper, Signed Fig.7 Catherine E. Grubb (1945- ), ‘Tsar’, 1969, 28 x 44 cm, etching Fig.8 Robert Crozier, ‘Man in a Café’, 25 x 21 cm, etching Fig.6
A distinguished part of our Collection, it is easy to admire this drawing by William Crosbie. Here we can find Jankel Adler sitting on the right. He is in profile, helping to feed the fire that can keep everyone warm. Likewise, the Glasgow art scene could not have become a “Petite Renaissance” without Adler’s important input as an artist and humanist.
Tsar is one of Grubb’s early etchings. Here we can see the figure’s monumental presence with a large beard, huge costume, and long sceptre—a combination which gives us a sense of awe. His tiny, delicate hands and small face create a great dramatic contrast. Here, the title Tsar is not referring to the supreme ruler of Eastern Europe. The magnificent outfit is for the Russian Orthodox priesthood. The personality is totally diminished, and what is left on the surface is a feeling of great authority. Is this exaggerated outfit a sign of a person’s identity or a satire of an empty shell?
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The highly patterned nature of Robert Crozier’s painting and prints often includes character stereotypes. There is a cross-fertilisation taking place between both mediums. The artist later went on to work in screen-printing exclusively. He employs a variety of simple but effective linocutting techniques in this early work.
The desolate nature of the café is emphasised by scratching over the inked jigsaw shapes in the lino. He uses subdued colour to emphasise the bleak mood within the café also. The exaggerated features and heightened dramatic effects make you want to laugh and cry at the same time.
Fig.7Fig.8 Man in a Café Tsar
ePreviousxHibitions
15 March - 14 May 2022
“A WomAn’s Touch”
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The renowned artists featured within this exhibition included Annette Edgar, Heather Copley, Margaret Hunter, Sheila MacMillan, and Sylvia von Hartmann, showcased alongside works by Andrew Fitzpatrick, William Crosbie, Jamie O’Dea, and others.
In the A Woman’s Touch exhibition, we explored remarkable works by prominent women artists in our collection, intentionally contrasting them with works featuring the male gaze. Throughout art history, women have foremost been considered muses.
While they have served as integral catalysts for inspiration, their own thoughts, dreams, and artistic abilities have often been dismissed or minimised in the process.
Our exhibition title had a purposeful double meaning: the annals of art history reflect that many male artists have, throughout centuries, idolised “a woman’s touch”. We recognised this and desired to present an exhibition that reclaimed the unique “woman’s touch” that an artist can bring to the canvas herself. We believe our exhibition fulfilled a vital role in examining the divergence and intersection of gazes as well as celebrating feminine agency.
MaryAnne Hunt is a highly versatile artist in that she can produce art that creates a sense of unease as well as nostalgia. She uses subjects such as a teddy bear or a doll’s house to represent childhood, drawing upon warm shared memories of childhood but also evoking absence through the very presence of these abandoned items. Hunt’s work uniquely approaches the complexities of motherhood and the nature of love and loss.
Together, in Flaming June, they illuminated bonds of love in a new light, offering us a chance to examine how we are meaningfully shaped by the people and places around us.
Although time separated Leighton from our two featured artists, Andrew Fitzpatrick and MaryAnne Hunt, there are distinct thematic links present in the art of this trio.
Displayed from June to July, this exhibition took its name from a famous painting by Lord Frederic Leighton created in 1895. Within the artwork, a young woman lies in summertime repose, framed by the glittering ocean in the background and budding flowers. Blooms to the right are oleander, a toxic flower–perhaps meant to represent the thin boundary line between sleep and death. While the identity of the woman is ultimately unknown, she is thought to be either Dorothy Dene or Mary Lloyd, Leighton’s two favoured models in the 1890s.
Andrew Fitzpatrick is an artist who specialises in portraiture with psychological resonance. In his paintings, composed like stage settings, figures interact, gaze, and drift apart. Fitzpatrick adds a sense of mystery to his canvases, and within them love becomes a kind of labyrinth–emulating his shadowy corridors and stairways. He also depicts his wife and son with great tenderness, providing insight into the importance of family.
Andrew Fitzpatrick is a contemporary artist highly fixated on tradition, with a distinct passion for the Italian Renaissance and mythological narratives emerging in his oeuvre. Leighton was also known for emphasising classical allusions, a trait which caused some division due to the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood’s opposition to Neoclassicism. MaryAnne Hunt’s work involves the motif of dreaming and tackles multifaceted elements of femininity.
“Fl Aming June” 14 June - 17 July 2022
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Image (Top) Andrew Fitzpatrick, ‘Tango and Fairy Lights’, 2019 Image (Bottom) Mary MaryAnne Hunt, ‘The Coloured End of Evening’, 2022
Fig.2Fig.3
Fig.1 Free flowers outside Narcissus brought to the Gallery by Mattea and placed beside a sculpture—they brightened up the day of the poetry reading with their radiant beauty.
Fig.2 Some poetry is shared with an enthusiastic audience, including several Scottish poets.
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Our April poetry reading for A Woman’s Touch was a great success! A warm thank you to all who attended and all of the talented poets who shared their remarkable work. We were delighted to hear from Ruby Dunn, Caitlin Borst, Maria Sledmere, Hannah Gardner Seavey, Chloe Chuck, and Lady Red Ego. It was a sunny afternoon, and the Salon gallery was full of light to welcome our poets. At the beginning of the event, guests were given the opportunity to share works by women poets that had influenced them. During this time, figures such as Edna St Vincent Millay and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz were honoured to recognise the influence of writers who have paved the way for future creatives. It was truly incredible to hear from an array of gifted poets, each bringing a unique set of experiences to the page and a preoccupation with different motifs. Overall, the reading showcased a diverse approach to the feminine gaze and an exciting glimpse into the future of Scotland’s poetic scene. Because of the positive feedback from our first event, July brought about yet another wonderful poetry reading in alignment with our Flaming June exhibition. A small group of us gathered over cake and cups of tea to share personal work, favourite poems, and discuss Philip Larkin, Marie Howe, Louise Glück, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and more. It was a special treat that Sho Brand, our founder, shared poetry with us recently translated from Mandarin, found in her poetry collection originally released in 2012. It is exciting that the scope of the BirdsNest Gallery is continually evolving, encompassing the literary sphere as well as visual art. Facilitating events such as these contributes to our greater mission to become a welcoming cultural hub within Edinburgh.
A Plethor A of Poems: reAdings for a Woman’s touCH And FlaminG June
Fig.3 The event poster we created to promote the poetry reading.
Fig.1
We will be showing three films for free in our gallery’s mini-cinema in August and September to examine the theme of curiosity and the meaningful presence of art in our lives. 12 August – Portrait of a Lady on Fire 26 August – The Best Offer 9 September – The Last Black Man in San Francisco
After having a lovely time at the Glasgow Art Fair in May, we are excited to announce our presence at the upcoming Aberdeen Art Fair (2-4 September), followed by the Edinburgh Art Fair (17-20 November) this year. You are warmly invited to visit our booth and support our talented artists, including Jo Perkins, Katherine Benson, Danielle Purkiss-Hewlett, and more. In exciting news, we are thrilled to be hosting an unforgettable creative workshop in our gallery space, featuring Surrealist parlour games and communal collage. Join us on 19 August as we explore the joy of making and bring together disparate elements to make a harmonious whole.
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Friday,CreativeScreeningsWorkshop19August,5:00-7:00
The BirdsNest Gallery is thrilled to be collaborating with Edinburgh’s Taiwan Arts Festival this autumn. We will be virtually showcasing the work of five Taiwanese artists, pairing them with accomplished artists based in Scotland to promote intercultural dialogue. This will be an exciting partnership and a welcome opportunity to appreciate similarities and differences among talented creatives. Art Fairs Film pm Root Flow: Promoting Dialogue between Scottish and Taiwanese Artists 9 September-10 October 2022
birdsnest Calendar
Image (Top) Vladimir Ryklin, ‘Untitled’ Image (Bottom) George McGavin, ‘Kid Gloves’
15 Cover story Hidden Gems from tHe Birdsnest ColleCtion
Curio
This exhibition will include remarkable pieces by David Colledge, Robert Sawyers, John Bellany, Barbara Rae, Aurèlia Muñoz, Robert Powell, William Crosbie, and more. There will be a spotlight on works by Ukrainian artist Andrei Bludov as well as unseen watercolours by Andrew Fitzpatrick. Additionally, new acquisitions, including brilliant works by Jankel Adler, Vladimir Ryklin, and Iain McIntosh, will be presented to the public for the first time. Drawing upon the origin of museums and galleries as Wunderkammern (or “curiosity cabinets”), this exhibition honours the BirdsNest motto to “preserve tradition and nurture the new”. The curiosity cabinet originated during the Italian Renaissance, marking the beginning of the act of showcasing an arranged collection of rare objects and absurdities. This practice became an indicator of wealth and status, as well as an expression of personality and taste. The diverse mediums and varieties of objects on display created an experience more jumbled than conventions today might allow, with skulls, seashells, rare coins, paintings, sculptures, and more jostling for space.
By Mattea Gernentz
The spirit of our exhibition is adeptly summarised in Fruits of Passion II by Iona Montgomery RSW, an artist inspired by metamorphosis, memory, and fossilised forms found while beach-combing. In this piece, a nude woman clutches two items: a living tree (naturalia) and a scientific instrument that resembles an hourglass (scientifica). The feminine figure gazing to her left is perhaps linked to the Horae of Greek mythology, goddesses presiding over time and the seasons. Regardless, the manner in which she links natural wonders and the advancement of knowledge is crucial to our understanding of curios, human progress, and artistic display.
Hidden Gems from tHe Birdsnest ColleCtion
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Within Curio (9 August-18 September 2022), a selection of treasures from the BirdsNest Collection will be illuminated and explored, many of which have not been previously on display. This summer, we are delighting in the exotic and strange, pieces of art that dazzle and defy expectation. Many of these eccentric artworks are associated with remarkable stories and creatives, tales which we aim to unfurl for our visitors.
Known as the “premodern museum”, these collections of oddities were divided into the following varied categories: Naturalia (works of nature), Artificialia (manmade artefacts), Scientifica (scientific instruments), and Exotica (objects from distant lands).
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Literary scholar Stephen Greenblatt suggests that museum and gallery spaces can encourage two different kinds of response: resonance and wonder–wonder being a commanding sense of awe and concentrated attention and resonance being the capability of an object to evoke meaning beyond itself on a broader scale. A cabinet of curiosities has the potential to fulfill both aims at once, provoking fascination as well as facilitating connections with the world at large.
Robert Powell’s The Cupboard (2020) is emblematic for Curio, expressing the sense of awe and mystery involved in unfolding these narratives and entering the cabinet of curiosities. The form of a monkey approaches the open doors of a cupboard crammed with lively objects, ranging from a top hat, golden keys, and dentures to a tuba. While the illuminated objects command attention, I am most intrigued by the human figures that remain in the shadows. Why do they stand far off? Is there a sense of inherent wonder or curiosity that the natural world has kept that humanity has distanced itself from? In a sense, this exhibition will prompt the following question: are we living in an era of impatience and detachment? If so, how does this pervasive worldview impact our interaction with these pieces? The Wunderkammer encourages slow perusal and the beauty of knowing that much remains unknown; it encourages us to break down preconceived barriers, such as the conceptual divide between art and science. Our exhibition, Curio, endeavours to reclaim the relative informality and abundance of this historic mode of display, offering food for thought and a feast for the eyes.
ArTisT spoTlighT: mAry BoWen
Mary Bowen (@maryeabowen) is a recent graduate from the Edinburgh College of Art with a BA (Hons) in Painting. She has notably been selected as one of the RSA New Contemporaries of 2024. Mary has been deeply influenced by women Surrealists, including Leonora Carrington, and imagery of the Wild West. Her work explores the psychology of insider and outsider communities and the carnivalesque. The BirdsNest Gallery is thrilled to have acquired several of her works in painting and ceramics, including Skellington Bear. In this painting, figures dance around a living organ, vivid with eerie life. Themes of life and death and the celestial versus the corporeal permeate the work as a strange ritual appears to take place, one that we are privy to without understanding. The work’s sense of mystery is tantalising, and the scene’s rich colours immediately invite the viewer closer, even as its narrative resists simplification. Bowen has crafted a painting that can be read as a rich text, a riddle or perhaps the most elegant and esoteric of sonnets.
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Bludov (b. 1962) works and lives in Kiev, Ukraine, where he is a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. His works are well-known for their bright colours, warmth, and exploration of urbanism and community. His art has been displayed internationally, and his works are in the collections of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, Sumy Art Museum, Khmelnytsky Art Museum, and Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
In Writers, Bludov combines a sense of levity and absurdity with wry psychological insight. The artist provides us with a scene of scattered warmth: a group of individuals who loiter and gaze, grasping wine glasses as they chat and smoke. There is a sense of inherent community but also distrust, creatives eyeing one another with a sense of underlying competition. The only indicator that these figures are writers, aside from the work’s title, is the presence of the typewriter and scattered papers, which have been neglected in favour of refreshments and snacks, including an abandoned apple core. Bludov complicates a sense of togetherness with individual preoccupation; each writer is a participant in the social milieu but appears to be thinking only of their own manuscript and obligations. The typewriter is ultimately central on Bludov’s canvas, and in each of the partygoer’s minds, yet lies unused with a page only half-finished, creating a prominent tension that fuels the piece. Displayed in the centre of a wall in our Salon, Get Together is another striking work by Bludov, one that deviates from his traditional mode. He explores a greater sense of abstraction or opacity, employing darker colors without his vivid pastel pop. It is a painting that meditates on the formation of community; human figures loom as large as the buildings beside them, proving that community is just as much about inhabitants as infrastructure. There is a pensiveness to this piece, and a sense of gentleness in the outstretched hand of the leftmost figure, perhaps a gesture of surrender or a wave of greeting.
ArTisT spoTlighT: Andrei Bludov
ArTisT spoTlighT: roBerT sAW yers —hidden curio Achmore, Isle of Lewis with its merry red-roofed buildings unfolds before the viewer as if in stages: the fence, the homes, the water, the mountains. The fence is dwarfed by the winding ribbons of water, as if questioning human attempts at creating authority. Overall, the scene is beautiful and placid. However, intriguingly, on the back of the piece, a controversial nude portrait of a young girl can be found. The tension between these disparate scenes obviously provokes many questions. Was the latter painting always meant to be hidden? Who is the girl and what is her relation to InSawyers?
Born in Peckham, London, Robert Sawyers (1923-2002) was an artist known for the wit of his canvases and his attentiveness to beauty in the mundane. Even from a young age, his passion for painting was apparent. Sawyers went on to nurture this talent at the Beckenham School of Art, followed by the Royal College of Art in 1942. After graduating, he received the Herbert Baker Travel Scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. He was artistically inspired by scenes from the USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Italy, Denmark, Scotland, and England, and he exhibited widely, showcased by the Royal Academy of Arts, New English Art Club, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and more. Sawyers only accepted commissions he personally wished to paint, caring little for commercial success. His colourful and unique artworks are now held in public and private collections across the globe.
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Florentine Trams, Sawyers creates an attractive pastel slice of city life, relying upon the balanced geometry of a tram cutting diagonally through an Italian square. Though one would expect the tram to be buzzing with people, Sawyers instead captures a scene of isolation. The woman to the left, the only human figure, has turned away, heightening the prevailing feeling of peaceful emptiness. It is as if the tram is an apparition in a dream, able to be viewed only by the audience.
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FATe And FAmiliAriTy in J.H. Lorimer’s ‘A PeAcefuL Art’
Author: Hannah Gardner Seavey
Standing in Lorimer’s studio over a century after he painted A Peaceful Art, the morning shadows, undulating in the sea breeze, recontextualize the unassuming window seat with ghostly evocations of its storied past. I imagine Louise dropping her needle and thread in her lap and stretching her arms high above her, while her mother laughs and rereads a clever passage aloud for her grown children, the way she might have read to them in their infancy. But in case we are tempted to imagine this family living and working on their crafts in perpetuity, Lorimer has placed a running hourglass in the windowsill, threatening expiration. With this arrangement, Lorimer draws our eye to a fourth point in the golden light of the window, creating a diamond-shaped composition with the hourglass at the pinnacle above the three women. Next to the grandfather clock, obfuscated at right, the hourglass becomes a compositional tautology; it is not an object of use, but an ancient memento mori in the modern era. Did Lorimer intend to imply the hierarchy of time with his redundant addition of the hourglass? I can hear the grandfather clock tolling its resounding affirmations.
Columns
In A Peaceful Art, the women sit in a triadic composition, the threads of life variously employed between them: Louise, at left, and Hannah, center, embroider, while their mother, at right, reads from a book likely held together by a sewn binding. The spinning wheel, wrap reel, and scissors arranged in the foreground of the painting imply that these women represent the three Fates, yet they all seem to embody the role of Lachesis, the ‘Alloter’ of life, as they simultaneously dedicate themselves to their respective arts. Clotho is curiously absent, her spinning wheel inert in a shadowy nook at left. Atropos has similarly refused her role and cast down her scissors. They lie open on the floor near the base of the wrap reel, full of potential energy and anticipation, yet benign when removed from the vitality of the hand. With its quotidian activity in opposition to its dense allegorical framework, A Peaceful Art represents a convergence of genre and history painting. Lorimer explores what it means to mythologize the home and, in doing so, imbues the scene with a sense of sempiternity, though it is never without its threats.
On this spring Sunday morning, the trees outside the west window of John Henry Lorimer’s tower studio at Kellie Castle quietly bud in myriad greens. Their boughs throw frothy shadows across the window seat and floorboards, the same way I imagine they did for Lorimer as he posed his two sisters, Hannah and Louise, and his mother, Hannah Stodart, in this very spot for A Peaceful Art. Painted in the autumn of 1888, ten years after the Lorimer family began to restore Kellie Castle as improving tenants, A Peaceful Art is a study in the ephemerality and eternality of artistic creation and Victorian family life.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Year: 2021 Pages: 240 Book revieW Author: Mattea Gernentz
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From contemporary “sad girl” culture to Millais’ drowned Ophelia and other suffering Pre-Raphaelite maidens, McCormack questions the ways in which culture has continued to tolerate and even celebrate women’s pain and self-mutilation. She explores intersectionality and alludes to misogynoir–the disproportionate effects of hypersexualisation on women of colour–and how the feminine experience itself is incredibly varied. Artists such as Berthe Morisot, “the angel of the incomplete”, nod to the shapeshifting and nebulous nature of womanhood but can only go so far. Strength is found in unity and diversity, and McCormack’s overview of women artists throughout the ages, strengthened by her astute visual analysis of their works, shines in its ability to weave together many varied threads into a thoughtful tapestry.
Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies
The author spectacularly bridges the ancient and contemporary, effortlessly roving between men’s crudely sexual reactions to the Knidian Aphrodite (the first freestanding nude feminine sculpture, appearing in 350 BCE), the defiance of 17th century artists Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani, Second Wave feminist performance art (Ablutions) about the experience of rape by Judy Chicago and others in the 1970s, and today’s #MeToo movement. As she explores themes of women’s liberation and subjugation, McCormack highlights a variety of women artists along the way–several of whom were entirely new to me, including Eti Wade, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Catherine Opie, Hermione Wiltshire, and Debra Cartwright. I believe this feature is true to the book’s utlimate purpose: its greatest asset is an ability to immerse readers in an alternative approach, connecting its audience to women artists who may otherwise be left, as McCormack herself writes, “to langour in avant-garde feminist art history books and seminars”. The goal is to make this conversation, this challenge, just as central as the sculptures, paintings, and stories which already promote objectification and diminish the importance of feminine joy, agency, and pleasure.
Altogether, this is a read that is suitable for all ages and makes a fitting introduction for readers who may not have extensive exposure to the art historical canon. Still, it introduces these topics without being redundant–even an experienced art historian or curator will emerge with something new. Although it could be argued that additional nuance is needed in her discussion of Ophelia and the Virgin Mary, Catherine McCormack undeniably brings much food for thought to the table.
‘Women in tHe Picture: WHAt cuLture Does WitH femALe BoDies’
I think A Peaceful Art is so effective because it conveys materiality as eloquently as it does temporality. There is a familiar tactility to the threads suspended mid-stitch, the weight of linens over knees, the rustling pages of a wellloved book, perhaps even the prickle of an errant needle, or the metallic chill of an unseen thimble in the cool autumnal air. We find ourselves in the instantaneity of this painting because of Lorimer’s great capacity to evoke touch, be it through visual representations of commonplace domestic objects or the metaphysical embrace of a family in quiet company. I am reminded of sitting with my grandmother at her sewing machine and the way the sun shone through the trees outside her window, lacing our fingers with infinitesimal patterns of light as we stitched together decades-old remnants of fabric. Perhaps for you, A Peaceful Art recalls memories of rainy days spent coloring in and outside of the lines with siblings, or evenings playing piano four hands alongside a loved one. In A Peaceful Art, Lorimer distills finite moments of life into the infinite, elevating the momentary to the momentous and balancing creation with its inevitable expiration.
Published during lockdown, Catherine McCormack’s Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies offers a refreshing and accessible crash course in a feminist approach to art history. She breaks down the depiction of feminine bodies throughout the ages into four popular modes: the Venus, Madonna, Maiden, and Monster. Each trope strips the woman involved of aspects of her humanity, ultimately attempting to impose limitations and reductive definitions.
sometHing UnexpecteD
Hospital Drawings Hepworth’s extraordinary hospital drawings are also special. During the lockdown, I came across “The Human Touch”, an exhibition the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge organised. That exhibition mainly focused on human hands. One drawing immediately caught my eye when I prepared my writing on that exhibition: Hepworth’s 1947 ‘Study of Surgeon’s Hand’.
revieW oF A hepWorTh: ArT & liFe’ Author: Natalia Brand
The exhibition “Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life” is now on display at Edinburgh’s Modern Two. On 6 May, I met the curator, Leila Riszko, for an interview. We both sat in the gallery’s café, near the giant Vulcan sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi—which has been there for as long as I can remember. With the presence of such a massive piece, my readers, it sounds as if we were outdoors chatting, yet it’s located indoors. Both eager to discuss Hepworth, we began chatting about her life and career even before placing our coffee orders. Hepworth is not the only woman artist whose work Leila has curated. In the past several years, she has organised several major exhibitions in Scotland, including one on Paula Rego and another on Bridget Riley, which I visited and remember with immense enjoyment. These three female artists all have very different attitudes towards their art and domestic life, something Leila and I discussed. Whether a wife, lover, or a mother, it can be a conflicting state when one works as an artist. Hepworth embraced motherhood and tried to find time amid her responsibilities to create and keep herself sane—a difficult task. When asked what about Hepworth as an artist has inspired her most, without hesitation, Leila answered: her work ethic.
‘BArBAr
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In the displayed pieces, apart from Hepworth’s evolving sculptures, there are certain works which are not very well-known but speak to me. First, we must consider her paintings. There are several brilliant examples in this exhibition, such as ‘Project (Spring Morning)’, ‘Forms Ascending’, ‘Fantasied (Black and Grey)’, ‘Atlantic’, ‘The Nest’, etc. These gestural paintings with a fluid approach act as a precursor for shaping the forms of her sculptures, offering a unique sense of rawness and authenticity.
On the right: ‘Project: Spring Morning’, 1957, Oil On the left: ‘Forms Ascending’, 1957, Oil Barbara Hepworth (1903-75), ‘Study of Surgeon’s Hand’, 1947, Graphite on gesso on strawboard 27.5 x 37.6 cm Ethel Walker (1861-1951), ‘Portrait of Barbara Hepworth’, 1920, Oil on canvas “Have you seen the Barbara Hepworth exhibition yet?” This has recently become a part of daily conversation among art lovers in town.
The story behind this piece is one where two people with very different professions meet, forming an unlikely but profound friendship. One is a surgeon named Norman Capener, and the other is our heroine Barbara Hepworth, a sculptor. In 1947, Capener went to St Ives to recover
Shecreate”.portrayed
all these surgeons in action in these drawings, holding tools for operation with gazes sharp, deep, and concentrated, one can almost witness the sculptor herself in the process of making her masterpieces. When confronting traces of her drawing lines in pencil and her numerous cuts by razor blade on the medium, I can practically hear the violent sound and envision her horrible anguish and fear revealed in front of me. a new BirtH Hepworth’s most open forms are her metal works. While standing and gazing at these pieces, I felt as if all my senses were being stimulated at once. After her eldest son, Paul, was killed in a plane crash in 1953, Hepworth felt worn. Three years later, she made her decisive move towards sculptures in metal and bronze, which she had rejected for the three Hepworth witnessed the process of surgeons’ operations. These are two beautiful drawings among eighty drawings she produced in the course of nearly two years. Image credit: Sho
25 from jaundice. He suggested Hepworth see ‘the work of the surgeons in action’. At that time, her young daughter, Sarah, had suffered a bone infection for several years, so Hepworth was heavily involved with hospitals as Sarah’s situation became more and more intensified. The duo’s friendship can be traced back to three years prior when the surgeon transferred her daughter from a small Cornish hospital to a larger hospital. Capener, who was an amateur painter himself and very interested in modern art, told Ben Nicholson, Hepworth’s husband, how much he liked her sculptures, praising her work as possessing a “very striking similarity to Bach’s more abstract work”. He purchased Hepworth’s art to help raise funds for her daughter’s medical treatment. Taking Capener’s advice, Hepworth devoted herself to witnessing the process of surgeons’ operations. In the course of nearly two years, she produced around eighty drawings.
artist’s point of view to narrate the expression of their hands. Hepworth further said: “Not only is it the most revealing and expressive part of the human body—it is also the visible extension of the brain and feeling generally. In watching an operation, there is simply no end to the revelations of thought and idea conveyed by the contemplation of these hands at work”.
Interestingly, in private, Hepworth made a drawing of her own hand, in addition to several casts. Looking at the surgeons’ hands, which certainly give us a sense of grace, tenderness, and femininity, one cannot tell the difference between her hands and the surgeons’. She probably applied the form of her own hands to these images, through visual likeness, to link them. Furthermore, a hand here is not for identification but becomes a universal language as an intricate transmission between reason and emotion, healing and creation, and science and art. Hepworth often expressed something beautiful by using the phrase ‘divine mind’. No doubt she sensed this indescribable moment in hospital
Seeingrooms.
The entire wall dedicated to her time spent capturing the actions of medical professions is called ‘Concentration, Movement, and Gesture’.
I am glad to say that, within this new exhibition, an entire wall is dedicated to her time spent capturing the actions of surgeons and nurses. These drawings are figurative, which is opposite to the abstraction for which Hepworth is famous. When talking about this series of ‘drawings’, we must remember the more she worked on this subject, the more she developed into ‘oil sketches’. Gesso of Ripolin, enamel paint, white lead, chalk, pastel, coloured oil wash, scratches with a razor blade, lines of pencil and chalk—all are used to achieve the state that she described in her 1953 lecture delivered to a group of surgeons in Exeter: “…the living, seeing, and highly intelligent hands of the surgeon which are carrying out the will and knowledge of his brain—supported by the desire of his spirit to heal and these medical professionals’ work in detail but not as a documentary record. Instead, she used an
‘Forms in Movement (Galliard)’ Image credit: Sho
On now until Sun 2 October 2022 decades prior while working on direct carving. Hepworth began questioning: “How to swing up & outwards when feeling cannot be contained by the block?” She found the new medium to be surprisingly “gentle” and began to work with greater love. These metallic sculptures gave her something fresh she had never experienced before. They offered possibilities for new forms, cultivating an element of openness and fluidity. Now she could create beautiful spiralling curved forms. She described each work as a “person” to her. I think, among all these works, ‘Forms in Movement (Galliard)’, portraying a dancer’s dancing, captures movement in the most sensational manner.
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Leila is seen within the coiled forms of ‘Oval Form (Trezion)’. Hepworth said: “The open forms of bronze also allowed the viewer a greater participation in the work. As Hepworth observed, ‘there is stronger sense of participating in the form — you want to go in and out as you look at a sculpture like Trezion” Image credit: Sho Ideally, sculptures should be viewed from all sides. For this reason among others, Hepworth preferred her work to be shown outdoors. The interplay between light and shadow, as well as a constant dialogue between the work, environment, and changes in nature, remained crucial to her as an artist. Leila found placing Hepworth’s pieces within Modern Two’s limited interior spaces to be quite a challenge. In various rooms, the visitor encounters awkward corners. Despite these difficulties, she has curated the exhibition to the best of her ability. Through her hard work, just like magic, Hepworth’s art is shown as an emotionally escalated vision, as Hepworth would have desired.
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dbirdsnestiary
Jo’s works are joyful and bright with thick, textured brushstrokes
By Mattea Gernentz
On a recent trip to Trinity, the BirdsNest team had the privilege of visiting Jo Perkins, a nature-loving contemporary artist. Upon entering her downstairs studio, we were immediately surrounded by blossoms of colour and light. Jo’s canvases immediately command attention, quickly leading from captivation to joy. Quite appropriately, Jo’s artistic motto is “amplify the joy”. Throughout the pandemic, she has garnered significant attention through Instagram, where she shares her latest work and provides insights into her artistic process. Jo mixes her own paint, which enables her to achieve specificity in tone and facilitates an almost instantaneous approach to each artwork. Her studio was full of little gems: detailed sketchbooks brimming with patterns and images and books on Japanese colour combinations. Jo’s work is influenced by her time spent living in Japan, in addition to her prior studies in textiles.
Jo’s initial step in creating an artwork is to loosen up by expressing abstraction through the shapes in her subconscious. She will quickly create a series of marks and then examine them afterwards, repurposing certain swirling shapes for a vase, a flower, etc. This helps to give her paintings their unique layered sensation, as well as an impeccable sense of balance. Her landscapes are produced on canvas while many of her florals are created on board. Although florals are a subject frequently seen, and therefore one difficult to revolutionise, Jo appears to conquer this genre with grace. Each painting emerges fresh and exciting, creating a unique melody of hues.
studio Visits: Jo Perkins and danielle Hewlett
Sho, our gallery’s founder, and Mattea, our curator, are currently undertaking a qualitative research project spanning the realms of art and psychology. Inspired by the lives and careers of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dalí, and others, they are investigating correlations between visual artists’ first memories and the subject matter of their art. This is an underexplored area of study that delves into important issues of creativity, cognition, and memory. If you are a contemporary artist that would like to participate, please send an email to info@birdsnestbrand.co.uk.
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Jo’s paintings can be large or small, delving into landscapes, florals, and more Danielle’s ‘Misty Memories’ United in vibrancy is Danielle Hewlett, a talented portrait artist from South Africa. She now calls Scotland her home, where her art distinctly stands out due to its vivid hues as well as its scale; her canvases become the highlight of any room. Although in the past she primarily painted men, Danielle now focuses on capturing women’s narratives through her paintings. After conversing with her subject, she creates a piece that merges their story with her own perceptions. The colours she uses are directly tied to this encounter and to her mood, which means she often has to finish a project quickly rather than returning to it at a later time. Her work is alive, lightened by graffiti-like touches. Inspired by her young daughter, sometimes her work will include symbols such as “xxx”, forming a kind of joyous secret language that doesn’t necessitate translation. In the future, Danielle hopes to continue to evolve in her portrayal of the feminine gaze.
visuAl ArTisTs’ FirsT memory sTudy
ladies takeoVer london
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Whistler’s Little White Girl (1864) offers a captivating melancholy Whistler’s Woman in White at the RSA (with many visitors) Exploring as many museums in England as possible (The Fitzwilliam Museum)
One of the final walls in the Tate’s current Surrealism exhibition, beautifully merging works of bold colours and sepia tones
By Mattea Gernentz Virginia Woolf once wrote that “to walk alone in London is the greatest form of rest”. This spring, I realised the radiant truth of this statement anew. London in March was a metropolis brimming with artistic activity, emphasising women artists for Women’s History Month in its wide range of exhibitions and artistic displays. Over the span of just a few days, I attempted to absorb all that I could, wandering between public institutions and commercial galleries alike. My favourite exhibition by far was the Royal Academy of Arts’ Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan. Joanna was Whistler’s primary muse, model, and partner in the 1860s, remaining his friend until her death. The exhibition encompassed the influence of Japonisme, Whistler’s evolving technique, and the popular image of the “woman in white”. When I walked into the second room, displaying Whistler’s three Symphonies in White, I was surprised by my eyes instantly becoming teary. The trio of paintings was truly stunning–in scale, sense of tenderness, and portrayal of emotion. In my favourite, The Little White Girl (1864), a young woman gazes into a mirror as her arm languidly rests upon a mantle. On her finger is an engagement ring. Her pensive face revealed through her reflection adds a mood of gravity to a scene that would otherwise be serene and bright with its pink blossoms, porcelain vase, and delicate Japanese fan.
An exhibition I had seen a great deal of buzz about on social media was the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Hayward Gallery, Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child. Spanning over six rooms, the show was at once sprawling and sparse. Bourgeois work bridges harsh and soft; in Cell XXV (The View of the World of the Jealous Wife) she imprisons three of her own dresses in a circular cage, depicting distorted perceptions and relationships as a result of envy. When viewing the artwork from the front, a phallic composition appears, highlighting her interest in love, lust, and loss. Well-known for Maman, her similar Spider assumed prominence in the exhibition, hovering over a cage patched with remnants of tapestry, a reference to Bourgeois’ mother who was a weaver and restorer of antique tapestries. Bourgeois viewed the spider with a sense of respect and admiration, an illustration of the dogged life of the artist and a vocation of repair. The passage of time also had a significant influence on her work. Sculptures gesture to her childhood home, and a clock face in shades of pink and red is populated with the bodies of pregnant women. On one of her textile works, the phrase can be read, “I had a flashback to something that never existed.” Bourgeois’ work can perhaps be summarised as just that: a meditation outside of time that feels familiar, at times nightmarish and then clairvoyant.
Exploring as many museums in England as possible (The Fitzwilliam Museum) Louise Bourgeois’ Spider (1997), an imposing presence in the gallery
The beginning of the Tate’s Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition
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Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room: Filled with the Brilliance of Life (2011) at the Tate Modern
Although I admire the ingenuity and boldness of Yayoi Kusama’s art, the Tate Modern’s sold-out (and now extended) exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms, seemed created as Instagram fodder more than anything else. Time within the rooms themselves was limited to two minutes during my visit, resulting in lines. Once inside the mirror rooms, each occupant I observed immediately became preoccupied with their phone, filming the experience from varied angles. It seems ironic that Kusama, mocked in New York for the radicalism of her nude performance art and protests, has become, in a sense, commodified and distributed en–masse in an arguably superficial way. Kusama’s work wrestles with the rawness of hallucinations, depression, sexual trauma, and more, coupled with the prejudice and dismissal she faced as a Japanese woman in 1960s America. How brilliant that her name has become amplified with the recognition she has long-deserved, but at what cost?
The Tate Modern fared better with their Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition, highlighting frequently overlooked artists and examining surrealism beyond the traditional lens of Paris in the 1920s and ensuing years. Artists such as Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Maya Deren, Eva Sulzer, Françoise Sullivan, and Frida Kahlo were included in the massive show among others. It felt remarkably fresh and impressive in scope, weaving together varied mediums while tackling surrealism’s diverse influence around the globe. At once affirmative and critical, colourful but pragmatic, the exhibition offered a remarkable journey–one that prompted me to take a second thoughtful stroll around its galleries because of the sheer amount of art on display.
The breadth of melodies selected for this special evening provided a sweeping panorama of emotion, one befitting the scope of our Flaming June exhibition. Together, the songs emulated the ebb and flow of love, the tender footsteps of initial affection, ecstatic lovestruck joy, unrequited longing, and loss’ fading desire. It was a unique privilege to be able to host an event involving the act of creating and sharing resonant art in a space already brimming with art; there is a sense of superabundance and a dialogue between mediums that I believe naturally emerges from this. It would be foolish to assume the music did not interact with the surrounding canvases meticulously painted by Andrew Fitzpatrick and MaryAnne Hunt, and we would be narrow-minded to think we or they could ever emerge unchanged from such an encounter.
My favourite piece included in the performance was Ernest Bloch’s “Prayer”.
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This recital, featuring the musical talents of Alexandra Huang-Kokina, Paul Docherty, and Rebekah Lesan, provided a welcome means of togetherness, a pause in the hurry and bustle of daily life. For a few enchanting hours, we were given the space to reflect and become inclined towards something larger than ourselves, leaning forward to listen to sound breaking through the candlelit dimness.
Flaming June reCital refleCtion
Something about this melody, the first from a set of three short movements written in 1924 for the cellist Hans Kindler, gives me chills. I am haunted by its plaintive melody, which mimics a Jewish hymn of petition. The song’s depth and winnowing nature powerfully contrasted with, for example, the light and airy ministrations of Chopin’s Étude. How incredible that we were able to listen together to this song almost one hundred years after its creation and feel it leap to life with unflagging fervour. So much has changed during the last century yet so much remains the same. Created in the interim between the World Wars, this music emerged from a generation that intimately knew and would know suffering and death. I believe there has to be a vital element that speaks to us now as we emerge from a global period of isolation, grief, and sacrifice and confront a world forever altered, sometimes only able to utter a small prayer in response.
By Mattea Gernentz
32 beForeyeGo... ICELAND ODYSSEY by Ting APOLLO AND DAPHNE GALLERIA BORGHESE by Mattea MIDNIGHT SHEEP WALK by Ken GRAVITATING by Ting
33 AFFECTATIONS by Colin Sutherland THRONES by Colin Sutherland WHAT ARE WE DRINKING EXACTLY? by Ting
34 meet our staFF
Chief Executive NATALIA (SHO) BRAND
Managing Director KEN JOHNSTONE
Born in Taipei, Sho came to Britain in 1998 and attended Essex University for a postgraduate degree, Edinburgh University for a Master’s and Glasgow University for her PhD, reading art history. Her specialities range from the Renaissance to the present day. After gaining her doctorate and British citizenship, she started working as an independent art historian in 2006, based in Edinburgh. Since then, she has written 13 art books and numerous articles for magazines, journals and newspapers. She writes two monthly articles in two of the top art magazines published in Mandarin. Entitled The Artist and Art Collection + Design, they are widely read in Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Her published articles relate to exhibitions and collections from all over the world. She has also written catalogues for international artists’ exhibitions and often delivers lectures in Taipei, Mainland China, the USA, and other countries. She has curated an exhibition in the Venice Biennale 2016. Her career has developed connections with individual artists in Scotland, and throughout the world. She has also offered advice to many art lovers to help and enhance their collections, based on her experience as an art historian.
Ting-Yu is a visual designer with 9 years of experience and an art project manager with 3 years of working experience. She has a multidisciplinary background across art, culture, and design. She holds an MSc in Modern and Contemporary Art History from University of Edinburgh and BA in Creative Cultural Industries Management from National Taipei University of Education. Her main focuses are on culture and sustainability, visual design, contemporary art curatorial practice, and racial and gender representation in art history.
Creative Manager TING-YU TU
Mattea is a poet and art curator from Franklin, Tennessee. She graduated with Distinction from the University of St Andrews with a master’s degree in Museum and Gallery Studies. Her dissertation focused on Berthe Morisot, Julie Manet, and the female gaze within Impressionism. She has previously gained curatorial experience at the Frist Art Museum, Scottish Fisheries Museum, and University of Dundee. She studied English literature and psychology at Wheaton College, USA, as an undergraduate, and is highly interested in modernism, the intersection of visual art and the written word, and feminist approaches to art history.
A graduate of George Heriot’s School Edinburgh, Ken has a postgraduate degree in Sculpture from Edinburgh College of Art. He has spent most of his life creating art work, teaching, organising venues and exhibitions, and travelling round the main Art galleries. He was Principal Teacher, Art and Design at Broughton High School, Edinburgh for many years until his retirement. Ken has an extensive understanding of Scottish and Western Art. He is a regular tutor at the Scottish Arts Club and has given many lectures there. He has also been responsible for tutoring different forms of life drawing in the Edinburgh art scene. His expertise has injected professional artmaking into our Gallery.
Researcher and Curator MATTEA GERNENTZ
Business Development Director JIM JOHNSTONE
Jim went to George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh and, subsequently, graduated MA Economics from Edinburgh University and MBA from the Harvard Business School. He has had very extensive, multinational experience in a variety of senior positions as an executive, a consultant and an entrepreneur. Based at different times in London, New York, Brussels, Tokyo and Beirut. He is again in London, using his expertise to help companies expand their business internationally and in the UK. Jim has also spent time in the public sector, as CEO of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, charged with attracting international investment and developing the country’s exports. At one stage, he was deeply involved in business and investment banking activities linking the U.S., China and the Far East. Since then, he has been working on projects involving marketing and business development. Jim has had a lifelong interest in art, encouraged by the career of his brother, Ken.
35 +44 1316 675394 +44 7845 Facebookinfo@birdsnestbrand.co.uk000074@birdsnestart Instagram @birdsnestgallery Website www.birdsnestbrand.co.uk Andrew Fitzpatrick, ‘Kelvingrove Beauty’, 2021 Artwork on the back cover: Edward Wolfe, ‘Abstract’
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