Scotland's Pioneering Contemporary Art Body Stages 125th Annual Exhibition
Scotland's oldest and largest artist-run organisation holds its annual exhibition at the Maclaurin Art Gallery in Ayr next month.
The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) has been hosting its flagship exhibition in the Royal Academy Building in Edinburgh since 1892. This major event in the Scottish art calendar has only been held outside the capital twice before; once in Glasgow in 1948 and then in Dundee in 2009.
The annual exhibition, which is free to enter, is now in its 125th year. It opens on Sunday 19 November and runs at the historic venue in Rozelle Estate, Ayr, until Sunday 14 January 2024.
The show will feature around 175 artworks, which includes painting and printmaking, installation, moving image and performance pieces.
On show will be work by 15 recent graduates from all five Scottish art schools, who received awards from the SSA earlier this year following visits to degree shows by SSA selectors in the summer.
Scottish artist collective, CutLog, will stage a series of moving image works under the theme Viewpoint.
Around 20 coveted prizes will be awarded during the first week of the exhibition. This includes the W. Gordon Smith Award, which will see an artist win a potentially career-changing £4000. This prize was set up in 2017 in memory of the late art critic and broadcaster, who was a champion of the SSA.
Other highlights include new work by the Maclaurin's patron, Peter Howson, who was recently the subject of a major critically acclaimed retrospective in Edinburgh. For this exhibition close to the town of Prestwick, where he grew up, new works tackle the all-too topical subject of how war treats innocent victims.
According to the SSA's new President, Vasile Toch, the change of venue is part of a bigger strategic plan to reach out to all areas of Scotland, while continuing the organisation's longstanding and ongoing relationship with the National Galleries of Scotland.
Mr Toch has been a professional member of the SSA since 1988. An architect as well as a practising artist, Mr Toch came to the UK in 1987 from Communist Romania. He now lives in Ayrshire and took office in March this year. He will serve for three years as President.
He said: "We want to create more opportunities for regular exhibitions, exchanges, and collaborations – not only across Scotland but also internationally – so that our 1500-strong membership will benefit.
"The SSA plays a unique and vital role in supporting and bringing together artists working across a wide range of very diverse disciplines.The SSA annual exhibition is produced and supported entirely by artists with no public funding. It's an exciting opportunity for artists to be part of one of the largest shows of contemporary art in Scotland."
Mr Toch says ambitious plans are afoot to expand the reach and vision of the SSA, which has always been at 'the cutting edge of artistic developments in Scotland.
Scotland's oldest and largest artist-run organisation holds its annual exhibition at the Maclaurin Art Gallery in Ayr next month.
The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) has been hosting its flagship exhibition in the Royal Academy Building in Edinburgh since 1892. This major event in the Scottish art calendar has only been held outside the capital twice before; once in Glasgow in 1948 and then in Dundee in 2009.
The annual exhibition, which is free to enter, is now in its 125th year. It opens on Sunday 19 November and runs at the historic venue in Rozelle Estate, Ayr, until Sunday 14 January 2024.
The show will feature around 175 artworks, which includes painting and printmaking, installation, moving image and performance pieces.
On show will be work by 15 recent graduates from all five Scottish art schools, who received awards from the SSA earlier this year following visits to degree shows by SSA selectors in the summer.
Scottish artist collective, CutLog, will stage a series of moving image works under the theme Viewpoint.
Around 20 coveted prizes will be awarded during the first week of the exhibition. This includes the W. Gordon Smith Award, which will see an artist win a potentially career-changing £4000. This prize was set up in 2017 in memory of the late art critic and broadcaster, who was a champion of the SSA.
Other highlights include new work by the Maclaurin's patron, Peter Howson, who was recently the subject of a major critically acclaimed retrospective in Edinburgh. For this exhibition close to the town of Prestwick, where he grew up, new works tackle the all-too topical subject of how war treats innocent victims.
According to the SSA's new President, Vasile Toch, the change of venue is part of a bigger strategic plan to reach out to all areas of Scotland, while continuing the organisation's longstanding and ongoing relationship with the National Galleries of Scotland.
Mr Toch has been a professional member of the SSA since 1988. An architect as well as a practising artist, Mr Toch came to the UK in 1987 from Communist Romania. He now lives in Ayrshire and took office in March this year. He will serve for three years as President.
He said: "We want to create more opportunities for regular exhibitions, exchanges, and collaborations – not only across Scotland but also internationally – so that our 1500-strong membership will benefit.
"The SSA plays a unique and vital role in supporting and bringing together artists working across a wide range of very diverse disciplines.The SSA annual exhibition is produced and supported entirely by artists with no public funding. It's an exciting opportunity for artists to be part of one of the largest shows of contemporary art in Scotland."
Mr Toch says ambitious plans are afoot to expand the reach and vision of the SSA, which has always been at 'the cutting edge of artistic developments in Scotland.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00 My name is Vasili Toch, I'm the president of the Society of Scottish Artists.
00:11 I'm now going to present the exhibition we have at the Maclaurin Gallery in Ayr.
00:18 I need to mention the long history of the Society of Scottish Artists, known as the
00:23 SSA by most people.
00:26 We started 133 years ago in 1891 and I'm very proud to say I'm in this position as president
00:36 now when we celebrate our 125th exhibition.
00:41 This exhibition is showing work of 150 artists plus 12 students selected from various degree
00:50 shows and I'm very proud to say it does represent the avant-garde and the contemporary art of
00:58 the Scottish artists and our group.
01:01 What are people likely to see in this exhibition?
01:05 Well we are going to show various types of work, both in terms of subject matter and
01:14 technique.
01:15 There are going to be a lot of abstract paintings, there are some abstract landscapes.
01:20 We also have works from a very well established artist, Peterhausen OBE.
01:26 He has kindly offered three of his paintings for this exhibition.
01:29 I also need to mention he is also a patron of this gallery, the Maclaurin Gallery.
01:36 We have a number of very interesting art installations, mostly coming from students, some of them
01:43 being interactive, having a sound produced and an interesting presence in the space.
01:51 We have sculptures from all kinds of walks of life, coming from all over Scotland, even
01:59 from Ireland.
02:00 We have works coming from our international artists based in Paris, Barcelona and New
02:06 York.
02:07 I am very proud to say I have instigated a new approach to exhibiting.
02:13 As many people may know, our annual exhibition generally happens at the National Galleries
02:18 in Edinburgh, namely in the RSA Gallery on Princes Street, corner with the mound.
02:25 But further to discussing exhibition pattern with our members and the Council, we decided
02:33 we need to expand our exhibition programme throughout Scotland and try to present our
02:41 work in all Scottish regions.
02:44 Such it happens for about three years and a half now.
02:47 I am a resident of Ayrshire and I had discussions with the Board of Trustees of the Maclaurin
02:55 Gallery and they very kindly accepted to have an exhibition of the SSA in the gallery, being
03:01 in fact the first annual exhibition which happens outside the National Galleries in
03:07 Edinburgh.
03:08 Now this pattern will continue, we will continue also to exhibit at the National Galleries,
03:13 but we aim to have at least three or four other exhibitions every year throughout Scotland.
03:18 The idea being that we want to bring the art to the people, not the people to the art.
03:24 I'm Vanessa Lawrence and I'm an artist, an artist member of the Society of Scottish Artists.
03:31 So I've got a piece in this current exhibition, it's an exciting exhibition to be part of.
03:37 Also I'm local so it's really, you know, it means a lot to just to be part of this brilliant
03:42 exhibition but that's something that's also only five minutes, ten minutes away from my
03:47 studio.
03:48 It's great because they've got new graduates, they've got well established artists, so there's
03:52 a really broad range of artists involved which I think is really important for everybody
03:56 to see.
03:57 So I've got this piece called Forward, so this is from wire, these wire feet that I
04:05 made.
04:06 The sculptures themselves were called Where They Take Us, which you know our feet take
04:10 us on all sorts of journeys and things, so this is Forward, so this is the moving forward
04:14 with our journey.
04:15 As an artist what do you get from being involved in a group show?
04:20 For me personally it's an important exhibition to be part of.
04:23 It's a chance to meet people, you know, it's seeing everyone else that's out there.
04:29 When you come, when everyone's sort of brought together from all over Scotland, you know
04:32 so often we're working away on our own and hopefully, you know, a lot of the artists
04:36 will be coming along when it opens and that's great, it's a meeting and just seeing what
04:42 everyone else is doing.
04:43 You know you can look online and you can, but I think when everything's brought together
04:47 like this it gives you another chance to see what people are doing and sort of interact
04:51 with everybody and you know for me that's great and hopefully we'll get a chance throughout
04:55 the time, especially when it opens, to sort of meet everyone and having this here I think
05:00 it's really important, I think it's really exciting.
05:02 Do you expect big numbers to come through the door to see the show?
05:05 Yeah I think there will be, yeah.
05:07 There's a lot more starting to happen down here and a lot more going on and I think it's
05:12 really special to have this exhibition here.
05:14 I'm Caroline Nurse and I'm the Vice President of the Society for Scottish Artists.
05:20 I think the SSA was one of the first, if not the first organisation to introduce awards
05:26 for new graduates and it really highlights our emphasis on the importance of encouraging
05:31 the next generation of artists.
05:34 So this year we went round all the main colleges as usual, selection committee and actually
05:39 we were so impressed with the quality of the work, it was amazing.
05:42 We introduced a new category of highly commended for a number of the graduates.
05:47 I'm delighted that we've got so much diversity I'd say of content, in fact we even have two
05:53 performances which are going to take place at the Private View which will be very entertaining
05:59 and interesting, I think challenging for some of the guests at the Private View.
06:04 This is one of the pieces we've also installed from a new graduate, quite a novel and very
06:08 I suppose thought provoking piece and that's what we like about it.
06:13 So this year we've got 15 graduates who we've recognised one way or another and for them
06:18 I think, I've spoken to one from last year and he said what it really did for him was,
06:24 well he had the opportunity to meet Richard DeMarco which was absolutely fortuitous and
06:29 his work was related to one of Richard DeMarco's pieces but he also said it gave him a chance
06:35 to, his first step if you like, into the world of professional art and what it's really like
06:42 being out there in the real world after university and rubbing shoulders with some of the most
06:47 well established and interesting artists that Scotland has.
06:51 When I went round the graduate shows that I went to as a selector, I was absolutely
06:56 invigorated by what I was seeing.
06:58 You know, I feel for the young generation because you always do, I mean I've got children
07:03 in their 20s, you sort of think of the world they're coming to and what they're facing
07:09 in all the different ways and it's really interesting to see how they're responding
07:13 to that through their art and some things we chose I found very moving and very indicative
07:21 I think of what a 23 year old is having to face when they come out to the real world.
07:25 So invigorating yes, great diversity to see that they're experimenting, I'm always up
07:30 for experiment and trying out different things and also how they're responding to the world
07:34 that we live in today I think is absolutely critical.
07:37 What do you hope the graduates gain from being involved in this exhibition?
07:41 I think confidence, you know you step out of the comfort zone of the university and
07:47 suddenly you're out there in the real world and that can be tough, really tough, especially
07:51 for artists I think.
07:53 So boost of confidence and a sort of validation that they are part of, they're not on their
07:59 own.
08:00 As artists you often work on your own, of course we collaborate but you often end up
08:03 being quite on your own in order to produce what you produce but it gives them an introduction
08:08 to there is a community out there.
08:09 You might not find it easily, you know hanging out in a certain place at the same time but
08:13 they are there and there is a great network and for me what I also found as I only graduated
08:18 in 2021, how generous artists are, fellow artists are so generous with their advice,
08:25 their support, their experience, you know well established artists and I'd like to
08:29 think that a lot of the graduates through the SSA, membership of the SSA can tap into
08:35 that generosity and support.
08:37 What are your hopes generally for the show?
08:40 Oh that it just wows everybody, that people from air and further and Ayrshire and beyond
08:47 come here and see wow this is what's happening in the art world in Scotland now.
08:51 We are very conscious of the fact that not many people throughout Scotland have direct
08:57 access to our centralised exhibitions in Edinburgh, therefore having started this new way of exhibiting,
09:07 i.e. bringing the exhibitions to other regions will help facilitate the access of larger
09:16 public to our artworks, to the exhibitions.
09:22 I'm very pleased to say that from discussions I had with members of the public in Ayrshire,
09:29 everybody is extremely happy to have this exhibition here and very curious to see what
09:34 the SSA is bringing to Ayr.
09:37 But I can say for next year we have five exhibitions planned including in Aberdeen, in the border
09:44 of the Singala Shields, in Gerloch, in Perth and also one international one in Bucharest
09:51 plus the exhibition in the National Galleries at the Mound in December.
09:55 We wanted to, if I could say, democratise the access of the public to the Scottish arts
10:03 and to the arts which we the SSA could offer.
10:08 So this action of spreading our exhibition programmes throughout Scotland has also, from
10:15 our point of view, an educational purpose because we are conscious of the fact that
10:23 a lot of the students and people currently studying in various schools in Ayrshire, for
10:29 example, or any other part of Scotland don't necessarily have any way to have access to
10:35 an exhibition of this calibre.
10:38 Having now this exhibition in Ayr will give them this chance and we already have discussions
10:43 with some of the local high schools and academies to have guided tours for the students in the
10:50 exhibition to show them what we do and maybe get some of them to consider even becoming
10:55 artists in the future which I think would be great to hear.
10:58 Are you expecting people to come and the roles from Ayrshire to come and visit?
11:03 Yes, I think so.
11:04 Why wouldn't you?
11:05 It's a once a year event.
11:06 It's a collection and bringing together of such diverse art that's being made.
11:14 It's contemporary and some of it's very challenging and I think people would find it really interesting.
11:20 We had over 1,200 submissions.
11:24 Here we have, including film, we've got moving image which I haven't seen yet, 170 odd selected
11:31 pieces so this is the best of the best.
11:34 This is the creme de la creme if you like.
11:35 I think being able to move from mixed media to sculptural forms to installations and then
11:42 to oil painting in a different way is just quite an exciting thing to do because it is
11:48 all about how people are responding to the world that we're living in.
11:53 They're all responding in their own very unique and interesting way.
11:58 I love the variety that you're not quite sure you see one thing, you study it and you walk
12:03 on to something else and think, "Oh right, this is this then."
12:06 So that I think is very stimulating.
12:08 The exhibition name is Bring the Art to the People.
12:12 The exhibition will run from the 19th of November until mid-January 2024.
12:19 [Music]
12:24 [MUSIC]