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Review: Macmillan Art Show

(originally published by The Student)

     Dovecot’s grand hall is lined with over three hundred works, and the wide space tempts the eye not only across, but also down to the floor below. With a working tapestry studio just over the handrails, the usual whitewash hush of conventional galleries is chased away, and we’re left at ease to appreciate the work of over one hundred artists, from pen-and-ink to still-life to lively textile and oils. Each piece has been donated to the charity MacMillan Cancer Support for their ninth annual Edinburgh Art Sale, and proceeds will be split evenly between the organisation and the local artists themselves.
     Since this is a sale and not an exhibition, we have a lot packed into a small space, providing a sharp test for the curators, who have pulled off the execution of the exhibition wonderfully. Whether placing oils of Princes Street as a Winter Wonderland (Kate Green) next to pastels of sunny Venice, or particularly hopeful, bright depictions of the Cathedral and Harbour, St Andrews, (Alistair Kelly) alongside more realisitc, rain-soaked paintings with names like Blue Umbrella and Warm Taxi Home (Kirsten Scheuerl), the show brings us through a wide range of paintings, weavings and jewellery collections by stunning artists.
     The charity’s prestige has also tempted a few well-known artists out of the woodwork.  Elizabeth Blackadder, currently occupying the National Gallery, has donated not one but two highly prized pieces, of which every penny of the proceeds will go to MacMillan.
     Art-lovers should see this as a kind of taster session, since each artist is  represented by only two or three works apiece. Devoid of any grand statement-making pieces, the sale is full of the kinds of artworks that wouldn’t go amiss on your living room wall, and such is the range and reach of the curators that there should be something here for everyone – but only a very little.

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