Not in the Corners is a group exhibition featuring film, sculpture, drawing, painting and print. This exhibition presents artworks that address the inseparability of the personal from the political, exploring the ground between the private act of artistic creation and its collective resonance in the public realm. Michelle Deignan presents new film Her Fanciful Digression (2012). The film’s narrative questions the supposed singularity of artists working within the Romantic tradition, placing emphasis upon relationships between painters and political thinkers. Her Fanciful Digression re-visits the shared, often multi-disciplinary form of collective creativity taking place at this time. Inlaid with leaves, Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Panzer MK IV: Homage to Poussin (1976) alludes to the poet and artist’s enduring interest in the complex, often contradictory relationship between nature and culture. The motif of the tank is used throughout Hamilton Finlay’s work, often seen in his gardens - sites viewed by the artist as provocative of poetic, philosophic and political thought.

Ruth Beale presents diptych Acid Utopia / An Epoch of Rest (2011). These are re-workings of a nineteenth century frontispiece and a date stamp page, from two library copies of William Morris’ 1890 book ‘News from Nowhere’. Rendered in psychedelic colours, Beale’s re-imagining of Morris’ tome alludes to moments of personal release and hallucination. Also referencing an intimate relationship to literature is Alexander & Susan Maris’ two panel work, Extracts from the TRUTH IN PAINTING (1990-1993 (revised 2006)). One canvas has been painted with a mix of acrylic medium and book ash from an unread volume of Jacques

Derrida’s ‘The Truth in Painting’. The second is similarly painted, yet using the ash of a read volume. The solipsistic artistic confessions of Annika Ström resonate beyond their seemingly personal parameters. Avoiding parody and direct critique, their homely appeal engages a shared response by evoking moments of private empathy.

Curated by Matt Carter & Rosalie Doubal

London-based curators Matt Carter & Rosalie Doubal have worked together for the past five years. Alongside programming Edinburghproject space Sierra Metro with Janine Matheson since 2009, they have worked individually and collaboratively on projects throughout the UK. carterdoubal@gmail.com.

www.mariastenfors.com

Collection Artist(s)

Glossary

  • Acrylic

    Modern synthetic paint that combines some of the properties of oils and watercolour. Most are water-based, although some are oil compatible, using turpentine as a thinner. When it became available to artists in America around 1936 it was the first new painting medium in centuries and has become a serious rival to oil paint because of its versatility. Acrylic paints can be used on nearly any surface. The water-based nature of acrylic paint allows for easy application and rapid drying time: acrylic paint dries in a matter of minutes, as opposed to the many months required for oil-based paints. Once the paint has been applied to a surface, the water evaporates, leaving behind the synthetic resin (and pigment), which is no longer water-soluble. Visually, acrylic-based paints can appear to be very similar to oil-based paints, but they cannot rival the rich, translucent nature of oils.

  • Canvas

    A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp or cotton fibres. The word has generally come to refer to any piece of firm, loosely woven fabric used to paint on. Its surface is typically prepared for painting by priming with a ground.

  • Diptych

    A work of art comprising two separate sections, which are intended to be seen together. The panels are usually hinged together so that they can be closed like a book. This format was originally devised for portable altarpieces depicting scenes from the Christian Bible.

  • Drawing

    The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.

  • Medium

    Refers to either the material used to create a work of art, craft or design, i.e. oil, bronze, earthenware, silk; or the technique employed i.e. collage, etching, carving. In painting the medium refers to the binder for the pigment, e.g. oil, egg, acrylic dispersion. The plural form is media.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

  • Panel

    A wood, cooper, Masonite, or other hard surface on which to paint. Sometimes it is referred to as a board.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.