Exhibition
ARTIST ROOMS: The National Galleries of Scotland - The National Galleries of Scotland
In the opening ARTIST ROOMS display at the National Galleries of Scotland, see work by Vija Celmins, Ellen Gallagher, Damien Hirst, Alex Katz, Agnes Martin, Andy Warhol and Francesca Woodman.The ARTIST ROOMS display at the Gallery of Modern Art is dedicated to Vija Celmins’ ethereal images of seas, deserts and the night sky, a complete series of landscape and portrait paintings by Alex Katz, and Francesca Woodman’s intimate, surrealist-influenced photographs. Photographs by Warhol and paintings by Ellen Gallagher will also be included.Anthony d’Offay studied art at Edinburgh University in the early 1960s and fell in love with the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland. The gallery he and his wife Anne established in London became recognised worldwide for its international reach and ambitious exhibitions.
Artists shown at the gallery included Joseph Beuys, Ed Ruscha, Bill Viola, Jeff Koons, Johan Grimonprez, Damien Hirst, Bruce Nauman, Laurence Weiner, Agnes Martin and Ellen Gallagher. All of these artists are represented in ARTIST ROOMS, the extraordinary collection recently donated by the d’Offays jointly to the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate.
The collection of over 700 works by 32 artists transforms the ability of both institutions to display modern art now and into the future. It is especially exciting because ARTIST ROOMS has been acquired expressly to provide a new national resource for exhibitions in museums and galleries across the UK.
Displays from the collection will open across the country from this spring and throughout 2009 from Stromness to St Ives, with thanks to generous additional support from The Art Fund and the Scottish Government.
An exciting, recent addition is an exhibition of the paintings of the late Agnes Martin, one of America’s foremost abstract painters. A rare opportunity to experience at first hand the ethereal beauty of Martin’s minimalist painting.
Damien Hirst will feature in an expanded display, which will bring together works from ARTIST ROOMS – such as the iconic Away from the Flock and a recent butterfly painting – with additional loans from further collections.
In an exciting addition to the exhibition, a further room opens on 6 August dedicated to the work of the influential American abstract artist Agnes Martin. Three ARTIST ROOMS works are featured alongside five more lent by a private collection, providing a rare opportunity to experience at first-hand the ethereal beauty of Martin’s minimalist painting.
