The City Art Centre, Edinburgh’s own public venue dedicated to championing historic and contemporary Scottish visual arts and crafts, announces exhibition highlights for 2020, all of which will be free to attend.
Further information on the individual exhibitions, including an extensive public events programme will be announced in the New Year.
Charles H. Mackie: Colour and Light
16 May 2020 - 11 October 2020, free entry
The Scottish painter and printmaker Charles Hodge Mackie (1862-1920) was one of the most versatile artists of his generation. Drawing inspiration from French Symbolism, the Celtic Revival movement and the landscapes of his European travels, he produced oil paintings, watercolours, murals, woodblock prints, book illustrations and sculpture. This major retrospective, timed to coincide with the centenary of Mackie’s death, showcases the breadth of his talents, with over 50 artworks from public and private collections. Charles H. Mackie: Colour and Light is presented as part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2020.
Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay
23 May - 4 October 2020, free entry
Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) was an internationally renowned Scottish artist and also Britain’s most significant concrete poet of the 20th century. This major exhibition focuses on the maritime theme in Finlay’s work. It was a central element of his art, and one to which he returned throughout his life.
Drawn from the artist’s estate and the City Art Centre’s collection, and including loans from the National Galleries of Scotland, this exhibition showcases artworks from across several decades, ranging from stone, wood and neon sculptures to tapestry. The show will also feature prints, postcards and booklets from Finlay’s Wild Hawthorn Press. Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay is presented as part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2020.
Exhibition in partnership with the Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay.
Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s
12 September 2020 - 23 May 2021, free entry
The 1920s was a period of contrasts: high spirits and sombre reflection, decadent excess and hard realities. Bright Shadows explores the styles, ideas and events that shaped Scottish art during this influential decade. Drawn from the City Art Centre’s fine art collection, the exhibition features a range of paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture by artists including Stanley Cursiter, S.J. Peploe, Dorothy Johnstone, Eric Robertson and William McCance.
E. A. Hornel: From Camera to Canvas
7 November 2020 - 14 March 2021, free entry
E. A. Hornel: From Camera to Canvas, a collaboration between the National Trust for Scotland and the City Art Centre, is the first major retrospective of Hornel's art. Featuring photographs and paintings from Broughton House in Kirkcudbright, this exhibition shows how photography was crucial to the development of Hornel's artistic technique. It examines his use of young, female models in Japan, Sri Lanka and Scotland, and demonstrates that he only became the painter he did thanks to the photographs he took and collected.
Jock McFadyen RA (working title)
14 November 2020 - 7 March 2021, free entry
This major exhibition by artist Jock McFadyen displays his urban and rural landscapes, as well as figurative paintings, alongside works from the City Art Centre’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art. The show will include new and existing works by McFadyen as well as his selections from the City’s collection, ranging from ‘old favourites’ by renowned Scottish artists, to artworks that have rarely been seen by the public.
Through a series of fascinating pairings, the exhibition encourages viewers to take a closer look. Works that might initially seem unrelated forge unexpected connections and relationships. Some of these juxtapositions are humorous; some are striking or surprising. By showcasing these artworks side-by-side the exhibition creates unique contrasts and places the collection and McFadyen’s work in a fresh and exciting context.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: “2020 looks set to be another fantastic year at the City Art Centre. These free exhibitions will give visitors the opportunity to revisit enduring favourites as we mark the centenary of Charles Mackie’s death or discover new favourites like E.A Hornel in the first retrospective of his works. The City Art Centre is one of the most accessible places in Edinburgh for art lovers, with five packed floors of exhibitions and a popular events programme and I would encourage everyone to pay us a visit in the new year.”
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