Scott Lawrie Gallery

“What you’re seeing in this painting, with its beautiful hues and voluptuous clouds in the warm evening Mediterranean sky, is the aftermath of a missile explosion.

We don’t know who dropped it, when, or why. But we do know it’s somewhere near the Israel/Palestine border. This immediately poses a relevant problem for us in terms of how we view this painting, and the comfort zones from which we choose to do it.

For many, the enjoyment of visual art is a necessary escape to ‘not here’ (the cure) its role simply to provide a place of refuge and retreat from the ensh*ttyfication of world-outside-gallery-walls, usually achieved through optical j**z, or comforting visual platitudes.

In Jamie’s series of paintings for Drift – his debut UK show – such gently seductive cloud paintings are about as far away as you can get from trauma (especially if you can turn a blind eye to feeding the war machine as an underlying necessity for capital growth). Any political judgements deduced from Jamie’s painting, then, are in fact pure conjecture. And because you don’t know what you can’t know, what we are presented with is not the atomised individuality of ‘taking sides’ as a comfort stop for needy tribal connection – it’s the space between this dichotomy of choice which makes us feel so powerless and weirdly uncomfortable. (Our only alternative at this stage might be to post a ‘CEASEFIRE NOW!’ message on Facebook, and know that we’ve played our part, while sitting on the sofa with our wine and crisps, under a comfort blanket of complicity.)

This is where real transformative potential lies—not in the choosing of sides, but in the challenging of the entire framework that compels us to make such a choice in the first place.”

Essay online now.

Jamie Chapman’s ‘Drift’ is open 11-6pm Weds to Sat. Date for Curator’s Talk coming soon!

Image: Big Westerly, 2022
Oil on Canvas, 550x650mm.

Rebecca Wallis is one of my favorite painters anywhere in the world; she’s the real deal, combining critical theory (Kristeva/Lacan) with an almost obsessive dedication to her studio. I often wonder how she’s going to better the last show, yet here she is, exploring new boundaries (or doing away with them altogether actually) with her new body of work, ‘Without, who I am’ at James Makin Gallery in Melbourne. And good lord, has she nailed it; the sense of falling away, of resignation, the deep cyclical breaths of hope and release - minimal but far from empty. For any Aussie or Kiwi pals looking to live with a really good work of art, if you know you know. (And if you don’t, you’re in for a treat, they’re incredibly rewarding.) Rebecca is an exhilarating artist to work with, and I can’t wait to work with her in the UK (watch this space!)

Well done Bex, and congratulations to you and the James Makin team. Melbourne friends please make the trip to see this, you won’t regret it! Get in touch for a catalogue at



🔥🔥🔥

Images:
Dissipate, 2024
acrylic on silk
157 x 127 x 8.5 cm

Lost parts , 2024
acrylic on silk
165 x 130 x 7 cm

On the Brink , 2024
acrylic and ink on organza with steel brackets
157 x 127 x 7.5 cm

Opening tonight 4-8pm, Jamie Chapman: Drift.

I’m very excited to bring the work of this fascinating young Kiwi painter to Scotland for his debut UK show. It looks terrific, and there’s a great story behind these paintings.

Aaaaaand I’ve also written a short science fiction story to accompany it! (Needed a break from Dystopian gloom… and then Trump gets in.) Everything is live and online now at scottlawrie.com

If you’re around, pop in for a drink and say hello. I’m at 2 Chuckie Pend (lane behind the Filmhouse) EH3 8BG. Open Weds to Sat 11-6pm.

One of the joys of working around the world is getting to meet so many interesting artists. Of these, the young New Zealand painter Jamie Chapman, really stands out at the moment.

His work sparked a lot of dialogue with visitors to ‘Art in Capitalist Realism’, so we started working together on this new project shortly afterwards. ‘Drift’ is the result.

I’ve taken quite a different approach to the essay this time – which is actually a science fiction short story – because art is too important to be taken seriously.

Jamie’s first solo UK show opens this Thursday 7th November, drinks 5-8pm. All welcome, please bring friends and say hello. I’m at 2 Chuckie Pend (lane behind the Filmhouse) EH3 8BG. Essay goes live same day, so watch this space!

Images:
Jamie Chapman, Westerly, 2024.
Oil on Board, 250 x 300mm.


US Army Quadrupedal-unmanned ground vehicles (Q-UGVs) recently trialed in Saudi Arabia. These are powered by an AI system, called “Lone Wolf”.

“Over the Atlantic in New York, the streetwear brand Supreme didn’t even pretend. They made an actual brick, embossed their logo on it, and then put it on sale for $300. Despite its absurdity, the bricks quickly sold out, becoming a symbol of commodification at its most ironic. Here we have a brick, the most basic of utilitarian objects, transformed into a commodity with a brand stamp, and sold at a premium not for its material value but for the cachet attached to it. It’s a clear reflection of how our capitalist system operates, selling ludicrous ideas such as “brand alignment” with a faux-irony that never quite cuts deep enough. As Adorno reminded us, the culture industry commodifies artistic production, turning it into a vehicle for profit rather than an authentic expression of human experience. This commodification of art, he argued, transforms artists into producers, galleries into shops, and artworks into just another commodity circulating in a capitalist market.

Art is in crisis. But it’s a peculiar crisis, as it’s one largely born of its own ideological entanglement. “

HOW TO BUILD AN IDEOLOGY: Essay* online now.

*Thanks for all the feedback on the essay, it’s been really valuable. It was difficult to write for a lot of reasons, but as a piece of ideological determinism, I think it’s quite powerful. I’ve been worn out by the weight of the thing. Anyhoo… off to write about Necropolitics for Jamie Chapman’s exhibition (opens 7 Nov!) to cheer myself up 💀

“Nevertheless, although art is embedded with ideologies – often beginning in the artist’s practice, but quickly subsumed into those of the art industry – it remains one of the least effective means of changing real-world issues, delusionally presenting itself as some sort of cure, rather than the necessary disease which it must be.

And it’s here we see the slow strangulation of art by its own economic fallacy, of it’s sadomasochistic subordination to big money sponsors, not least benefactors, and more recently the intentional avoidance of the catastrophic barbarism taking place in the Middle East – a shockingly complicit and shameful silence, which will ultimately have to be paid for at some point. As I write, not one single artwork on show at the Frieze art fair in London is addressing the Israel/Palestine
conflict – surely one of the most shockingly catastrophic events in recent history. Not one artwork.

Meanwhile Basquiat T-shirts can be bought for a tenner at Primark.”

Essay live on the website now.

HOW TO BUILD AN IDEOLOGY, on now until Saturday November 9th. Open Weds to Sat, 11-6pm. 2 Chuckie Pend, Edinburgh. All welcome.

Image: EMPIRE brick. New York State c1930. Manufactured in the Hudson River area for commercial (city) builds. Factory closed in 1940.

For the second UK show, my first in the new space, I’m showing bricks. Not Mr Andre’s, these were mostly found on walks. One I think I stole from the Earl of Dunmore’s Estate (so it’s OK) and a couple I had to get through my brick dealer (Ebay). They are shown as ‘non-artworks’, to act as empty vessels for the ideologies I built around them in the accompanying text. Spurred along by Baudrillard, I wrote the first part about art in crisis under late stage capitalism primarily because of the art industry itself (which as a gallerist raised all sorts of confronting paradoxes). The second part was entirely written by ChatGPT’s new AI language model (o1-Preview) and it was quite impressive, especially as these models can’t actually reason yet. So there you go, two ideologies with a show of useless bricks. Oh and Zombies! 🧟‍♂️

The essay for HOW TO BUILD AN IDEOLOGY is now live on the website. Don’t take it personally if you’re in the art industry 😅

There’s no launch event as such - I’ll do an opening drinks thing in a week or two, so watch this space.

Pop in anytime. I’m at 2 Chuckie Pend (Lane behind the Filmhouse), EH3 8BG and open Weds to Saturday 11-6pm.

Featured: Moss Brick, date unknown. From the Earl of Dunmore’s Estate, near Airth, Scotland.

Fredric Jameson passed away today. He was a giant of Marxist intellectual critical theory, and one of the most profound thinkers of our time. His work on defining Postmodernism remains unique and powerful, and was hugely influential to generations of young artists. He also predicted what was to come. This from almost 35 years ago:

“What has happened is that aesthetic production today has become integrated into commodity production generally: the frantic economic urgency of producing fresh waves of ever more novel-seeming goods (from clothing to airplanes), at ever greater rates of turnover, now assigns an increasingly essential structural function and position to aesthetic innovation and experimentation. Such economic necessities then find recognition in the varied kinds of institutional support available for the newer art, from foundations and grants to museums and other forms of patronage.” From Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism

I cover a bit of Jameson’s thinking in the first show at the new Edinburgh space, opening 16 October. It’s an exhibition of found and acquired utilitarian bricks (no artists) entitled, ‘How to Build an Ideology’. More soon.

Thanks to everyone who came along to experience ‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ at Wasps Granton Station. I thought I’d get about a dozen people turning up out of curiosity. Instead, literally hundreds of people – locals and visitors – came to experience the show. Even for a regular exhibition that’s special, but to take a half hour bus ride to visit one of Edinburgh’s most historically stigmatised communities, well, I think you all did Granton proud.

Your encouragement, kind words, and enthusiasm (from all over the world) has got me fired-up and excited again.

Special thanks must go to all of the artists, and a very heartfelt shout out to Crystal Bridges Museum and Crystal Bridges Foundation in the USA for lending me the Felix Gonzalez-Torres candy work in such special circumstances, and to the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation in NYC for additional guidance.

If you don’t know about the work Wasps does for the arts ecosystem in Scotland, go check them out. Lovely people, and great partners to work with (in one of the coolest buildings in Edinburgh!) Thanks to Mhairi, Denise, Audrey, Caitlin, Meghan, Fiona and the team.

To the legends at The Skinny and The List, thank you for the support, and equally to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe crew, who couldn’t have been more supportive.

The new permanent Edinburgh gallery practice space should open mid October-ish, so watch this space! Can’t wait to welcome you all.

Here we go again. Again.

.piccinini

In the long history of conceptual art, Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) stands apart by challenging traditional boundaries of what an artwork can be. Usually minimalist. Often deeply personal. His works are always powerful, yet quietly engaging.

Initially conceived in light of the AIDS epidemic, with the candy works Gonzalez-Torres invites viewers to become part of each manifestation by taking a sweet to eat, keep, or share - instantly blurring the line between art and life, institutional and public spaces, value and commodification.

So it’s really special to have this work, “Untitled” (L.A.), 1991, here in Granton as part of the Edinburgh Festival — which I believe is the first ever candy work to be shown in Scotland. All thanks to the extraordinary generosity of joint owners Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Crystal Bridges Foundation in the USA.

I’ve always been fascinated by the gallery space — its transformative power and the mythologies that are often woven around it. So, it felt fitting to position this candy work against the door between the original platform at Granton Station and the waiting room — a threshold where, for over 40 years, thousands of Granton Gasworks labourers would undergo their daily ritual of transformation, shifting from free men to employees, only to return to their true selves at day’s end.

It’s been both a career and show highlight. I’m feeling very grateful.

‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ ends this Saturday 24 August. Show is open 11-5pm until then at Wasps Granton Station Square (venue 492).
piccinini

“Jamie doesn’t allow us the luxury of a barrier to our belief in the first place; a chance for us to divert our armchair anger away from that which we cannot see (experienced, as opposed to imaginary, conflict on the Israel/Palestine border for example) to that which we apparently can (social media, the news, demonstrations, our friend groups, etc). The point is, our protest doesn’t have anywhere to go from this painting, certainly not to any place that can realistically affect change. We’re stuck with opinions that we can’t really do anything with.
 
Fisher explores this at length in Capitalist Realism explaining that, contrary to what you might expect, capitalism loves an anti-capital protest. In fact, performative protests within culture are welcomed and encouraged; the right to protest is enshrined in liberal democracies, but only – of course – as long as the underlying systematic structures remain intact and inert.
 
As a result of the shocking brutality of the Israel/Palestine conflict, one of the most jarring effects in the art world has been a similar form of active censorship. Artists have not been allowed – by institutions and their dealer galleries desperate to not upset their owners, benefactors, or funding – to speak out about the catastrophe, let alone engage with it. Careers have been brought to a ruthless end, contracts terminated, and people harshly ostracised. It’s tellingly indicative of what art has become in our culture: we can no longer even pretend that art stands for freedom of expression because there are always conditions attached, always a price to pay. Yet surely art remains one of the few spaces left where we can challenge such narratives. Isn’t that exactly what art is… for?
 
It must never feel like a safe space.”

—
Excerpt from the essay, online now. Link in bio.

‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ open Mon-Sat, 11-5pm, until 24 August at Wasps, Granton Station Square, EH51FU (free parking at Morrisons). Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Venue 492.

Jamie Chapman, ‘Dusty Dusk’, 2024. Oil on board, 29 x 37cm.
.piccinini -Torres

“To help that happen, capitalism continually finds clever ways to frame otherness in vague, yet bold, proclamations which at face value appear hard to defend; ‘the war on terror’, ‘trickle down economics’, ‘consumer choice’, ‘clean coal technology’ ‘we welcome diversity and inclusion’ etc, fuzzy terms which nevertheless occupy a simple, if confusing, binary position.

For Fisher, this process of exclusion by stealth simultaneously strengthens societal norms as well as the identity of the community, defining it in solidarity against what is considered different or ‘other’, basically anything outside the collective, socially constructed limits of acceptance. (How, for example, do you even begin to challenge ‘the war on terror’ without fear of being deemed a terrorist sympathiser yourself?)

In the context of Fisher’s arguments, Rebecca’s exploration of the abject in her paintings reflects the alienation and fragmentation of self, so typically characteristic of life under capitalist realism. You could argue that her rejection of simple, pleasing aesthetics in this painting might also reflect a resistance to the insidious commodification of art and
emotion in capitalist-driven societies – sunshine and lollipops SELL bro!

You might feel some sense of discomfort or disconnection when looking at this painting – but don’t look away yet, because it’s entirely intentional. Most people don’t want to see work they ‘don’t like’ in a gallery. But for dedicated artists like Rebecca – that’s the stuff that fires up the neurons and forces us to think differently.”

Except from the essay, online now. Link in bio.

‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ open Mon-Sat, 11-5pm, until 24 August at Wasps, Granton Station, EH51FU (cheeky free parking at Morrisons opposite!) Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Venue 492.

Rebecca Wallis, ‘Clearing’, 2022
Acrylic on silk, 210 x 110cm

“Fisher’s ultimate position was that neoliberalism wasn’t accelerating fast enough to create meaningful change, especially given its determination to continually rehash increasingly belligerent ways to exploit us in favour of shareholder returns. As the writer Adam Fitchett explained, ‘… the 21st century has delivered only stagnation and nostalgia, and the only way to overcome this is to think beyond capitalism to accelerate to a post-capitalist system.’ Which, in our current post-COVID moraine, might feel further away than ever.

In sharp contrast, Nick Land’s shockingly disruptive, amoral vision of accelerationism takes an even more frightening, even reactionary, turn looking
beyond any post-humanist discourse and embracing the dual vortices of capitalism and technology as one singular unstoppable force – with no working brakes, and a steering wheel that has just snapped off. His chilling conclusion? That capitalism cannot be destroyed or dismantled only pushed through.

With typically sharp insight, Land explains, ‘The point of an analysis of capitalism, or of nihilism, is to do more of it. The process is not to be critiqued. The process IS the critique, feeding back into itself, as it escalates. The only way forward is through, which means further in.’

Remember the version of the digital revolution where humans ostensibly remained in control? This ain’t it.

Empathy is Patricia’s Sword of Legend to all of this.”

Essay online now. Link in bio. THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism. On now to 24 August, Wasps Granton Station Square. 11-5pm, Mon to Sat. Fringe Venue 492.

Patricia Piccinini, ‘Teenage Metamorphosis’ 2017. piccinini

Benjamin Aitken, Destruction, 2019.

“Here, Foucault’s notion of ‘biopower’ is particularly pertinent, highlighting how such institutional hierarchies exert control and regulate behaviours by defining and managing health – and any form of deviance – within society.

Ben’s experience with drugs is equally complex and as unique as his painting. As one of the leading painters of his generation in Australia, being a habitual user is an easy label to pin on an artist, but one which is much more difficult to remove. Arguably, his brilliance as an artist could be enhanced by his drug taking. How can we really be sure? What we do know is the slipperiness of Ben’s painting is not achieved so much in the lyrical painterly treatment of its subject matter nor his slick deftness of touch, but in its ordinary, bare truth.

The origins of still life painting extend far back in time, even before the ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs with images of food to provide sustenance (munchies?) in the afterlife. This tradition evolved through most cultures, with the Romans painting emblems in their homes to signify hospitality and sometimes wealth. By the 16th century, the Dutch Masters were incorporating new and exotic curiosities like oriental flowers and rare fruits in their work, while painters such as Giorgio Morandi gave everything a more modern, gorgeously mundane, twist. Still life painting may have a rich history in the visual arts, but it pales in comparison to the history of getting a bit wasted, which dates back at least over 10,000 years.”

Except from the essay, online now. Link in bio.

‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ open Mon-Sat, 11-5pm, 3-24 August at Wasps, Granton Station, EH51FU (cheeky free parking at Morrisons opposite!) Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Venue 492.

“…You don’t have to look far to see this in action, the current 2024 Venice Biennale being a pertinent example. Under the brand positioning of ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ it attempts to dress art up as an emotive (but completely inert) call to address racial inequality against a real-world backdrop of rampant anti-immigration sentiment. Setting aside the fact that art in this context is unable to send any meaningful message to the audience which needs to hear it most, Adriano Pedrosa’s spectacle of – in his words – ‘foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, exiled, or refugees’ feels very worthy at face value, until you see the sponsor logos on the front page of the website, which make for a gaudy contrast of conflicting geopolitical and commercial interests.

Such emotive, but ultimately performative, optics merely wallpapers over the cracks. It doesn’t offer us any practical dismantling of the systems and processes which led us to such historic exclusion in the first place. Fisher would likely critique such institutional gestures as significant components within the framework of capitalist realism, knowingly or unknowingly playing a role in perpetuating the system they might otherwise seem to criticise. While art could potentially challenge or offer alternatives to capitalist norms, art institutions frequently normalise and integrate these values, automatically limiting the transformative potential of art itself.”

Essay up on website now.

THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism. Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Venue 492) Wasps Granton Station EH5 1FU.
piccinini

My first UK exhibition opens this Saturday. ‘THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism’ was inspired by the writings of the late British theorist Mark Fisher, particularly his book ‘Capitalist Realism, is there no alternative?’ I was interested in applying some of his thinking to explore the effects of late stage capitalism on the art world.

By the ‘art world’ I really mean the current business ontology that art has become. To explore this, I chose works by artists whose work aligned to, or contrasted with, similar conceptual themes in Fisher’s book; Patricia Piccinini (AUS) on technology and ethics, Félix González- Torres (USA) on institutional boundaries (what is an artwork? And who ‘owns’ it?), Benjamin Aitken (AUS) on medicalisation and mental health, Rebecca Wallis (UK/NZ) on concepts of the sublime, and Jamie Chapman (NZ) on the space between binary polemics.

The choice of venue is deliberate. It was important that the site of these interactions between artist and viewer took place outside the walls of a typical art institution. By positioning the show in a traditionally working-class area of the city, in a beautifully renovated building (which has a proud working-class history as the old railway station for the workers at Granton Gasworks) it consciously occupies a ‘non-institutional’ site – making it an exciting venue to experience works of this stature. Thank you to all the artists, and especially the joint owners of “Untitled” (L.A.) – Crystal Bridges Museum and the Art Bridges Foundation in Arkansas.

As an official part of the world’s biggest arts festival – The Edinburgh Festival Fringe – I’ll be there 11-5pm each day Monday to Saturday from 3-24 August. All welcome. Show is now live on website, and includes an extensive essay.

WHERE: Wasps, Granton Station, 1 Granton Station Square, EH5 1FU (Venue 492)
piccinini

…protagonist turns his gaze back on the ‘art world’ - where art is still positioned as some sort of ‘cure’, while unashamedly pursuing its pathological business ontology. The crisis deepens, the complicity remains.

A return to European sensibilities - munted by two decades overseas - now impossibly spun somewhere between the Marxists and the Accelerationists.

New beginnings beckon; a punchy exhibition for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (THIS IS NO SAFE SPACE: Art in Capitalist Realism) from 3-24 August, inspired by the writings of the late Mark Fisher.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres* (USA), Patricia Piccinini (AUS), Rebecca Wallis (UK/NZ), Jamie Chapman (NZ) and Benjamin Aitken (AUS) feature, with extensive essay on the website post-opening. Thereafter a new project space called SPL\NTER unveiled in Edinburgh September-ish.

A resolution, in which Scott Lawrie Gallery finally becomes a not-for-profit; freedom from Art Fairs anon.

Nemo me impune lacessit. Ye ken?

I’m back. More soon.

*only through the extraordinary generosity of the legends at Art Bridges and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, USA.

Tucked away in the heart of the City of London, dwarfed by surrounding office blocks, there’s a little bit of funky modernism beaming primordial, undulating, energy under the dome of one of the most elegantly refined classical renaissance churches in England.

St Stephen Wallbrook, acknowledged as the first church in the UK to feature a dome (a prototype for St Pauls) was designed by Christopher Wren in 1672 after the previous church burnt down in the Great Fire.

But it’s the altar by Yorkshireman Henry Moore - the son of a coal miner - which raised eyebrows (as well as prayers and protests) and led to a decade of controversy. Carved in 1972, and installed six years later, it’s made of Italian travertine marble from the same quarry that Michelangelo used, and weighs a whopping 7 tonnes. It’s both an extraordinary yet humble statement of modernist sculpture, as well as a functional piece for the church (it’s still used today as the altar for the Eucharist, for example).

The visionary Vicar at the time, Dr Chad Varah (who interestingly enough also established The Samaritans in 1953) approved the commission for the altar by Lord Palumbo, but boring traditionalists hated it with a passion and protested, even vandalised, what they saw as a monstrosity.

Today, it’s an exercise in the sublime; a gentle, comforting form that feels like it wants to hug you back. I found it deeply moving. Next time you’re in London, it’s definitely worth a look.