Northern Grammar

The Word was placed at the heart of the culture and it has remained central to it even today. This phenomenon is reflected in the work of contemporary artists living in the country who often seem as interested in the nature of the word as they are in the exploration of the image. Northern Grammar brings together many of the best known artists in Scotland whose work incorporates the written word as a key element of their artistic practice.
Spanning generations, the exhibition includes the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay, an important member of the 'concrete poetry' movement known also for his sculpture, prints, artists books and his celebrated garden, 'Little Sparta'. Alasdair Gray, one of Scotland's leading novelists is also represented through a display of manuscripts for his seminal work, Lanark. Trained in Glasgow School of Art, Gray's novels in the early eighties signaled a new confidence in Scottish culture and Lanark - Glasgow's Ulysses in many ways - continues to grow in stature.
Northern Grammar also includes a wall piece from Turner Prize winner, Douglas Gordon, who is known for his startling meditations on consciousness, memory and the divided self. Words have always played a central role in Gordon's work from his early letter pieces, through a succession of wall texts and an ever expanding study of key works in Scottish literature such as James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner or the novels of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Other works in the exhibition include a large scale construction by Ross Sinclair - and artist, writer, and musician whose work often examines the institutions and ideas at the heart of Scottish culture. There is also recent work by Graham Fagen which explores the poetry of Robert Burns, the national bard, placing it in a new relationship with Jamaican music, colonialism and emigration. Poetry and experimental writing provide a context for the work of Sue Tompkins and Peter Manson, both based in Scotland and investigating the role of the word in a visual context. Tompkins has trained as a visual artist and has been lead vocalist and songwriter in the successful indie band Life Without Buildings and in Northern Grammar she presents her most recent work. Manson exhibits one of his best known experimental texts, touching on a traditional of poetry and prose that has its roots in the work of the concrete poets of the 60s. Ubuweb, the renowned website archive of experimental poetry and prose, broadens the context of such work and places the exhibition in the larger context of international explorations of the word and image, conceptual art and found poetry. Other online works included in Northern grammar are Pearl Union - an alternative reading room for contemporary artists in Scotland and Ireland - and Triggertonic - an archive of video and audio interviews with artists, musicians and writers visiting the country.

Francis McKee
Curator