Beautiful Shambles is a visual love letter to Glasgow with all its character, charm and contradictions. For one weekend, four Scottish artists come together to share what this city means to them, each in their own language of image, colour and place.
Christopher Swan will be taking a deep dive into his immediate location, focussing on the overlooked scenes and idiosyncratic occurrences which make the urban environment of Glasgow such an interesting and vibrant subject.
Nick Smith will be showing new screenprinted artworks on paper and canvas, along with a light box, all exploring Glaswegian slang. Through his process of psycolourgy, Nick takes these familiar, braw expressions and gives them a visual life of colour, turning everyday patter into something vivid and gallus. Nick and Chris are also collaborating on a triptych of large-scale screen printed canvases.
Ross Ryan, known for painting the rugged coastline of Scotland, will be setting his easel in an entirely different landscape. He steps into an ultra urban environment shaped by concrete and the ghosts of industry. Bringing his plein air practice into the heart of the city, he will take his dinghy up the Clyde to capture Glasgow’s once industrial artery, a rural painter navigating cranes, steel and cold water.
Stewart Swan brings his sharp, anthropomorphic aesthetic with paintings that reimagine Orwell’s Animal Farm in the Glesga schemes, where the fight for power plays out with the city’s trademark mix of gallus humour and raw toughness. His characters adopt the swagger and survival instinct of Glasgow’s streets, exposing systems of control with wit, heart and a hint of menace. The familiar fable becomes something closer to lived reality, sharpened by local voice and attitude.
The exhibition will also feature Ty Lumnus, a leading figure in Glasgow’s underground experimental electronic scene. During the private view, Ty Lumnus will perform a five hour live audio installation, bringing a powerful sonic dimension to the evening and immersing the space in the sound of the city.
This exhibition is a love letter to the words, the streets, the spirit and the beautifully chaotic energy of Glasgow.
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