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 edinburgh art festival and annuale - part two
Caricatures, experimental noise and ghost drawings in Edinburgh. More from the wilds of the third Edinburgh Art Festival… moyna flannagan - well, wellsee images Walking into the gallery, you’re essentially entering Flannagan’s world of fictional characters. Painted in an accomplished, but loose and gestural manner, each painting is carefully composed and structured to explore different conceits in the nature of painting and fiction. There’s something contained and melancholic about these images, as if the characters are compelled to behave in a particular way. In the series of monochromes, nearly all are looking out at the viewer, in a sense performing or looking for approval, only there because you are. The fate of these characters is imposed by the author, or in this case the artist.  Images from Moyna Flannagan - Well, Well Flannagan employs some classical mechanisms to structure her paintings. Fingers point the viewer toward another part of the painting, or off to the side, and scale is played with. For all their textural presence, realism is thrown out the window, and the images become like caricatures. At once melancholic and humorous, the show presents the world of an active imagination. Moyna Flannagan - Well, Well is at Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, until 17 September 06. www.doggerfisher.com  scott laverie - yurtasee images Hidden away from the pressing crowds of the Edinburgh Festival, Scott Laverie’s Yurta rests in the peaceful gardens of the Scottish Book Trust, only feet away from the mayhem of the Royal Mile. Built as both a monument and literally a platform for creativity, the wooden tower creates an outdoor amphitheatre, inviting intervention: an impromptu performance, while you’ve stopped for your sandwiches, or one of a number of events organised by the curators.  Images from Scott Laverie’s Yurta The opening event proved to be a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon of experimental noise. Feedback mingling with the sound of the seagulls circling above, and the oddly satisfying aesthetic of amps and leads set against such a leafy backdrop. In addition, a number of visual artists have contributed small interventions into the structure itself. Juliana Capes’ black diamonds are suspended within a niche in the roof of the structure. And nearby, Ruth Barker’s enigmatic Ideas Move Away From Abstraction questions notions of botanical breeding and selection. Scott Laverie’s Yurta is at the Scottish Book Trust, Edinburgh, until 03 September 06. www.emerged.net www.scottishbooktrust.com  andrew mackenzie - delicate groundsee images As much about rehearsing the movement of your hand whilst drawing, as the visual imagery it creates, Andrew MacKenzie’s paintings explore the romantic detachments from the real, when we choose to represent something through memory. Surfaces are reworked, layered, scraped back and covered, ghosts of line drawings emerge as shadows. There is something print like, even photographic, in the images created, as if they’ve been impressed upon the surface.  Images from Andrew MacKenzie - Delicate Ground The paintings, or rather drawings, describe locations possibly well known to the artist, and familiar to us all: kerbside trees by empty streets, bridges, the edge of a building site. MacKenzie states that the actual locations are no longer relevant, but it is the almost symbolic representation of elements together that drives the work. Often texts are inserted, describing human process within the environment. By erasing and redrawing, the works become more about retracing paths on the surface of the painting, and the images persist through their own familiarity. Andrew MacKenzie - Delicate Ground is at Amber Roome Contemporary Art, Edinburgh, until 07 September 06. www.amberroome.co.uk
Shireen Taylor
The Edinburgh Art Festival and Annuale continue until 03 September 06. Full exhibition listings can be found at www.edinburghartfestival.com and www.annuale.org.
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