EDINBURGH.- IRON: Translating Territories explores the many roles that iron plays within our lives, seeking new routes and practices to map unfamiliar territories and possibilities through art practice. The exhibition uncovers diverse understandings of the physical world around us and reveals the creative potential and complexity of this singular material. Academician Gordon Munro RSA has assembled a pan-European group of artists, each bringing a unique perspective in their responses to the place of iron in our lives and its use as an artistic medium.
Munro and Ewan Robertson are each exhibiting installation works assembled from recycled iron objects, whilst Oana Stanciu’s performative exploration of iron is on view. Clare Flatley’s work responds to the place of iron in theories of alchemy and Michał Staszczak and Paweł Czekański extend traditional methods into contemporary sculpture. Rachel Nolan is exhibiting ethereal iron-inspired photographs.
The diversity of artistic responses, and the accompanying exhibition film, encapsulate the wonder of iron and stand as a manifesto for our revised understanding of its significance.
Exhibition curated by Gordon Munro RSA considers the significance of iron in artistic practice.
Artists: Paweł Czekański | Clare Flatley | Gordon Munro RSA | Rachel Nolan | Ewan Robertson | Oana Stanciu | Michał Staszczak
R3SEARCH
RSA Awards in Focus
8 January - 6 February 2022
Octagon Galleries
RSA Lower Galleries, RoyalScottish Academy
Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm
No booking required
Every year, the
Royal Scottish Academy distributes over £100,000 to artists to support excellence in the visual arts in Scotland. With awards for artists at all stages of their careers, the RSA’s opportunities programme offers scholarships, bursaries and grants to help artists throughout Scotland forge successful practices from their student years through to graduation and beyond.
This January the Royal Scottish Academy presents new work from the 2020 recipients of the RSA William Littlejohn Award for Water-Based Media, RSA Morton Award for Lens-Based Media and the RSA David Michie Travel Award.
Winning the RSA David Michie Travel Award, Hannah Paterson travelled to the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland, to immerse herself in the culture that developed around Catholicism and the trade of salt. Her work is influenced by the striking colours and patterns of the natural and man-carved salt found deep inside the mine and the religious objects found in the mine’s chambers, its cathedral and tunnels.
Winner of the RSA William Littlejohn Award for Water-Based Media, John Brown has developed a large-scale installation made up of multiple, small, stand-alone paintings. Referencing a wide range of imagery from various archives, such as 1950s and 60s children’s educational books and encyclopaedias, he aims to evoke a memory of the twentieth century.
Winning the RSA Morton Award for Lens-Based Media, Sekai Machache has further developed her project ‘The Divine Sky’ which utilises allegory and performance to tell a complicated history through poesis, immersive storytelling and photography. She used the award funds to travel to remote locations in Scotland where she shot a series of performances to camera and short films that tell a cohesive story engaging with history, mythology and landscape.
Gordon Munro RSA studied at Edinburgh College of Art (1981-86). Over the last 10 years Munro has investigated the creative possibilities of iron. Often in collaboration with Ewan Robertson, his recent work explores the often ignored but intrinsic role iron plays in our lives as well as the creative potential of this ubiquitous material within contemporary art practice. Munro was a co-founder of Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop where he is currently Assistant Director. He is also Lecturer in Sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art.
