THE Summer Exhibition of the Travelling Gallery has a certain poignancy this year. It will probably be the last exhibition to be curated and hosted by the Scottish Arts Council which is seeking a new operator to develop this service.
The show is an exhilarating blend of media and subject by four artists, a fitting tribute to the gallery's consistently high standard and a response to the many demands for a painting show. The Travelling Gallery, a converted bus, is a small but focused space allowing the viewer to become closely involved with each work, a bonus often denied in large galleries. In this limited space, where only a few can view at any one time, visitors have a very unusual and sometimes profound experience.
Victoria Morton's abstract and colourful works suggest emotions and thoughts, which Jeffrey Dennis does in a more direct way, giving us snapshot illustrations of things he has seen and done - but these are separated and connected by soap-like foam and bubbles and lengths of tube - perhaps a comment on our disconnected lives. Paul Dignan's works, straight lines of contrasting colours which undulate and shimmer, are balanced like logical thoughts, but Julie Roberts's canvasses are the most pertinent.
Set in flat, single colour backdrops, she paints objects often taken from earlier periods of art. In this nebulous background Roberts is thinking of isolation and loneliness.
This is a thought-provoking show where art is trying to explain our place in the world. Satellite tries to show our common isolation in today's society as well as the need to find a shared security.
n Touring Scotland until November.
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