Julia Zinnbauer : Peter Womersley Architect

During her extended residency at MERZ in Sanquhar, Dumfries & Galloway Julia Zinnbauer researched, filmed and edited a film on the Scottish Borders’ based architect Peter Womersley. Julia’s earlier films had connected modernist architecture in the United States with the James Bond movies and had reimagined the elegance of their female stars appearing in these settings. In her thirty minute film Julia also engages the work of textile designer Bernat Klein. Klein had commissioned Womersley to build his house near Selkirk with its iconic studio. Although only completed in the early 1970s, the studio is now in a very poor state of repair. MERZ hopes that Julia’s film will help promote efforts to return this extremely important and neglected building to restoration and beneficial local use.

Julia Zinnbauer : Peter Womersley Architect

During her extended residency at MERZ Julia Zinnbauer researched, filmed and edited a film on the Scottish Borders’ based architect Peter Womersley. Julia’s earlier films had connected modernist architecture in the United States with the James Bond movies and had reimagined the elegance of their female stars appearing in these settings. In her thirty minute film Julia also engages the work of textile designer Bernat Klein. Klein had commissioned Womersley to build his house near Selkirk with its iconic studio. Although only completed in the early 1970s, the studio is now in a very poor state of repair. MERZ hopes that Julia’s film will help promote efforts to return this extremely important and neglected building to restoration and beneficial local use.

Catriona Robertson : This Way That Way

Catriona Robertson was the first funded artist in residence at MERZ in Sanquhar. Cat had been visiting Kurt Schwitters’ MERZ Barn in Elterwater over the last two years and suggested a path from Schwitters’ last work in the UK into the Reconstruction and Fabrication legacy maintained in Sanquhar. During her stay from July to September 2019 Cat made bricks with local kids setting these alongside the Sanquhar bricks in the MERZ yard. Inspired by hats used during the August Riding the Marches Cat ran a hat-making competition with discarded cardboard at the Nithsdale Hotel.

David Rushton : Collapse the Box

When over in Scotland to film the Sanquhar Arts Festival in May 2019 the Belfast production company and broadcaster NvTv interviewed Dougie Sharpe and David Rushton. Unbeknown to either artist, NvTv had shot enough footage to edit a programme on Dougie and later on David for their ‘Collapse the Box’ series. In this episode David Rushton talks about his reasons for relocating to Sanquhar, for establishing MERZ as a contemporary art gallery with artists residency and for opening a Museum of Model Art.

Ally Wallace : Factory Lines

Ally Wallace was our second Funded Artist in Residence at MERZ, staying from September to November in 2019. In this film Ally outlines the influence of local buildings and textile industries on his research, his approach to working and the final exhibition in the Gallery. The MERZ residencies and this recording are supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Denise Zygadlo & Amy Marletta : As the moon sees it

Denise Zygadlo and Amy Marletta’s exhibition of collages and their work on the Hannah Höch art-house opened on 21st December at the Museum of Model Art. A further opening is scheduled for Boxing Day afternoon (2:00-4:00pm) otherwise by arrangement till the end of January (hello@merz.gallery). The exhibition will provide the setting for the Collage Seminar which will involve MERZ artist in residence Ric Kasini Kadour and fellow collagist Rhed Fawell taking place in the Museum on the 25th January.

Ally Wallace : Factory Lines

Ally Wallace was our second Funded Artist in Residence at MERZ, staying from September to November in 2019. In this film Ally outlines the influence of local buildings and textile industries on his research, his approach to working and the final exhibition in the Gallery. The MERZ residencies and this recording are supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Homage to Beuys : Richard Demarco

Richard Demarco introduces the ‘Homage to Beuys’ exhibition by Terry Ann Newman and Sarah Waters, which ran from 7th September until 30th October 2018. This exhibition was curated by Richard Demarco and co-curated by Fernanda Zei, as part of the Demarco Archive Exhibitions at the Demarco European Art Foundation, with kind support by Summerhall Arts Centre.

Sheila Mullen : Studio

Shiela Mullen is one of the women artists celebrated in the 369 Remembered exhibition running at Summerhall till the end of 2018.

Sheila Mullen is a Scottish painter who lives and works in Scotland. She was born on 24 January 1942 in Glasgow, Scotland. She grew up near Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland. She attended the Glasgow School of Art and started painting professionally in 1978. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Leeds Art Gallery and the Duke of Buccleuch among others. In 2010 she was the subject of a monograph by Ann Matheson: The Bairns O Adam: The Paintings of Sheila Mullen. In 2006 she collaborated with the group of Scottish writers called the Crichton Writers in a project called The Art of Ballads and Bards: An Anthology of Work by the Crichton Writers and Art by Sheila Mullen resulting in a published volume documenting the series of workshops and sessions between the writers and Mullen.

Robert McDowell, Emily Grieve and Roddy Martine : 369 remembered – the women

Pat Douthwaite, Lil Neilson, Carole Gibbons, Lys Hansen, Sheila Mullen, Rose Frain, Joyce Cairns, Fiona Robertson, Irina Zatulovskya, Caroline McNairn, Fionna Carlisle, Olivia Irvine

Sat 03 Nov 2018 – Sun 23 Dec 2018 11:00-18:00 (Wednesday-Sunday)

The 369 Gallery was founded by Andrew Brown in 1978. At the time, it was the only gallery exclusively dedicated to the promotion of young Scottish artists.

Immediately after leaving Edinburgh College of Art in 1977, Andrew curated a series of exhibitions at the Saltire Gallery in Gladstone’s Land in Edinburgh’s Lawnmarket and the following year, rented Alison Kinnaird’s glass studio in a medieval building at 369 High Street. Thus the 369 Gallery was born .

From the very start, without positive discrimination, the 369 Gallery showed equal numbers of male and female artists and this, the first of two memorial exhibitions to include a selection of memorabilia and paintings from Andrew Brown’s personal collection, is primarily devoted to paintings by the female artists who exhibited at the 369 Gallery during the 1980s.

These artists are now considered to be the “Grandes Dames” of Scottish art: Joyce Cairns, Pat Douthwaite, Carol Gibbons, Lil Neilson, Sheila Mullen, Margaret Hunter, June Redfern, Fionna Carlisle and Caroline McNairn.

In 1984, the 369 Gallery received Scottish Arts Council funding and, with the help of an enthusiastic board and fundraising committee, which included Diana Milne (Chairman), Roddy Martine, Annabel Younger, Arthur Watson, Sylvia Stevenson and Douglas Hall, the Gallery acquired a derelict three storey Georgian warehouse in the Cowgate. This building was renovated into two floors of gallery space, an education suite for art classes, artist studios, the Gilded Balloon Theatre, and a restaurant, starting the gentrification of the area.

The 369 Gallery always encouraged an international outlook, believing that modern Scottish art had only ever been truly appreciated at home after acclaim abroad and so, in 1982, it became the first British gallery to take part in the prestigious Chicago Art Fair. This led to a series of successful exhibitions in Chicago, New York and Santa Fe.

There followed exchange exhibitions in France, Germany and Scandinavia, as well as shows in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China, culminating in an historic cultural exchange between Scotland and the former Soviet Union. An exhibition of Russian artists took place at the1988 Edinburgh International Festival and the following year, Scottish artists exhibited in Moscow, where a Caroline McNairn painting was acquired by the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the first western painting to enter the collection of a major Soviet museum since the Russian revolution

In 1991, following a debacle with the Scottish Arts Council, Andrew Brown departed the gallery to paint and write in the Scottish Borders. Occasional exhibitions still took place in the Cowgate building and the artists’ studios continued to be occupied, but the primary tenant was the Gilded Balloon Theatre which became a notable festival venue until a disastrous fire destroyed the area and burnt the gallery to the ground in 2002.

However, as Andrew Brown said at the time, “the 369 Gallery was an idea, not a building” and the concept briefly rose from the flames in the noughties as the Phoenix 369 Gallery in Dundas Street, similarly promoting contemporary Scottish artists.

Paul Brightwell : MERZSPIEL

Actor and playwright Paul Brightwell introduces MERZSPIEL ahead of his performance that opened the MERZ exhibition ‘Kurt Schwitters has entered the room’. The performance was filmed to be shown throughout the exhibition which is open by arrangement, merzgallery@icloud.com.

Paul is currently touring MERZSPIEL throughout the UK.

OUR COUNTRY : Performance Recording

‘A striking dream world… one of the most ambitious pieces we have ever presented’ (Anna Woo, The Getty Villa). California’s marijuana country: the still-Wild West. Annie conducts a forensic exploration of ‘the facts’ about her outlaw weed farmer brother as this genre-bending work slips into disputed territory: childhood memories.

On at Summerhall from the 1st to the 26th August 2018 in the Upper Church.

Annie Saunders : Our Country

‘A striking dream world… one of the most ambitious pieces we have ever presented’ (Anna Woo, The Getty Villa). California’s marijuana country: the still-Wild West. Annie conducts a forensic exploration of ‘the facts’ about her outlaw weed farmer brother as this genre-bending work slips into disputed territory: childhood memories.

On at Summerhall from the 1st to the 26th at 17.15 in the Upper Church.

Soile Makela : The Sauna

Time: 17.25 Summerhall, Tech Cube O

In Finnish tradition, the sauna is a solemn place; a scene of cleansing, contemplation, birth and death. According to myth every sauna had its own spirit, whom visitors should care for and respect.

The Sauna is a story of an old woman whose intention to die is distracted by an irritating sauna spirit. This mythical creature evokes her physical memories and takes her through the chapters of her womanhood as she considers the end of her life.

The Sauna is a speechless mask and object theatre performance accompanied with live sound effects and original music.

Mike Marlin : Dust

The world premiere of a multi-media collaboration that combines live music from the Melomaniacs trio with film by the Scottish filmmaker Lee Archer, photographs taken by the New York based photographer Jean Luc Fievet and lyrics written by Mike Marlin. Dust was conceived as a single performance piece that seamlessly integrates nine songs into a single uninterrupted immersive experience. The film, images and music were created together on an epic journey across America in 2017.

On at the Assembly Rooms at 21.30 from the 15th to the 26th in the Ballroom.

Claire Gaydon : See Through

Part documentary, part live performance, part parody, part desperate as f*ck, Claire does everything she can to entertain her online audience. While remaining 100% totally authentically real. See-Through is an edited, unedited, live, pre-recorded, reality show that invites you to see behind the camera.

On at Summerhall from the 14th to the 26th at 11.45 in the Red Lecture Theatre.

David Fenne : Forget Me Nots

Forget Me Nots is a love story between a young Icelandic man and an English soldier. It’s about love, new priorities and the people that got hurt along the way. In a collaboration between Icelandic and British artists, it explores a little known story from our collective history.

On at Army @ the Fringe at 13.00 from the 12th to the 21st.

Bastiaan Vandendriessche : De Fuut

Winner of the Best International Performance Award at the 2017 Amsterdam Fringe and hit of the 2018 Brighton Fringe. Performer and playwright Bastiaan Vandendriessche’s gripping new play invites his audience to step into a darkly woven and deceptive story about his time as a leader of the Seascouts in Ghent six years ago.

On at Summerhall from the 8th to the 26th at 15.00 and 19.45 in the Upper Church.

Lauren Hendry : Tetra-Decathlon

The Tetra-Decathlon is a gruelling 14-event athletics competition, requiring a unique combination of skills to complete. Having never set foot on a running track in her life, Lauren Hendry decided to sign up for the event, joining only a dozen other women in the World Championships.

On at Summerhall from the 14th to the 26th at 11.55 am in the Cairns Lecture Theatre.

Jane Frere : #PROTESTMASKPROJECT

Venue: Anatomy / Dissection Room corridor & stairwell, Summerhall

CAT (Creative, Aesthetic,Transgression) started life several years ago as a social media project.

The CAT mask became an emblem of protest spread via social media in 2014. CAT masks, handmade by artist, were adopted by “owners” who travelled the world posting selfies on Facebook and Twitter #proTestbed. ! Originally conceived as a protest against the threat to demolish the maverick architect Will Alsop’s arts venue, Testbed1, in London’s Battersea, the CAT defiantly took on new themes and personae first appearing on an interactive blackboard in The Doodle Bar @Testbed1. The artist’s protest highlighting Bahrain’s oppression of opposition groups received international TV coverage ! Responding to public demand, Jane Frere created her own protest blackboard in her Highland studio, drawing on darker issues from the blitzing of Gaza in 2014 and the Scottish referendum, to messages smuggled from jailed human rights activists in Bahrain. The artist’s latest response reflects the world’s rude awakening to the rise of altRight, anti-immigrant bigotry, BREXIT and TRUMP. In solidarity with the “Pussyhat Project” for the Women’s march in Washington, Jane’s proTestbed CAT has turned pink with rage.

Jane Frere’s first major international installation, ‘Return of the Soul’, received five star reviews at the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2008. She exhibited ‘Into The Void’ a series of paintings, photographs and printmaking drawn from her experience of living behind the Israeli apartheid wall and in Palestinian refugee camps across the region at Summerhall in 2013. Recently focusing on printmaking, her work, in collaboration with Will Alsop RA, is exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.

David Rushton : Kurt Schwitters has left the building

KURT SCHWITTERS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING : STORY AND DISPERSAL, LEGACY AND (RE)POSSESSION

On the 70th anniversary of Kurt Schwitters death The Times announced that Schwitters’ last (place of) work, the MERZ Barn in Elterwater, Cumbria might be bought by a Chinese collector and shipped abroad. Fifty years earlier the plaster wall Schwitters had built in the MERZ Barn was removed under the supervision of artist Richard Hamilton and reinstalled in the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle. In 2017 Robert McDowell acquired three more obviously portable Schwitters’ portraits to show at Summerhall. David Rushton converted Sanquhar’s lemonade factory into the MERZ Gallery and Residency, inspired by Schwitters’ reconstruction and fabrication and post-Schwitters interventions on the mobility and representation of work and place. Martin Green’s recent residency at the Sanquhar MERZ riffs on coincidence and similarity between Schwitters’ practice and his own both represented in ‘a new place’.

‘Kurt Schwitters has left the building’ explores what’s saved with art-work, what might be salvaged or re-built in reconstructing its stories and how these stories sustain or possess a legacy.

Summerhall, Project Room, Thu 02 Aug 2018 – Sun 23 Sep 2018

David Rushton : Kurt Schwitters has left the building

KURT SCHWITTERS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING : STORY AND DISPERSAL, LEGACY AND (RE)POSSESSION

On the 70th anniversary of Kurt Schwitters death The Times announced that Schwitters’ last (place of) work, the MERZ Barn in Elterwater, Cumbria might be bought by a Chinese collector and shipped abroad. Fifty years earlier the plaster wall Schwitters had built in the MERZ Barn was removed under the supervision of artist Richard Hamilton and reinstalled in the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle. In 2017 Robert McDowell acquired three more obviously portable Schwitters’ portraits to show at Summerhall. David Rushton converted Sanquhar’s lemonade factory into the MERZ Gallery and Residency, inspired by Schwitters’ reconstruction and fabrication and post-Schwitters interventions on the mobility and representation of work and place. Martin Green’s recent residency at the Sanquhar MERZ riffs on coincidence and similarity between Schwitters’ practice and his own both represented in ‘a new place’.

‘Kurt Schwitters has left the building’ explores what’s saved with art-work, what might be salvaged or re-built in reconstructing its stories and how these stories sustain or possess a legacy.

Thu 02 Aug 2018 – Sun 23 Sep 2018