Three local artists will benefit from funding for commissions awarded by Aberdeen Art Gallery and the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums.
Creative practitioners (artists, makers, musicians, dancers, designers, writers and performers) living in AB postcode areas were invited to submit proposals for a series of ‘micro-commissions’ which respond to Aberdeen’s outstanding collection of art and history through the creation of new work.
Applicants were asked to say something about their lived experience in Aberdeen, addressing themes that might include social justice, climate change, identity, diversity, representation, wellbeing and migration. The commissioned artists will have access to the Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums’ collection and specialist curatorial expertise, as well as opportunities to share their work through the public programme of talks, events, performances, workshops and displays.
The finished works could be small-scale, and the time spent developing and producing need not be long and drawn-out. The resulting artworks will be cared for by Aberdeen City Council and may become part of the permanent collection.
This is the third round of micro-commissions to be offered by the Art Gallery and the first to be supported by the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. The programme was established with funding awarded to the Gallery as a joint winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2020.
The recipients of this third round of micro-commission awards are:
Amy Benzie (£1,000 commission)
Amy is a ceramic maker living and working in Torry, Aberdeen. The element of unpredictability and play that comes from working with her materials, and the exchanges between art and science greatly inspire Amy’s forms and textures. Amy was drawn to the medical collection and how ceramics transcends craft, fine art and functional sterile ware such as the ‘Leech Jar’. Amy plans to explore North-East 'remedies', based on local knowledge and 'auld wives tales' heard while growing up in the area. She hopes to encourage us to think about how we nurture wellbeing with dreams of the past and hopes for the future.
Clive Ramage (£2,500 commission)
Over the past 15 years, self-taught artist Clive Ramage has established a strong following for his highly original and atmospheric paintings and hand-made prints. He describes his work as a very personal attempt to capture the beauty and poetic resonance of the places that fire his imagination. Clive works from his WASPs studio at Langstane Place and is a regular user of the facilities at Peacock Print Studio. Clive will use the micro-commission award to create a triptych of handmade prints, one inspired by John Piper’s painting of Dunnottar Castle from the collection. Each print will use a different technique and the works will explore the theme of disintegration and how it can often lead to the creation of something more beautiful and positive.
Helen Scaife (£1,000 commission)
Helen Scaife is a painter and performance artist. She will use the award to create a mixed media painting which draws attention to global and local issues affected by climate change. Through her work Helen aims to open discussion and debate about the way we are living. Inspired by the setting and stormy sea in the artwork Paddle Steamer 'Sovereign' Entering Aberdeen Harbour in our collection, the scene in Helen’s painting will focus on Aberdeen harbour.
Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesman said: Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesman said: “These awards are helping us ensure that our city Gallery is a vibrant centre for local creative energy. The commissions enable imaginative interaction with the collection and with other professionals. The Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums are great supporters of practising artists. Their contribution towards these commissions is a further example of their ongoing generous commitment to contemporary art.”
Michael Richardson, Chair of the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, said, “The Friends are very proud of the support they have provided for the development of Aberdeen’s superb collection since the group was established in 1975. Over the years we have supported new acquisitions, conservation work and a large-scale site-specific commission for the Art Gallery during the redevelopment project. I’m delighted that we are now supporting the micro-commissions programme, which has become an in important source of support for local artists. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums can come along and meet some of us during our next Friends’ Weekend at the Gallery on 15 and 16 April.”
Previous recipients of micro-commissions
Lise Bos
Jo Gilbert
Lynne Hocking-Mennie
Juliet Macleod
Joshua Macpherson
Anne Marquiss
Helen Partridge Love and Noon Abdelrazig
Ursula Mathers
Kimberley Petrie
Florence Reekie
Nicola Seal
Joe Stollery
About Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery is Aberdeen City Council’s flagship cultural venue and is home to one of the finest collections in the UK. The Gallery is a safe, warm, welcoming and accessible civic space in the heart of the city, open seven days a week and to visit. Find out more at www.aagm.co.uk
About the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums is an enthusiastic group of individuals devoted to providing support to Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, its collections and activities. Friends AAGM is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation number SC006819
Find out more at https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/support-us/become-friend