Latest news with #NationalGalleriesofScotland
The National
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Modern One draws in visitors with 3ft spider and free artist rooms
A series of free artist rooms open on Saturday with sights to see including Bourgeois's arachnid, created in 1994, and serving as a starting point for new displays across the gallery. The national touring collection is jointly cared for by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Lucy Askew, chief curator of modern and contemporary art, said: 'We're delighted that from this July, visitors to Modern One can explore new, free displays from the nation's collection. 'Art can be a source of insight and delight, helping us make sense of our place in the world. 'At the heart of these displays will be presentations of works by Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Robert Mapplethorpe, featured as part of our Artist Rooms collection. 'All three artists considered deeply what it is to be human, expressing this in dynamic, intriguing and often playful ways. 'Their art not only reflects shared experiences, bringing attention to the things that connect us, but also offers a window onto different perspectives. 'We hope visitors will be inspired by their vision and creativity, and by the work of the many other impressive and engaging artists featured. There is truly something for all to discover.' French-American artist Bourgeois is described as one of the most influential artists of her generation whose career spanned eight decades, from the 1930s until 2010. Her work included paintings and drawings, sculptures using fabric and rubber, and monumental installations. The display will draw out the ways Bourgeois used art as an act of catharsis, with works exploring selfhood, family connections, motherhood and memory. Modern One is also inviting visitors to 'be inspired by the radical, sensuous, and often playful works' of Chadwick. One of the first women artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987, her innovative and unconventional use of materials was hugely influential on a younger generation of artists. Her death in 1996 at 42 curtailed a career marked by inventive transgression, questioning gender representation and the nature of desire. Early photographic works in this display will explore how she used her own body to consider autobiography, self-knowledge, the cycles of life and familial relationships. Another artist room will feature one of the largest collections of photographic works by the American Mapplethorpe. A pioneer of black-and-white photography, within his relatively short career, Mapplethorpe was recognised as one of the most significant fine art photographers of the late 20th century, making images that both challenge and engage with classical notions of beauty.
Observer
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Jonathan Anderson Sets a New Dressing Agenda at Dior
A photo of Christian Dior's original salon stretched the width of the Invalides, the gold-domed palace where Napoleon is buried, offering a fish-eye view of the past to the throngs shrieking outside — and a sign of just where Dior believes it belongs in the pantheon of French power. Inside, dove-gray velvet lined the walls of a temporary event space and displayed two rare 18th-century oils by Jean Siméon Chardin on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland and the Louvre. Robert Pattinson gossiped with Josh O'Connor. Donatella Versace schmoozed with Roger Federer. A pregnant Rihanna arrived with A$AP Rocky a mere 45 minutes after the official start time. That's how much anticipation there was for the Dior men's show. Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino was even trailing around to document the moment. It was Jonathan Anderson's debut as the creative director/savior of the house, the first designer to be put in charge of both menswear and womenswear. And under all the buzz, a giant question mark hovered: Could the former Loewe wunderkind reignite excitement not just in the brand but in fashion? Anderson made it look easy. Literally. Beginning with his take on the Bar jacket, the most famous Dior womenswear shape — the one that prompted Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow to jump out of her seat shrieking, 'It's a New Look!' in 1947. It was reimagined in a Donegal tweed with a flat back and a whiff of the hourglass at the front, as if it retained a vague memory of what it once was. With it, he paired not a shirt but a stiff white stock collar and a pair of oversize white cotton cargo shorts, each side sporting elaborate folds to create the plumped out silhouette of a goose, or a 1948 couture dress called the Delft. Go on, shake your tail feathers. If little Lord Fauntleroy had spent a year at the University of Southern California and then returned for a pickup game of basketball at Versailles, this is how he might dress. It was not a capital N New Look. It wasn't that radical, or shocking. But it was an awfully charming newish one. And it was situated smack in the middle of the tension between formality and informality, menswear and womenswear, commerce and creativity (Anderson's own work at Loewe and Uniqlo and what he inherited at Dior), which seems to define this particular moment. Jonathan Andersons take on the Bar jacket, Diors most famous womens wear shape, is paired with cargo shorts at the Dior spring 2026 fashion show in Milan in June 2025. (Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times) No one is all one thing or another. Neither are their clothes. Neither are the totems of wealth. What Anderson proposed was a clear and convincing argument that contradictions can gracefully coexist. Most of all, he put forward the belief that fashion and wearability are not irreconcilable ideas — that you either have to look bizarro or look boring. For every highfalutin garment there was an equal and opposite this-old-thing, usually worn together. Velvet frock coats were paired with faded jeans in Japanese denim. Olive green puffer coats and down vests were cut with trapeze backs. The exact pattern of another classic Dior dress, the Caprice, with its elaborately swathed peplum skirt, was applied to a pair of loose khakis, giving one leg the fillip of a drape. An 18th-century frock coat was exactingly reproduced — in moleskin. There were shamrocks on tennis shoes and high-tops with driving shoe soles; cable knits under elaborate waist coats. There was a lot of neck action. Book totes borrowed, again, from the women's line, with actual book titles on them from Baudelaire and Françoise Sagan. Anderson had clearly done his homework. Easter eggs to early Dior were everywhere. Even the labels inside the clothes were in the designer's preferred silk faille. He was never going to toss everything out the window and start again. He couldn't. Dior is a multibillion-dollar business, after all, and some of his predecessors (Raf Simons, Hedi Slimane, John Galliano) were his idols. Once upon a time, a designer might have had the arrogance to wipe the slate clean, but this is a new age. The industry is in crisis, and the creative tectonic plates are shifting. It is why Anderson invited seemingly every other designer in Paris to join him at the show. It is also why he picked the Chardin oils and why he seeded his Instagram with Warhol Polaroids of Lee Radziwill and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Chardin, he said in a preview, 'kind of loosened up the still life'; Warhol made pop culture high art. Both crystallized an inflection point in culture. Anderson clearly wants his Dior to do the same. His show invitation came borne on a china plate with three china eggs on top, as if a reminder that the menswear was just the beginning (and maybe to acknowledge that some shells may get broken along the way). Fair enough. The result may not knock you sideways, but it's likely to make you sit up and buy. Not to mention whetting the appetite for his first womenswear collection, come September.
Scotsman
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
National Galleries Edinburgh: Giant metal spider returning to Scottish modern art gallery after 12 years
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A 3m-tall metal spider is to make a return to a Scottish art gallery after 12 years as part of an exhibition that will also feature photography by American talent Robert Mapplethorpe. Spider, by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois, will be on display at Modern One in Edinburgh from next month, in a free exhibition in the Artist Rooms series, cared for jointly by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The spider was previously on show at the gallery in 2013, as part of Artist Rooms exhibition Louise Bourgeois, A Woman Without Secrets. The artwork was also exhibited in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London. The creation was on display in Aberdeen last year. As well as work by Ms Bourgeois and Mr Mapplethorpe, who is known for his black-and-white photographic images, and Helen Chadwick, the exhibition will also include paintings, drawings, prints and photography by artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Sarah Lucas, Jasleen Kaur, Edvard Munch and Lee Miller. Lucy Askew, chief curator, modern and contemporary art, said: 'We're delighted that from this July, visitors to Modern One can explore new, free displays from the nation's collection. Art can be a source of insight and delight, helping us make sense of our place in the world. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'At the heart of these displays will be presentations of works by Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Robert Mapplethorpe, featured as part of our Artist Rooms collection. All three artists considered deeply what it is to be human, expressing this in dynamic, intriguing and often playful ways.' Spider by Louise Bourgeois will return to Edinburgh. | National Galleries She added: 'Their art not only reflects shared experiences, bringing attention to the things that connect us, but also offers a window onto different perspectives. We hope visitors will be inspired by their vision and creativity, and by the work of the many other impressive and engaging artists featured. There is truly something for all to discover.' Ms Bourgeois has been described as 'one of the most influential artists of her generation'. Her career spanned eight decades, from the 1930s until 2010. Artworks included paintings and drawings, sculptures using fabric and rubber, and monumental installations. As well as Spider, the display will also include two works on paper – 10am is When You Come to Me and Spirals, both created in 2005 – and a rare early painting, made by Bourgeois in 1946-7. A sculpture, Untitled, made when Ms Bourgeois was 85, will also go on display, representing a portrait of the artist's aging body using clothes and undergarments she had worn during her lifetime. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad One of the first female artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987, Ms Chadwick's career was cut short by her death in 1996 aged just 42. Her work was marked by inventive transgression, questioning gender representation and the nature of desire. Photography by Robert Mapplethorpe, pictured here in a self portrait, will also be on display. | National Galleries The Artist Rooms programme and collection is managed by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland with the support of Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.
The Herald Scotland
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Soaring demand for premieres boosts Edinburgh film festival
Nearly two thirds of films in last year's programme – the first under director Paul Ridd and producer Emma Boa - have since been picked up for cinema distribution. Read more: The festival will be returning to the recently-reopened Filmhouse for the first time in three years, and also working in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland and the Monkey Barrel Comedy Club as part of a drive to attract new audiences. An expanded programme of industry events will be rolled out at a new 'festival hub' which will be set up at the Central Hall, near the Cameo cinema in Tollcross, with the 600-capacity venue also playing host to the festival's strand of in-conversation events for a second year. Oscar-winning Scottish documentary maker Kevin Macdonald, his brother Andrew, producer of Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and the 28 Days Later franchise, BAFTA-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold and American director Nia DaCosta will be among the special guests. The event will feature the world premiere of an animated film by Bridget Jones star Renee Zellweger, a remake of the cult 1980s comedy horror The Toxic Avenger featuring new turns from Peter Dinklage, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon, new British crime drama All The Devils Are Here, about four thieves ordered to hide out in a secluded house, and Dragonfly, a mystery thriller starring British actresses Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough. An animated film directed by Renee Zellweger will get its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival Festival. (Image: Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures) Grow, a fantasy set in the self-proclaimed "pumpkin capital of the world" from Scottish filmmaker John McPhail, director of zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, features a star-studded cast including Nick Frost, Jeremy Swift, Alan Carr, Jane Horrocks, Tim McInnnery, Alan Carr. Other highlights include documentaries exploring the life and work of best-selling Edinburgh author Irvine Welsh and what goes on at Scotland's annual porridge-making, and a collaboration between Scottish actress-turned-filmmaker Morven Christie and teenage screen star Frankie Corio, who was propelled to fame in Aftersun, the 2022 EIFF curtainraiser. The festival will host a 35th anniversary screening of the Scottish prison drama Silent Scream, Robert Carlyle's first film, in honour of film and TV producer Paddy Higson, who passed away earlier this year, and a 40th anniversary screening of the classic Scottish comedy Restless Natives, which was recently turned into a new stage musical. The Irvine Welsh documentary Reality Is Not Enough will close this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. (Image: Chris McCluskie) Ten world premieres will compete for a new Sean Connery Prize for feature filmmaking excellence, which was launched at last year's festival, and was won by self-taught British director Jack King for his debut feature The Ceremony. The £50,000 prize was instigated after the Sean Connery Foundation, which was created to honour the legacy of the Edinburgh-born actor, agreed to support the relaunch festival he was a long-time patron of. Contenders this year include road movie Low Rider, On The Sea, a love story set in a Welsh fishing village, Two Neighbors, a modern-day fable focusing on two women who collide at a party, Once You Shall Be One Of Those Who Lived Long Ago, a documentary on a Swedish mining town with a dwindling population, and Concessions, which is set on the final day of business at a small-town American cinema, A remake of The Toxic Avenger will be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Image: Supplied) Members of Sir Sean's family will be among the special guests introducing early morning screenings at the Filmhouse of the six classic James Bond films he starred in between 1962 and 1971. The festival is also joining forces with the Sean Connery Foundation and the National Film and Television School to premiere the first six short films to emerge from a new talent lab initiative which was launched last year to help develop a new generation of Scottish filmmakers. New British crime thriller All The Devils Are Here will be premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Image: Supplied) The festival was relaunched last year following a turbulent period in the wake of the sudden collapse of the Edinburgh-based Centre for the Moving Image in October 2022, which forced both the EIFF and the Filmhouse to shut down. The Filmhouse has only just reopened after being put up for sale by the CMI's administrators and rescued by a group of former staff, while a brand new board and team has been assembled to lead the festival into a new era. The Golden Spurtle documentary will go behind the scenes at an annual porridge-making world championships held in a village in the Highlands. (Image: Supplied) Last year's reboot, which also feature the launch of a short film prize named after Oscar-winning filmmaker. She was one of last year's special guests, along with filmmaker Gaspar Noe, writer Alex Garland, and screen stars Saoirse Ronan and Kelly Macdonald. The Edinburgh International Film Festival will be returning to the historic Filmhouse cinema for the first time in three years. (Image: Kat Gollock) Mr Ridd said: 'I think we had a really strong start last year. 'We had a real opportunity, because we were building a whole new organisation, to rethink a lot of things and relaunch the festival. Festival director Paul Ridd, film producer Andrew Macdonald, the chair of the EIFF board, film editor Thelma Schoonmaker and festival producer Emma Boa. (Image: Pako Mera) 'We set out a template for how the programme will look and what the shape of the festival will be. 'We are consolidating things with the return of our two major competitions, which are the centrepiece of the festival. Around them, we will have some amazing UK and world premieres, some great guests and a really good industry programme. Scottish comedy Restless Natives will get a 40th anniversary screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Image: free) 'For me, this year is all about being bigger and better, and reinstating our intention to provide a really audience-focused festival, that is integrated into both the wider film industry and the arts landscape in Edinburgh.' Mr Ridd said the involvement of the Sean Connery Foundation had been crucial in helping to realise ambitions to showcase new films of the highest possible quality drawn from around the world. Classic James Bond films, including Goldfinger, will get rare screenings at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Image: Supplied) Filmmakers from Canada, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Croatia, France, Turkey, Australia, Brazil and Japan feature in the programme, which will champion 43 new features, including 18 world premieres in total. Mr Ridd said: 'Every programming decision we make is about providing a broad range of really high-quality international work. Lady MacLean will be among the new Scottish films premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. 'We have got really a strong presence of Scottish films, Scottish filmmakers, UK films and UK filmmakers, embedded in a wider matrix of international cinema. That is absolutely crucial to what we're doing at the festival. 'Having Sean Connery's name on the feature filmmaking prize has been absolutely invaluable for the festival. Actress Morven Christie will be launching Stray, a new short film she has directed, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. 'Last year we had around 2500 submissions for the feature filmmaking prize. This year we have been considering more than 4500 films. 'It has been a very difficult process, but what it has meant that the films that are in the final programme are of a very high standard. 'People obviously really see the value of that prize, the prestige of the Connery name and the history of the festival. 'Jack King, who won the Connery prize with The Ceremony last year, has told us that it has completely altered the trajectory of his career.' Mr Ridd said it was 'crucial' for the festival to attract filmmakers to Edinburgh to launch their films to help them find the widest possible audiences for their work. He said: 'I would measure around 50 per cent of our success on the seven days the festival is in August, and what we deliver for audiences and filmmakers. 'I think the other 50 per cent is about tracking what happens to those films and filmmakers afterwards. 'Last year, 60 per cent of our feature films secured UK distribution, which was really good, but we want to grow that figure. 'The way that we do that is to create opportunities for our filmmakers to speak directly to audiences but also interact with all the industry delegates that we have. It's all about what the future of their films and what the future of their careers looks like. 'These are tough times for filmmakers. It is a miracle every time a film gets made, let alone seen. Distribution is really tricky at the moment. 'We have a weight of responsibility to foster an environment in which films have the best possible chance to secure distribution, and filmmakers have the chance to potentially meet that next collaborator, commissioner or producer on the ground. We are very much focused on providing a really strong platform to address the challenges that filmmakers have. We can promise that we will give those films and filmmakers in our programme a fighting chance beyond the dates of our festival 'We are very much focused on providing a really strong platform to address the challenges that filmmakers face. 'We can promise that we will give those films and filmmakers in our programme a fighting chance beyond the festival.' The film festival was launched in 1947, the same year as both the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, and ran at the same time of year as the other events until a controversial change of dates in 2008, when it was moved to mid-June. It kept the earlier dates until the Covid pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event. However the rebooted version of the EIFF seems set to stay in August for the foreseeable future. Mr Ridd said: 'Edinburgh has the biggest arts festival in the world in August. There are so many creatives from all areas of the arts engaged in performance and discovery. 'There is an audience that is already invested with the 78 years of this festival's history and our programme. 'To me, it is about bringing those audiences who are engaging with the music, comedy and theatre that is going on to bring them to our films as well. 'We want to open up opportunities for people to take risks and explore all this new work. The idea of discovery is what really gives the film festival momentum.'
South Wales Argus
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Gwen John exhibition to open at National Museum Cardiff
Gwen John: Strange Beauties will launch at National Museum Cardiff on February 7, 2026, marking 150 years since the birth of the Haverfordwest-born painter. Dr Kath Davies, director of collections and research at Amgueddfa Cymru, said: "As an independent woman living and working as an artist in the early 20th century, Gwen John was a trailblazer. "Many of her drawings and studio works have never been exhibited before and this major new exhibition will be an opportunity to explore John's technical approach, processes, and the themes which influenced and inspired her." The exhibition is the first major retrospective of Gwen John's work in more than 40 years and will later tour internationally. It is organised by Amgueddfa Cymru in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland, the Yale Center for British Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
