Deen Scene - What's On # 26!

Hello! Welcome to Deen Scene # 26!

If you're paying attention to our facebook or instagram pages then you might have seen the new mail chimp sign up that we launched last week. Indeed after many years we're finally trying to move with the times and doing things a little different. The Deen Scene newsletters have always been about sharing a comprehensive list of up coming events, what's on and other titbits that I found interesting. Being an independent blogger I have no real ties to any one organisation or group so my focus is purely on things that I think are worth checking out or things that I have been to and can recommend. 

Connecting with everyday people and trying to make the creative sector more accessible has also been a big goal along with connecting the dots between people, artists, place and orgs. It can be a complicated puzzle and not all the pieces fit together or even want to fit together and that's fine. But where I can I will try to make those connections and bridges as collectively there's a load of great work being done across the arts in Aberdeen. So with that in mind here's my run down of cool things to check out!   

What's On!

You'll find the fantastic 'Printing On' by Frances Walker which is currently on show at Aberdeen Art Gallery. The pandemic affected everybody and while many cultural events were able to find a new platform online, some had to cut their losses and move on. The gallery and Peacocks had grand plans for Frances 90th birthday which came and went under the cover of Covid and plans changed during that time. Frances undettered by the pandemic continued to work on new prints at the Peacocks studio, in turn producing a serene set of landscape inspired prints pulling from her extensive body of work and worldly travels. 

'Printing On' is an ode to perseverance, both during the pandemic but also in life with Frances still being a regular visitor to the print studio at the ripe old age of 92. A remarkable woman and a remarkable artist. Her show is free to view at Aberdeen Art Gallery and runs until the 12th of June with a special free curators tour taking place on Wednesday 1st June, details here.

Check out the galleries What's On site for details on up coming talks and associated events. 

A new group exhibition has opened at Gallery Heinzel on Thistle Street. The show features the work of 3 prominent female artists, painters Margaret Evans & Catriona Millar along with sculptures by Jacqueline Shortland. Each artist creates radically different work from the next but the exhibition flows really nicely from rugged Scottish landscapes to colourful pop portraits and finishing with tactile sculptures.

The exhibition runs until the 7th of May and is a must see! You'll find more information here and check out the short video here. 

Although it might seem like we've been quiet at Kekun Studio we have in fact been working on multiple projects, only some of which we can speak about but keep an eye on the Cannibal Cubs instagram for some cool developments! While sitting around thinking about how we could help create more visibility for the arts in Aberdeen we came up with the concept for KART. "What is a KART and what does it do" we hear you say?

Join us at The Anatomy Rooms on Thursday 14th April to find out more or check out the Kekun Facebook page after the 14th. All will be revealed!

Aberdeen Artist Society returns to the Art Gallery for their first in person exibition since 2019. Featuring a host of works from across the cities creative spectrum, the show opens at the top floor gallery on Saturday 16th April.  

Formed in 1827 by a group of artists with James Giles and Archibald Simpson as President and Vice President respectively, the Society’s aim was, and continues to be, “the mutual improvement of painting and the furtherance of art in general in Aberdeen.”

Along with the exhibition you can join one of the numerous 'Spotlight Tours' hosted by AAS members. The tours are free and you'll find all the dates here. The exhibition runs until Sunday 3rd July. 

Local designer Fernweh will be launching their latest collection 'Dachaidh' this Thursday & Friday at Deemouth Artist Studios over in Torry. Deemouth have been on a roll with a host of pop up craft fairs and events over the last 6 months and its great to see their creative workshops and collaborations with Greyhope Bay in the pipe line.  

In the mean time get familiar with Fernweh via facebook & instagram and be sure to check out their launch events this week!

The Look Again Project Space on St Andrew Street is currently hosting the 'Creative Entrepreneurship Showcase'. The exhibition is the culmination of work from artists and makers who've completed the short course hosted by Look Again and RGU.

The exhibition is open Saturday & Sundays from 11 til 4 and runs til the 24th April. You can find more information about the Creative Entrepreneurship course here. 

Aberdeen artist and Deemouth Studio founder Allan Watson has a selection of new works on show at PARX Cafe. For those who don't know, Parx is one of the best food spots in Aberdeen, located down in the basement off one of the former Victorian houses on Rubislaw Terrace. With angular shapes and muted colours, Allan creates enthused geometric works that dip into both the abstract and the sculptural working both in the 3D realm and across a series of prints.

PARX Cafe is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 til 3.30pm with the show running throughout April & May so be sure to check it out and I highly recommend getting an all day breakfast burrito while you're at it!  

The team at Grampian Hospitals Art Trust not only do a great job cheering up weary patients with their extensive artwork collection on display at NHS sites across the North East but many of their staff are established artists and creatives who work with the collection and run art classes for patients. So it only seems right that they get a chance to flex their creative muscles and show off their skills. 'Introducing The Artists' is open now featuring Yvette Bathgate, Amy Benzie, Donna Briggs, Jean Firth, Jo Gilbert, Rachel Jack, Fraser MacDonald, Neal MacDonald, Alexandra McGregor, Anna Shirron, Sally Thomson & Emily Utter.

Of course we're still being encouraged to avoid visiting the hospital and as the Suttie Art Space is located in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary I don't know if visiting to see some art would count as a valid excuse which is a shame as the Suttie Art Space is one of the best gallery spaces in town. But fear not as the GHAT team have a brilliant website where they document all of their exhibitions so keep an eye on it here and well done to the team for all their hard work in improving our visits to ARI over the years. Check out a sneak peek at Anna Shirron's work here.  

A bit further afield you'll find the lovely Braemar Gallery. The current main exhibition "En Plein Air" comes from Jonathan Sherer who spent time painting in and around Deeside creating an extensive series of paintings. I only recently discovered that en plein air means to paint outside and doesn't mean exclusively in France! 

Everyday is a school day as they say and the Braemar Gallery are great teachers. With a host of works on display and for sale from artist's like Claire Roberts and Stuart Buchanan it's well worth a trip up to Royal Deeside for a day filled with art and frolics!

You can find our more about Braemar Gallery here. 

During the last lockdown we found ourselves exploring Aberdeen's rich history of public artworks and sculptures. With a wealth of work on show both in Hazelhead Park and the city center it got us thinking about the artists behind these works and how they fit into the cities current cultural fabric. So we did our research and decided to start some special Sculpture Tours focusing on the numerous works found in the city center along with a few related works from Nuart Aberdeen. The tours last for an hour and 30 minutes and run twice a month.

You'll find information and tickets here. 

Artist Highlight - Ash Norrie!

It's always been an important aspect of the blog to highlight and champion local artists and creatives. Along with my 'Creative A to Z' page I've also been taking a proper look at the work of artists who's work has grabbed my attention and inspired me over the last year. So to kick things off we have The Artwork of Ash Norrie!

Today I'm taking a look back at the artwork of Ashleigh Norrie! I first spotted her work as part of the 'Coterie' show with Elaine Forrest & Jo McIntosh at Foodstory back in 2018. I've been following her insta ever since and really enjoy her output.

Ash works across a range of mediums with a focus on abstract designs and patterns both on paper and fabric. Using embroidery hoops, she stretches segments of fabric, selecting specific areas which highlight the colours and shapes of her designs. It's cool to see where 1 piece of fabric has been chopped and distilled into 3 or 4 smaller pieces with shared colours and ideas but each still forming a unique new piece. When featured by the Aberdeen Etsy team Ash said: "My work explores mark making through a variety of traditional print making techniques such as mono printing and screen printing. These designs are often layered and over printed to create organic and free flowing imagery. Each piece is unique and individual."

Continue reading here!

Sound & Vision!

Aberdeen loons The Little Kicks have just announced a series of Scottish dates, no doubt to coincide with some new music so keep an eye on their socials. The home crowd always comes out for the band so expect the Aberdeen leg of the tour to sell out pretty quick so I'd recommend getting tickets asap. The band play the Tunnels on Saturday 25th June and you can purchase tickets here. 

You can listen to a few tracks from their 2014 tour below.

Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble returns to The Lemon Tree for an intimate solo show on the 7th of May. Woomble's latest solo effort 'Lo! Soul' came out in 2021, a nostalgia tinged effort with some underlying soul influences its well worth a listen here. 

We still have fond memories of getting to take the afternoon off school to head down to 1 Up Records to meet Roddy and the band way back in 1998. The days of youthful energy have been replaced with slower rhythms but the power and allure of Woomble's music remains!

Be sure to book your tickets here. 

It's been a while since I got behind the turntables and recorded a vinyl mix but I do enjoy making the occasional YouTube playlist as well. Here's my current effort with a focus on acoustic tracks from a few favourites like Arcade Fire, Jose Gonzales, Sam Fender, Smashing Pumpkins and Best Girl Athlete. Click on the image to be whisked off to a dreamy playlist.

You can also check out some of my other videos on my YouTube channel so have a root around for some of my artist films and visual treats. 

Creative Me Podcast is back with a new series of chats as he continues to support up and coming creatives and established artists. Headed up by Ica Headlam, the podcast was founded in 2017 and has gone from strength to strength, providing a vital platform for Aberdeen creatives to discuss their work and ideas but also for Ica to share his thoughts about a range of topics. 

You'll find Creative Me Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Soundcloud and via their website here. 

Check out this new artist film 'The Crow Knows' by Bibo Keeley & Debby Forsyth. Debby said "Being supported by the Jerwood Arts 1:1 Fund over the last few months gave us the much appreciated opportunity to explore common ground learn from each other and experiment with ways of bringing together our different art practices and approaches."

Watch 'The Crow Knows' below.

With his show 'Sculpture Court' ongoing at Aberdeen Art Gallery, artist Kenny Hunter delivered a wonderful Guest at Grays lecture at the Cowdary Hall a few weeks back and spoke to the Gallery team about the work on display and what sculpture means to him. 

Along with his sculptures Kenny also produced a brand new screen print 'Faith In Flux' continuing to explore his interest in the written word and poetry through his association with Peacock Print Makers. You can purchase the print here. 

After taking a break from writing and blogging we're feeling reinvigorated to share what we got up to last year with a special road trip that saw us travel from Amsterdam to London via Rotterdam & Paris. With a full on itinerary we saw lots of great art along with a host of impressive work both in galleries and on the streets of each city. 

If you're missing the travel experience then buckle in for part 1 of my massive Euro adventure. Check out Pandemic Travels 2021 Part 1 here. 

Other News!

The team at Greyhope Bay have been celebrating the launch of their Greyhope Bay Centre situated at the wonderful Torry Battery. I'm sure many Aberdonian's have memories of running around the old WW2 battlements and looking over to Girdleness lighthouse in hopes of seeing a Fraggle! After almost a decade of hard work and fundraising the team have finally delivered a unique viewing space where patrons can grab a coffee and some lunch while taking in the unique views across the harbour mouth and Aberdeen beach. We can't wait to visit and enjoy the new space designed by p-o-l-k-a studio. 

Thank You!

So that's it for Deen Scene # 26! I know its a bit long winded, let me know what you think and ill try to cut down the word count for Deen Scene # 27. But I said I'd explain this rather strange photo of me sticking out of an inflatable sculpture. They told us not to touch them, so I did the opposite. Sometimes you just have to break the rules and it was totally worth it! The photo was taken by Grant Anderson during the 2018 Look Again Festival.