When visiting Leonor Antunes exhibition at The Fruit Market Gallery, I was intrigued by the process of how she created the knots from different materials. Such as horse reigns. The large structures which were taking up floor to ceiling space made me thing of how I take up space as a female. How I inhabit space and how I make myself present.
Peter Howson, When The Apple Ripens, City Art Centre. I was initially impressed by Peter Howson’ s large imposing figures. The way they take up so much of the canvas, the emotion within the images. The exhibition had an interview with Howsen playing in as part of the exhibition. Speaking about his work and life. This video was somewhat interesting the challenges Howson has been through in life and how this is reflected in his work. At one point Howson speaks about a work in the exhibition. He speaks of the popularity of the work but actually seems to not know much about it. he’s not sure who is in the work or why things are painted into the narrative. I felt this impacted how I had felt about the work, it seemed to loose any meaning the painting could hold, it would appear it didn’t have any significance to the artist himself.
The exhibition took a shift and had a very heavy religious Tone as it went on. This really put me off the exhibition, crucifixions and religious representations were a far cry from. the gritty scenes of gangsters seen elsewhere in the exhibition. It turned me off the work completely.
Bankeys Cut and Run Glasgow,
I enjoyed seeing Banksey’ s work shown in a gallery, the methods he used to create works. Seeing set ups of what were assumed to be his desk and tools. Seeing stencils from major works He created. The exhibition felt like a ,behind the scenes, of Bankey’s work. I enjoyed the fun playful elements in the exhibition. Vast amount of work on show. I attended the exhibition twice, once with my parter and again with tow artist friends. The second visit I felt I picked up on lots of small details which had been missed on my first visit. Trying to absorb lots of information and images and mechanical elements of the show.
Looking out of Bankseys bedroom window out onto his work, an detail I had missed on my first visit.
A major down with Bankseys exhibition was the distinct contrast in his ant establishment public art work and his tight security around his exhibition. Phones locked security pouches, lines and long cues for pre paid entry, high level of curators, high prices on tickets and sales.
While In Venice I visited several galleries, Guggenheim was highly anticipated visit but I felt slight disappointment at the visit. The inside of the gallery felt dominated by Picasso’s work.The sculpture garden was a highlight of the visit. Jenny Holt bench being a favourite to see. The bench could almost have been missed, sitting unassumingly in a quiet back space of the garden.
Kendall Geers Cardiac arrest was a stand out piece of work. The glass police buttons displayed shaping into a hart. The transparent shapes almost felt angel like giving a feathery religious quality to them. It was not until further inspection you see the real brutality that is being exposed in the art. A nod to the hidden and covered up racial motivated brutality of police forces.
Visiting Belairfine Art I was pleased to see so much contemporary art. The mix of. mediums and topics covered in the small space. I was in awe of the hyper realist models created by Carol Forman. Hyper realism is not normally work I would enjoy but I could not fail to be impressed by.
RSA Grayson Perry Smash hits was a large and vibrant affair. The works on display were impressive in stature. Large scale tapestries heaving with imagery and story telling. The volume of work on display from Perry was at the least impressive. Working in a variety of medium, Perry displayed how far his talents can really reach. Working in ceramics,sculpture tapestry and painting. Peer included nods to his Tv career and alter ego Claire. Displaying outfits created for her appearances.
Perrys cometary on social issues, poverty, government, gender, popular culture are all included in this exhibit.
I was privileged as a volunteer with ‘Jupiter Artland’ and spend a lot of time in Lindsay Mendick’s ‘Shitfaced’ exhibition. Madicks interview on TalkArt was a major informer on the work for me. Hearing how vulnerable Mendick’s work really is when it could be perceived as crass and crude. I feel this is really highlighted with the medium she used, fragile;e ceramics depicting the ups brash drinking culture.I enjoyed the playful feel of the exhibition. The detail which has gone into creating the imagery. The exhibit was like a journey, from a meal with friends at the long dinning table, the pub depicted in the dove cot, moving into a nighclub and ending the night being sick in the toilet.
Talbot Rice Jesse Jones The tower was an outstanding piece of work. The multi layered performance/video/sculptural work was emotional and haunting. The work was loosely themed on women and ancient spiritual practice. I have often turned back to thinking about this work and how I felt impacted by its beautiful presentation.
Dove cot studios, Scottish Women Artists:250 years of challenging perceptions. This exhibition I felt fell flat. I was not impressed by the lack of diverse work on show. The diversity of women was present but diversity of practice was not. There was plentiful work to be seen but I felt this failed to engage in Scotlands diverse women in art.
Street level Glasgow, Moira Mclver Migration Memories.
I enjoyed this work looking at the history of Irish migration to Scotland. The images being replaced in their original place vie prints onto fabric.Possible cyanotype as there is a large example of cyanotype on display. I liked the concept of this work. Merging the present with the past.
Talbot rice The Recent featured 11 artists , The exhibition felt well presented and had an understandable flow to its set up.
Angelica Mesiti had two works on show, a video piece and prints of metal which had different levels of corrosion. The works were very different and I felt the video/sound work was more successful than the prints. The black and white video was shown in its own dark space, it shower a group of people clapping and patting their hands and clicking their fingers at different times and forces to create the sound of rainfall. Watching the video and listening to the sound was mesmerising. The black and white video was more effective as it kept a sense of calm and did not over stimulate senses.This was favourite of mine In the gallery. This exhibition felt bursting with work all worthy of being spoken about.
Helen Cammock
Milkala Dwyer, Diamonds 2023 
Katie Patterson, Evergreen, 2022
Regina De Miguel
I was surprised by this work and how it seemed to pull me in to the story it was telling. It covered the story of a Micol Roublini tells using multiple screens showing separate parts of a story. In the style of interviews and documentary ‘Magic Mountain’ tells of the energy of a disused asbestos mine. 
Eglė Budvytytė Songs from compost:Mutilating bodies, imploding stars, 2022
This video work was gripping. The balance of life and death, the characters laying motionless begin to move in an unsettling manner. I felt once again pulled into the artwork. The subtle line of life and death felt present in this work.
I Wear My Wounds On My Tongue Tarek Lakhrissi. Before visiting this exhibition I had made myself familiar with some of the artist poetry. I had an expectation that there would be more work at this exhibit than there was. This did leave me slightly disappointed. I had asked if any of the artist poetry was on sale at the shop as it was available to read in the exhibit but, sadly not. I feel this could have heightened the experience and led me more into the artist work if collective had been more enthusiastic about making people aware of his work. The sculptures on show I did really enjoy. I liked the multi layered muscular sculpture which was transparent. The transparency making it look like glass, fragile. Possibly a consideration to sex and how it can make us fragile and vulnerable to others.
I liked the cold feel to the exhibit. The tongues lay out on a table like a mortuary, waiting to be examined or identified. I was unfamiliar with the content in the sound work which played so the meaning was lost. I did feel it added an ambiance which was needed to tighten the exhibit. The silence would have been heavily felt if the sound was not present. I was left wanting more, unfulfilled after seeing this exhibit.
Greyson Perry ‘A show all about you’
Greyson Perrys a show all about you The Usher Hall.
Perry’s interactive live talk looked at the idea of ‘Identity’. Modern culture encourages us to ‘identify as..’ this identity going beyond Gender identity. The identity boxing us into groups and categories of people. Perry proposed ‘Identifying as’ has replaced what we would have considered ‘personality traits’ they have been rebranded. In doing this has a culture been created that people are separated from one another. Becoming more prejudice rather than more open. Loosing the ability to be flexible and changeable. Perry shows documented photos of his own life as a transvestite, how he has evelove and changed through the years. No longer fitting the box of transvestite passing as the opposite sex. But purely enjoying the elements he finds most pleasure in. No longer following rules and trying to be a good transvestite. Encouraging others to remain changeable and true to who they are, finding their own authentic happiness.
Perry had the audience take part in online pole, comparing and discussing the results. 
Perrys talk was a lively mix of emotional, informative and interactive. A night not about Perrys art but about his social outreach and interest in society.
