Scottish Arts Council Creative Scotland Awards 2003 outstanding shortlist announced

The shortlist for the Scottish Arts Council Creative Scotland Awards, the richest awards for artists in the UK, is announced today (Friday).  Amongst the twenty artists selected to go through to the next stage are some of the giants of Scottish creativity, including Alasdair Gray, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Richard Demarco. Each of the selected artists has, during the course of their career, made a significant and demonstrable contribution to the arts.

The Scottish Arts Council, whose role is to champion and sustain the arts for Scotland, recognises the need to support artists working and living in Scotland, allowing established artists the opportunity to refresh and develop their skills, experiment or realise a creative ambition.

The shortlisted applicants will now be invited to submit further details of their projects to a judging panel which will meet in February. The shortlist will then be narrowed down to the 10 Creative Scotland Award recipients. Each of the 10 artists will receive an award of £30,000, to be announced at the award ceremony in Edinburgh on 5 March 2003.

The initial assessing panel met on Monday, 16 December 2002, and considered 200 applications before agreeing their final shortlist. The awards are supported by National Lottery funding and, as such, a key criteria for successful selection was a benefit to the Scottish public, who support the awards through their Lotto ticket purchases.

Graham Berry, Director of the Scottish Arts Council announced the awards and added: ‘Scottish creativity has been recognised and celebrated across the world for its ingenuity, humanity and innovation, yet very often artists receive little recognition in their home nation. The Creative Scotland Awards are intended to restore some balance, to say to the world at large ‘Scotland is a country of outstanding creative talent’ and that we welcome and value the contribution artists make to our lives and our development as a cultural, and cultured, nation.

‘The 20 artists shortlisted today reflect the very highest standards in imagination, commitment and artistic excellence. Each of those chosen should know that they are amongst the very best of our creative talent. I congratulate each one of you and wish you well as you progress to the next stage.’

The Creative Scotland Award shortlist is as follows:

Jim Buckley, visual artist/sculptor, based: Glasgow
Project: To take time out of teaching and dedicate 12 months to researching major site-specific light-works internationally, to inform the development of a series of major new works in Aberdeen’s Castlegate and Clydebank’s waterfront.

Jim has been exhibiting his sculptural work internationally since 1990 and his work has been collected by, amongst others, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Szatsmar Museum in Hungary, Glasgow City Council and the Viking Bowl in Thurso. His current projects include the artworks in the new Fortrose Academy school, the Monaghan Memorial Commission and a public art work for the Sefton Park Commission in Liverpool. He has been Lecturer in Sculpture at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen since 1989.

Richard Demarco, visual artist, based: Edinburgh
Project: A touring exhibition, relating the newly-acquired Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art collection of Beuys multiples and the Demarco archives to the work of 24 Scottish artists, in dialogue and collaboration with Richard Demarco, as an expression of Scotland’s continuing cultural dialogue with Europe.

Richard Demarco, OBE, HRSA, RSW, SSA, Director of the Demarco Gallery since 1966, Vice-Chair, Board, Traverse Theatre Club 1963-67, Artistic Director, European Youth Parliament, since 1993, Professor of European Cultural Studies, Kingston University since 1993. Represented in over 1,500 public and private collections in Scotland and internationally, has had at least 38 one-man shows of his work, including ‘The Road to Meikle Seggie’, shown in Glasgow, London and Belfast.

Mark Dorrian, architect/visual artist, based: Edinburgh 
Project: An installation on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, using digital technology to present a contemporary and critical reworking of Robert Barker’s 1787 panorama and Maria Short’s ‘Popular Observatory’ from 1827.

Mark is Principal of the Metis practice in Edinburgh and Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design, University of Edinburgh. His exhibition, ‘Latitude and Longitude Resolved’ has toured to London, Paris and the United States. Mark has recently published ‘Metis: Urban Cartographies’ (with co-author Adrian Hawkey) and, as co-editor, will shortly publish ‘Deterritorialisations: Revisioning Landscapes and Politics’.

Malcolm Fraser, architect, based: Edinburgh 
Project: Edinburgh’s Grassmarket reconceived as a civic art machine.

Malcolm is Principal, Malcolm Fraser Architects which is known for its modern, contextual buildings set within the historical heart of Edinburgh. His award-winning buildings include: the Scottish Poetry Library, Canongate, Edinburgh; Pizza Expresses in Stockbridge, Edinburgh and Sauciehall Street, Glasgow; Rick’s Hotel, Edinburgh; and Dance Base, Edinburgh, winner of the Scottish Building of the Year, 2002. Malcolm Fraser is Scottish Architect of the Year 2002-2003.

Robert D Galbraith, writer, based: Cupar
Project: A novel of a young western woman visiting China in the 1930s. Trapped in Nanking, she witnesses the ‘rape’ of the city by the Japanese army; 300,000 Chinese citizens were raped and murdered in the city in the eight weeks between December 1937 and January 1938.

Robert was born in Glasgow in 1965 and was educated at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge. He has written two novels; his first ‘The Rising Sun’ won the Saltire Society Prize for First Book of the Year. His second novel, ‘Crichton’ is due for publication in 2003.

Di Gilpin, designer and hand-knitter, based: St Andrews 
Project: Four hand-knitted coats, presented in a constructive, sculptural sense, dressed by a silversmith and a poet, incorporating small sculptures. The four pieces will reflect a diverse range of traditions including texture and fibres, but also wearable, as part of a subsequent, choreographed piece of dance.

Di set up her first design studio on the Isle of Skye in 1983. She has exhibited in both the UK and Europe, as well as lecturing in Belgium. In 1996, Di and her near neighbour on Skye, Eva Lambert, were finalists in the Clothes Show Awards for Innovation in Textiles for their work in naturally dyed yarns.

Alasdair Gray, writer/painter, based: Glasgow 
Project: To completely restore the murals Alasdair painted between 1955 and 1975, in the Scottish Russian Society, The Tavern, Kirkfieldbank, Greenbank Church of Scotland, Glasgow, as well as to make silkscreen prints based on his book illustrations.

Alasdair is undoubtedly one of Scotland’s finest writers. His novels and plays include ‘Lanark’, ‘The Poor Things’, ‘The Book of Prefaces’, ‘McGrotty and Ludmilla’, ‘The Fall of Kelvin Walker’, and ‘Working Legs’ for the Birds of Paradise Theatre Company. However, in 1957 he received a Diploma from Glasgow School of Art in Design and Mural Painting. He went on to paint large murals in two churches, a synagogue, a restaurant, public house, several private houses, a country park and Dunfermline local history musuem. Alasdair has never had the means to maintain or restore any of these early murals.

Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE, visual artist, based: Little Sparta, Lanark
Project: ‘And longer fall the shadows from the mountain high’ - to create a Grove of Tree Shadows and two inscribed benches in Little Sparta Garden, and to establish the Little Sparta Trust, to care for the garden, sited collection and public access.

Ian has lived at Little Sparta since 1966 and has worked on the garden almost continuously since. Ian’s first selection of concrete poems, Rapel, was published in 1963 and since then he his one-man shows have been continuously exhibited internationally. His permanent installations are sited in throughout Europe and the United States, including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, the Skulptur Projekt in Munster, Germany; and in Barcelona, Spain. His most recent exhibition was at the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.

Zoe Irvine, sound artist, based: Cupar 
Project: A sound work and publication in which the listener will be taken on a travelogue of the imagination. Inspired by the writing of W.G. Sebald it will contain histories, memories, soundscapes, archive material and music.

Born in Aberdeen in 1972, Zoe is and artist and publisher who works primarily with sound and often in collaboration. She is also an Associate Lecturer in Television and Imaging at Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and is a previous nominee of the Beck’s Futures Award. Her publishing company, Aeolus Projects, recently created five audio CDs to accompany the Pocketbook series.

Brian Kellock, musician/pianist, based: Edinburgh.
Project: to work on new compositions and arrangements for piano solo and a duet collaboration with David Berkman.

Brian has been a key member of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra for the last four years and has been the first-choice accompanist for many visitng soloists, including Art Farmer, Stanley Turretine, Sheila Jordan and Herb Geller. The Brian Kellock Trio recently won the BBC Jazz Awards ‘Album of the Year’ for their recording ‘Live at Henry’s’. Brian has also collaborated with Tommy Smith and their album Bezique has just been released.

Frank Kuppner, writer, based: Glasgow
Project: To investigate, contemplate and cultivate the life and work of Thomas Campbell, the Glasgow-born ‘Bard of Liberty’, whose statue still stands in George Square.

Frank won his first award for writing in 1972, when, aged 20, he won the AKROS’ Hugh Macdiarmid 80th Birthday Poetry Competition. He has written continuously since then and has published eleven books, including ‘Something Very Like Murder’, which won the McVitie Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year in 1996 and ‘Second Best Moments in Chinese History’, a selection of his poetry. He was recently tutor to the Maryhill Worker’s Educational Association Writers’ Group and will has just begun in post as Writer-In-Residence at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities (jointly, for six months).

Gerry Loose (pronounced ‘loo-is’), writer, based: Glasgow
Project: to walk through Nevadan desert, Japan, the Deccan plateau (India), the Pakistan/Indian border and the west coast and islands of Scotland, including the nuclear-sensitive areas, in order to write about the interdependence between landscape, land use and language. Once the walks are complete, Gerry intends to build a Peace Garden for Scotland, as a physical representation of the links between language, renewal and landscape.

Gerry was until recently Poet in Residence at Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens, where he created the Poetry Garden and planted a Kaki (persimmon) Tree descended from the only persimmon to survive Nagasaki. Gerry is also Managing Editor of Survivors’ Press. His published work includes ‘Justified Sinners’ and ‘Football Haiku’, as well the libretto for the children’s opera ‘Monkey’.

Nicola McCartney, playwright/writer, based: Glasgow
Project: To write the first draft of a novel entitled ‘Ice Angel’, a triptych of connected stories set in Russia and Scotland between 1919 and 2004.

Until 2002, Nicola was Artistic Director of lookOUT Theatre Company, Glasgow, as both writer and director. She has written extensively for stage and television and in 2002 was awarded the TMA Theatre Awards Best Children’s Play for ‘Lifeboat’. She is currently working on commissions for the National Theatre, the Lyric Belfast/Abbey Theatre Dublin, the Traverse in Edinburgh and for Replay Productions.

Mandy McIntosh, film-maker, based: Glasgow
'This award would allow me to pursue a radical new strand in my animation, crunching numbers to make random outcomes and moving away from linear, time based work. I am really interested in what could happen when a Scottish regional accent is used to map the way a component moves, for example, and to understand how animated creatures relate to the cultural context they are made in. Animation is increasingly sophisticated in how it is realised and has always been used as a carrier of many layers of meaning. I am incredibly excited at the prospect of exploring these areas.’
Project: to research the character development of Japanese and Finnish animated characters, with a view to developing new, artificially-intelligent, Scottish models.

Mandy has worked extensively in film and animation. Her credits include the BAFTA- nominated I am Boy, Good Morning Citizen of an Artificial Nation and work with English National Opera. She is currently working on NASA-based research into sonic environments in space, a community comic for Castlemilk (as part of the Reputations 2003 project) and animated architectural work with primary school children in Liverpool.

Bernard MacLaverty, writer, based: Glasgow
Project: to direct a short film, based on Seamus Heaney’s ‘Bye Child’ poem, about the tragic story of child neglect brought about by religious taboos and small-mindedness.

Bernard was born in Belfast in 1942 and now lives in Glasgow. He has written a number of screenplays, including ‘Lamb’ and ‘Cal’, together with plays for television and radio. He has also published eight books, his most recent is ‘The Anatomy School’. Although he has worked extensively in the film and TV industries, he has never directed his own short film.

Dr Gordon McPherson, composer, based: Dundee
Project: To write a large scale, multi-media investigation for orchestra, film and tape exploring the phenomena of the paranormal, hauntings and spiritualism.

Gordon is currently Head of Composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He has composed an extensive range of original music, including commissions for theatre and the multi-media work for the Centre for Contemporary Arts. Gordon is currently working on ‘This is Not My Beautiful House’; three works for large orchestra for the BBC, as well as a study for solo guitar.

Richard Meddrington, puppeteer and animator, based: Edinburgh
Project: To develop a piece of animated theatre, featuring puppets and kinetic sculptures, based on the Romanian prison experiences of asylum seeker Silvui Craciunas. The kinetic sculptures will be designed by Eduard Bersudsky, builder of the kinetic clock at the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Richard, a member of the Society of Authors has been writing and directing children’s theatre since 1976, first in Spain and then in Merseyside. He has been full-time puppeteer, living and working in Scotland since 1992 and has toured his original children’s pieces throughout the country. He is the first Scottish puppeteer to form solo at the National Theatre in London.

Mark O’Keeffe, trumpeter, based: Gartcosh, by Glasgow
Project: ’Apocalypse’ - a multi-disciplinary performance unveiled in seven tableux using live performance with audio and visual digital media. Collaborating with composer Andrea Haddow and director Cathie Boyd, Mark wishes to develop the visual presentation of music, especially the trumpet.

Mark is Principal Trumpet of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, having learned the trumpet from his father. As well has his work with the orchestra, Mark is a doctoral student in trumpet performance at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His work also includes ensemble playing; he has worked with both the London Sinfonietta and the Nash Ensemble, who share his love of new music.

Colette Sadler, choreographer, based: Glasgow
Project: To further explore and redefine the boundaries between visual art and new dance performance. Taking as themes for investigation the relationship between the body and the performing space, using the mediums of photography and digital technology.

Colette is an experienced choreographer, performer and teacher and has worked internationally, in Canada, Spain and Berlin. Her own company, Body Document, has recently been established but has already performed at the Tramway and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her first dance film was made in Madrid in June 2001.

Richard Wright, visual artist, based: Glasgow
Project: A series of six, hand-printed artists’ books, with reference to Duchamp’s Boite en Valise and the collaborations between poets and artists for the Russian Futurist and Constructivist books of the early 20th century.

Richard was visiting professor at Cal Arts Los Angeles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. His solo exhibitions include: BQ in Cologne; the Tate Gallery in Liverpool and the Gagosian Gallery in New York. Group exhibitions include ‘Drawing Now’ at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and ‘Here and Now’ at Dundee Contemporary Arts.

Notes to editors

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council