Tag Archives: poet

Graham Fagen: The Slave’s Lament and Douglas Gordon: Black Burns

26 October 2017

This month, we will be exploring the work of two contemporary artists – Graham Fagen and Douglas Gordon –  who have made work in response to the poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).

First shown at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Graham Fagen’s The Slave’s Lament is centred on the 1792 Robert Burns song of the same name as well as drawing our attention to an episode in Burns’ life. In 1786, Burns books a passage to Jamaica to escape economic problems with the aim of becoming a book-keeper on a slave plantation. At the very last moment, news that his recently published first book of poems has been well received changes his mind. In 1792, he pens The Slave’s Lament, his only work that empathises with the suffering of the displaced, the trafficked and the enslaved.

The centrepiece of the installation is The Slave’s Lament, a 4-channel video work in which classical composer Sally Beamish has created an extraordinary interpretation of Burns’ work. Performed by musicians from the Scottish Ensemble, music producer Adrian Sherwood, and the reggae singer and musician Ghetto Priest, it is a chilling reminder that Burns might once have become involved in the very suffering that inspired the lament.

In the Great Hall of the Portrait Gallery stands John Flaxman’s famous 1824 marble statue of Robert Burns. Originally housed in Thomas Hamilton’s Greek revivalist Burns Monument to the south of Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, the sculpture occupies pride of place in the gallery. In a specially commissioned installation, Turner-Prize winner Douglas Gordon confronts this monument to Burns by creating a full-sized replica in black marble, smashed into pieces, lying on the floor. Gordon has long explored the divided psyche in his work and seeing Burns fallen from his pedestal, dark and flawed, the inner man is revealed.

‘With Black Burns, I don’t know if it’s a shattered portrait of a man or a portrait of a shattered man.’ Douglas Gordon.

Joining us to discuss both works will be Susanna Beaumont, a curator, mentor and advisor and founder director of doggerfisher (2000-2010).

Alasdair Gray – Gray Stuff

25 November 2010 at 6pm

This month we will be visiting the Talbot Rice Gallery to discuss the work of Alasdair Gray who describes himself as ‘a self-employed, verbal and pictorial artist.’

Alasdair Gray was born in Glasgow in 1934 and studied Design and Mural Painting at Glasgow School of Art from 1952-57. Since then he has exhibited widely across Scotland, particularly in his home city of Glasgow, where he has also undertaken several mural commissions for many of the city’s churches. He is also a prolific writer, with 18 published books to his name, and a winner of the Whitbread and Guardian book prizes.

Throughout his career, Gray’s work in art and literature has overlapped in form and content. He has worked as a teacher, painter, illustrator, playwright, scene painter, essayist, poet, novelist and muralist among other roles. In his books, word and image are juxtaposed and combined to form epic narratives that have been compared to the work of fellow artist-writers, such as William Blake.

Gray Stuff: Designs for Books and Posters, 1952 – 2010 is an exhibition of original graphic works revealing the development of illustrations used in Gray’s critically acclaimed novels, such as Lanark (1981), Poor Things (1992) and Old Men In Love (2007), and providing a rare opportunity to see the vibrant sketches and motifs which surround and animate the texts.

This is an insightful range of work touching many areas of Gray’s extensive practice, which can be traced back throughout his life. Joining us to explore the relationships between his work as a writer and a visual artist will be Pat Fisher, Director of Talbot Rice Gallery.