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GLASGOW. Stallan Brand Architecture & Design Gallery, 80 Nicholson Street,

Artists of Scotland - photography exhibition.

Where: Stallan Brand Architecture & Design Gallery, 80 Nicholson Street, Glasgow, G5 9ER.
When: Monday 6th November - Tuesday 21st December, (except 8th Dec)
Open times: Monday - Friday 10am - 5 pm.
Weekends by appointment.

Artists of Scotland is the latest photographic portfolio from Glasgow-based documentary photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, in which he has visited and photographed over 115 artists in their studios in Scotland, all since November 2022.

Through the 40 portraits on show in this exhibition we meet household name artists such as Ken Currie, Alison Watt, and Peter Howson, Turner prize winners and nominees Christine Borland, Nathan Coley, Martin Boyce are shown, along with others beginning to establish their careers, Sekai Machache, Saoirse Amira Anis, and many, many more.

From Glasgow to Aberdeen, Perth to Orkney, we see inside the private studios and get glimpses into mindset of the artists who contribute to the cultural fabric of our nation. From purpose built studios, through spaces large and small, and into home studios and garages, we see the creative spaces from which the artists of our day produce their works that hang in galleries nationally and internationally.

The exhibition is kindly supported by Scottish Contemporary Art Network, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, and Greyfriars Art Store, Edinburgh.

Quotes
“At SCAN, we believe that artists are key to Scotland's wellbeing, and their voices are at the heart of the work that we do. We are delighted to be supporting this showcase of the individuals who make Scotland’s art scene so diverse and exciting, beautifully captured by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert.” - Moira Jeffrey, Scottish Contemporary Art Network SCAN supports Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert’s Artists of Scotland exhibition.

“This project started out as a photographic portrait project, but what I never imagined was the over 100 great conversations I had with the artists, and coming away from the portrait shoots inspired by the people, their works and the conversations we had. To see so many people working hard on their creativity,
sometimes with no gallery or show to back them up, but still creating, was hugely inspiring.
I wanted to photograph 100 artists and so far I’ve done just over 100. But there are so many more artists out there, working hard. It’d be great to meet an photograph them all, but, there are so many I could go on forever!”
- Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, photographer.

View the full series of images: https://jeremysuttonhibbert.com/Photographer-
Glasgow-Edinburgh-Scotland-portfolio/Artists-of-Scotland/thumbs

Transcript
00:00 My name is Jeremy Southern-Hibbert. I'm a freelance photographer born and raised in
00:11 Glasgow. I've been a working photographer for 33 years. I've always worked on self-initiated
00:18 projects as well as doing assignments for editorial, corporate and NGO clients. And
00:24 this work behind me is a project, Artists of Scotland, which is a set of portraits of
00:30 artists in their studios all across Scotland. I started this project almost exactly one
00:36 year ago. I set myself a target of photographing 100 artists across Scotland. I thought it
00:41 would be a nice portrait project for me to work on. I had a few names that I wanted to
00:48 photograph, a few artists, household names that I wanted to photograph. You know, Alison
00:52 Watt, Ken Currie, Peter Howsay and a few others. And from that, the project really grew organically.
00:59 I asked the artists that I met and photographed, "Who do you think I should photograph?" And
01:05 it was through their recommendations and then through further research with some gallery
01:09 owners that the project grew. And now I've photographed 115 artists. This exhibition
01:17 is a selection from that portfolio. So there's 45 pictures on show here in the exhibition.
01:25 But each of the pictures, I hope, gives people a little insight into all the creative mindset
01:30 of the artists that we know and love and who produce some of the iconic art in Scotland.
01:36 Yeah, it's been a fascinating journey to go to all of these different studios, from big,
01:42 glamorous, beautiful studios with nice lighting through to people painting in their back bedroom.
01:50 And of course, comes with that, when you meet 115 people, there's 115 different characters.
01:57 Some people are really not phased by being in front of the camera. Some people are very
02:02 confident. One or two people, a little less so. Some people are a little nervous in front
02:07 of the camera. But that's my job as a photographer. And I think I have enough experience from
02:13 my 30 years of working to be able to make people feel at ease. And I think what helped
02:20 the project was, as the project grew, many of the artists knew I had already photographed
02:27 50, 60, 80 other artists. And they're quite keen to hear, "Well, what was that person's
02:33 studio like?" or "How was that person?" or "How did you find that person?" or "Who have
02:39 you photographed already?" So, for the conversation, the conversation would sometimes just really
02:46 flow. The people were as much interested in me and my career and my history as a photographer
02:50 in Scotland and this project, as I was in them and their artistic practice.
02:57 The very first artist I photographed was a lady just behind me here, Sam Ainslie, who
03:02 used to teach at Glasgow School of Art. And very nicely, I've had a Sam Ainslie print
03:08 hang on the wall of my house for 20-odd years, which I've always loved. And then a friend
03:12 said to me, "I can introduce you to Sam Ainslie." So it was a very nice beginning for the project.
03:20 And because she taught at Glasgow School of Art, she is incredibly connected. So she gave
03:26 me a big list of names and email addresses, and that really helped kickstart the project.
03:32 And mentioning that I knew her and I had photographed with her was a great way to open the studio
03:38 doors.
03:39 The project will still continue. Even though this exhibition is on for two months, there
03:45 are still people I would like to photograph. And I'm still trying to contact them and still
03:51 got a few in the diary. So I think the project will run for a while yet.
03:55 Yeah, this is the first public showing of the work. Yeah, absolutely. I would love it
04:00 to travel. I would love the show to travel. I think it's a great showcase for creativity
04:04 in Scotland. So I think there's potential for the exhibition to be shown elsewhere in
04:09 Scotland and to let people see inside the art spaces, which to some of these artists,
04:14 their studios are quite private spaces. So I think there's great fascination from people
04:20 to see the pictures. I think the exhibition could travel, even internationally. I think
04:25 it could travel. Again, it's a great showcase for the country, for Scotland.
04:30 My grand aim for the project is to have a portfolio box of the 150 prints and for that
04:37 to be acquired by an art collection or an art institution. So that 50 years from now,
04:45 100 years from now, people can open that box, they'll see all these people, all well documented
04:52 Scottish artists, and the portfolio will exist as a snapshot, as a real time capsule record
05:01 of their Scottish art scene in 2023-2024.
05:06 This exhibition, Artists of Scotland, is on at the Stalin Brand Architecture and Design
05:11 Gallery here at 18 Nicholson Street in Glasgow. It opens on the 6th of November and it runs
05:17 for almost two months until the 21st of December.
05:21 [Music]
05:25 (upbeat music)

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