On Sunday I took my first ever trip to Trongate. I'll admit, the main reason why I'd never been there before was because I didn't realise that it existed, so it was nice to explore a new gallery space after a year of staying in Glasgow.
In Trongate 103, there was a photography exhibition titled Focas India: Document. This exhibition featured work from photographers from both India and Scotland where they told stories from their home land. I was especially struck by the work of photographer Sandy Carson and his project titled 'Passing Place'. Here he showed very personal pictures of his mother and the area he grew up in on the West of Scotland from 2001 to 2014. It was very emotional to look at; particularly how a photograph of his mother wearing a typical Rangers FC was placed next to a soft image of his sick mother through a hospital window. It didn't say which year each photo was taken, but they way that they were placed together was almost like a short film jumping between timelines. I felt very invested in what I saw, and stayed with me when I left.
In Trongate 103, there was a photography exhibition titled Focas India: Document. This exhibition featured work from photographers from both India and Scotland where they told stories from their home land. I was especially struck by the work of photographer Sandy Carson and his project titled 'Passing Place'. Here he showed very personal pictures of his mother and the area he grew up in on the West of Scotland from 2001 to 2014. It was very emotional to look at; particularly how a photograph of his mother wearing a typical Rangers FC was placed next to a soft image of his sick mother through a hospital window. It didn't say which year each photo was taken, but they way that they were placed together was almost like a short film jumping between timelines. I felt very invested in what I saw, and stayed with me when I left.
The next Saturday after a busy week, I visited the CCA. I can find exhibitions in the CCA to often be really really great, or just okay. I suppose that that does always depend on who/what is exhibiting, but I found I really enjoyed most of what I saw that day. The work exhibited was by artist in residence Sahej Rahal featured a large mix of medias: such as film, sculpture, paint and ceramics. Rahal was exploring the destruction of the world and finds his source of inspiration from both real life and fiction. I found it all to feel very post-apocalyptic; particularly with some of the multimedia sculptures looking almost like large infections spurting out of grass and moss. I did however love the large scale drawings; I've always really loved drawings that tell a story within one frame, so I felt especially captivated by those.
Later on that day I made another first-time gallery visit and made it to Tramway. I had never been there before mainly due to never knowing how to actually get there. Thankfully studying in Langside allowed me to figure out that you just need to get off the train at Pollockshields East, turn a corner, and then you're there! There were two films being exhibited at Tramway - the first named Heaven by artist Luiz Roque, set in 2080, 100 years after the AIDS crisis, telling of a new disease passed on through saliva. It was beautifully shot and told a narrative quite well, however it was very short, and could've definitely been made longer to expand on some parts.
The other film was part of an installation by Stuart Middleton. You walk through a white tunnel, and at one end is a stop-motion animation featuring a malnourished dog in a white room growing impaitent. According to the hand-outs, this is to represent 'the white-washed austerity of vivisection laboratories, euthanasia clinics and art galleries'. It was really interesting to watch, especially with how you could still see the artist's fingerprints on the dog as each frame went on, allowing you to gain an extra personal touch to it.
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