Pen Reid – Behind the Curtain

13 May-7 June. Entry free. Compass Gallery, 178 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 4RL.

Artist Pen Reid’s first solo exhibition took place in 2020 in Edinburgh while covid restrictions on travel and social distancing were in place so most viewings were virtual. Since then she has been working on a substantial new body of paintings for this in-person solo show, which can also be viewed online.

compassgallery.co.uk

 

Emma Hart BIG TIME

13 May-31 October. Entry free. Hospitalfield House, Westway, Abrorath, DD11 2NH.

Marking the spring opening at Hospitalfield, this exhibition is a series of radiant ceramic sundials installed in the gardens. Emma Hart makes sculptures that reinvent the familiar sundial as a face and nose to provoke reflection of how our bodies experience time and space. The exhibition marks the beginning of a year-long programme which looks at the impact of light and time on the world.

hospitalfield.org.uk

 

George Wyllie: A Day Down a Goldmine

5-27 May. Entry free. Glasgow Print Studio, Trongate 103, G15HD.

A Day Down a Goldmine began as an installation consisting of a sculpture that was exhibited in 1982. George Wyllie had the idea of augmenting the exhibition with a theatrical experience and produced a narrator’s book featuring illustrations based on the sculptures and lyrics to the accompanying songs. The pages of the book were produced into prints that remained in Wyllie’s possession until he died in 2012. The prints have not been seen by the public for 35 years until this exhibition at Glasgow Print Studio.

gpsart.co.uk

 

Jack Dunnett – Catatonia

11 May-4 June. Entry free. Arusha Gallery, 13a Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG.

Frequently depicting figures within uncertain surroundings, artist Jack Dunnet uses his own shorthand of household chemistry to manipulate pigment and texture. Dunnett, born in Wick in the Scottish Highlands, works primarily with oil paint, as visitors can see in this latest exhibition.

arushagallery.com

 

Lorraine Robson: Tidal

6-31 May. Entry free. &Gallery, 3 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG.

Derived from a sustained period of development and research from 2020-2022, Lorraine Robson’s latest body of work reflects the artist’s need for a period of peace, calm and reflection. Robson produces moulds in rubber and plaster to facilitate the production of handcrafted ceramic vessels and original plastic and resin sculptures. Her latest work draws inspiration from simple shells on beaches and seaweed washed up on shores.

andgallery.co.uk

 

The Collector’s Eye and Borrowed Gardens

6-27 May. Entry free. The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6H2.

The Collector’s Eye brings together two private collections belonging to the late Professor Donald Eccleston and former director of the Scottish Gallery, David Lockhart. The show marks the beginning of a new series at the Gallery that demonstrates the vital relationship between gallery, artist and collector.

scottish-gallery.co.uk

 

Hanna ten Doornkaat: Tactile Encounters

6-31 May. Entry free. & Gallery, 3 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG.

Experimenting in a different medium, this new body of work from Hanna ten Doornkaat includes a series of stitched drawings as the artist exchanged her drawing tools for a needle and thick waxed cotton threads. The new process is slower than her previous works of repeated drawn and layered pencil lines but still investigates the meaning of what constitutes a drawing.

andgallery.co.uk

 

Unravelling Times

12 May-15 October. Entry free. The Hunterian, 82 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QQ.

This is the most significant exhibition of Lis Rhodes’s work in Scotland to date. Alongside three of Rhodes’ films, there will be presentations by Anne-Marie Copestake, Francis McKeen and Iman Tajik, three contemporary artists who are similarly dedicated to a radical politics of filmmaking.

gla.ac.uk/hunterian/

 

Things I Have Loved x noticed

6-7 May. Entry free. Agitate, 20 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5JZ.

This exhibition at Agitate Gallery shows glimpses of the words and visual art of the poetic memoir series Sophia Hembeck published in 2020 and 2023. The two rooms of the gallery convey the artist’s works, the first using the colour blue and the second presenting monochrome photography in the colour red.

agitate.gallery

 

PLUME

6-7 May. Entry free. Crownpoint Studios, 142-146 Crownpoint Road, Glasgow, G40 2AE.

Plume is a multidisciplinary exhibition showcasing the recent work of three emerging artists. Coral Brookes, Paula Dohery and Rachel Stanley’s works span painting, ceramics, and drawings and explore the visual possibilities of real and imagined environments. This latest show seeks to question the intersection between the man-made and the natural.

plumeartcollective.com/exhibitions

Charlotte Cohen