The art group went to visit 3 exhibitions at Trongate 103 in the merchant city. When we entered the building there was an exhibition in the foyer put on by the Simon Community. They had given cameras to 5 people who attended their services and asked them to take pictures that would show people what it’s like to be homeless at Christmas. The exhibition was very moving and the group said it made them stop and reflect. The photos were really well done and the exhibition was well thought out. A favourite one was of an Irn Bru can on a windowsill in someone’s hostel room.
“Homelessness is a big problem in Glasgow and it makes you realise how important having a roof over your head is. I can’t imagine what it would be like, and it makes you really feel for people. Seeing fellow humans homeless isn’t right, nobody should be homelessness, I think many people would agree with that. It’s a human right”.
The exhibition of the most interest to the group was ‘Flora and Fauna’ at ProjectAbility. It had been James’ idea to visit as he knew fellow member Margaret had some work displayed there. We also saw one of James’s works for sale in the shop. The group really enjoyed the exhibition and Margaret and James explained what attending ProjectAbility was like and how submitting pieces for the exhibition worked. There was a real diversity of styles of artwork, that was really interesting. There was a great fantasy landscape with a mermaid and castle that was incredibly detailed. There was a huge butterfly painting in broad brushstrokes and bright colours that was very different but also very cool.
The last exhibition we saw was in the StreetLevel Photoworks, it was work by Simon Murphy who takes portraits of people in Govanhill in the south of Glasgow. As the photos were in black and white a few of them had timeless quality, there were some real characters in the photos. There was one of a punk rocker that really stood out to people, she was really iconic looking. She could have been from the 80’s or 70’s. She had a patch that said ‘ Death to beauty standards’.
A few months ago we also visited the ARC centre, a new Glasgow Uni building for an exhibition as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. It was a retrospective of works by Mary Barnes who was a patient of RD Lang who was encouraged to paint to express her emotions. Mary used oil paint and painted with her fingers using a lot of very bold colours. She had quite a few paintings that were Christian in theme. The group enjoyed the exhibition, particularly exploring the new building and the buffet (which wasn’t actually for us). The following week at the art group we had a go at finger painting, feedback said that it was really freeing and tactile.