Glasgow International 2020: Digital Programme

The COVID-19 pandemic has cleared the cultural calendar for the foreseeable future and Glasgow International, Scotland’s largest festival of contemporary art, has been postponed until 2021. Indeed, the cancellation of a festival which was planned to span 60 exhibitions and 120 artists will be a disappointment to artists and the public alike. The digital programme is the unintended consequence of this unforeseen event. Review by Hailey Maxwell

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The Modern Institute, 14-20 Osborne St, Glasgow G1 5QN

Marco Giordano: To Disturb Somnolent Birds

At the threshold of consciousness and sleep, nineteen resin sculptures lit by LED rest on a wooden bench, marking the entry into Marco Giordano’s reverie. Eerie whispers fill the gallery, transporting visitors to continents far away, into a dream-like state. Time is suspended by an ethereal soundtrack; a lullaby calling to “sing or sink” reverberates across the gallery space. Review by Elaine Y.J Zheng

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25 Albert Drive, Glasgow G41 2PE

Cécile B. Evans: AMOS’ WORLD

‘AMOS’ WORLD’ is a highly staged, three-part, telepathic and narcissistic TV soap opera, strewn with the vernacular of a therapy session and the persuasive mantras of the executive suite, the property developer and the city planner. Review by Alex Hetherington

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Tramway, 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow G41 2PE

Laida Lertxundi: WORDS, PLANETS

In a discussion about his work the late Chilean experimental filmmaker, Raúl Ruíz, said that his ‘films would have to be seen many times, like objects in the house, like a painting…’, that ‘landscape is used as a story’ and that he sought to draw upon ‘connections between film, installation, writing, theatre’ that in his extensive body of works, including the theoretical text ‘Poetics of Cinema’, made between 1963 and 2010, could be described as a nesting of stories, residing within each other, and of stories co-existing; of narratives, often fragmented and elliptical, and their layering together. Review by Alex Hetherington

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Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow G41 2PE

Margaret Salmon: Circle

American Glasgow-based artist Margaret Salmon’s filmic, atmospheric and carefully rendered installation, sensitive to the nuances of people, the subtleties of places and objects (and her relationships to them) is housed in Tramway’s immense principal space. It renders the space quieter than normal, in half-light – a place for a rare, esoteric experience. Review by Alex Hetherington

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Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow G41 2PE

Tschabalala Self

American artist Tshabalala Self's work is concerned with the iconographic significance of the black female body in contemporary culture, its fantasies and misrepresentations and their concurrent emotional, physical and psychological impacts. Review by Alex Hetherington

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CCA Glasgow, 350 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3JD

The Sky is Falling

The Sky is Falling is concerned with city spaces as the site for utopias, dreams and social visions. Meanwhile, it documents the abrasive and contradictory experiences of citizens as the potential that urban utopias offer declines and fails. Review by Alexander Hetherington

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Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD

Forms of Action

‘Forms of Action’ presents the work of seven artists whose actions in society are the core of their practice. Each with rich cultural, historical and political backdrops, this assembly of artists is, in itself, a timely form of action. Review by Kate Self.

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Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow G41 2PE

Nama Āto: Japanese Outsider Art

If Namo Āto proves anything, it’s that we need to see more work by artists with learning disabilities in mainstream contexts, whether it’s perceived as 'Outsider Art' or not. Review by Joe Turnbull

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The Modern Institute, Aird’s Lane, Glasgow

Nicolas Party: Three Cats

For his second solo exhibition at The Modern Institute, Nicolas Party has transformed the Aird’s Lane space into an interior populated with temporary walls and murals meticulously rendered to resemble marble and malachite in the manner of trompe l’oeil. This scenery creates a faux-classical setting to present Party’s new body of pastels on canvas.

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Koppe Astner, Glasgow

These Are Flat Things And Things Which Are Not Flat

KOPPE ASTNER is pleased to present TAYLOR DAVIS, ANNNETTE LEMIEUX, ALEXANDRA LEYKAUF, VIRGINIA OVERTON, MARLO PASCUAL AND DIANE SIMPSON

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SWG3 Gallery,100 Eastvale Place, Glasgow G3 8QG

Sarah Rose: Difficult Mothers

The construction of this awkward environment is by no means accidental, Rose is intentionally creating a heightened sense of self-awareness so as to encourage thoughts around how we relate to ecosystems, to ourselves and to other people. Review by Rosie Aspinall Priest

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The Modern Institute, 14—20 Osborne Street, Glasgow G1 5QN

Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan: A petition for an enquiry into a condition of anxiety

Artist collaborators Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan produce works that interrogate the roles and behaviours of contemporary art. At The Modern Institute, this is presented as a series of uneven, re-staged and re-positioned installations of past works that employ a palette of forms, motifs, patterns, titles, comic faces and images. Review by Alexander Hetherington

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Kelvin Hall, 1445 Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8AW

Claire Barclay: Bright Bodies

In ‘Bright Bodies’, a new installation for Glasgow International, Barclay’s sensitive and highly physical choreography is engaged in a course of action through the history, archives and social spaces of Kelvin Hall. Review by Alexander Hetherington

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