Paisley’s Big Art Show has returned in style for its fourth year, in a new location – the Art Department’s new permanent home at 9-11 Causeyside Street, a handsome Art Deco commercial building dating from 1931.
There is great goodwill and support in Paisley and beyond for this show, and it has quickly become established as a key annual event in Paisley’s arts calendar. Two weeks of hand-in, followed by four busy weeks of hanging and presentation carried-out by a small team from The Art Department, with the support of a number of dedicated volunteers, all lead up to the opening of the exhibition.
This year also presented the challenge of mounting the show in the midst of readying the building to become Paisley’s newest art gallery. There was a great sense of anticipation amongst participants for the opening – the first opportunity to see how everything would come together in the Art Department’s new location. A gathering of several hundred artists and friends and families attended a full day of opening events on 30th August, all keen to have a first look at this huge exhibition, and to celebrate the inauguration of the new galleries. Artists are truly delighted to be part of this show!
There are almost 1,000 art works on display, submitted by over five hundred artists, both amateur and professional, from the UK and overseas, in what is once again a very inclusive show. There are paintings, drawings, prints, mixed-media works, textiles, sculptures, glass art, ceramics, photography and moving image works, spread over two floors. On the ground floor are small works, large abstract works and an extensive photography section. The first floor gallery, Gallery Two, is architecturally particularly impressive, with original Art Deco detailing in columns and beams, ceilings, windows and joinery, and striking new black and white chequerboard flooring which complements the original interior features. There is a full-width window wall to the building’s frontage making the Gallery bright and light, painted all white and lit by new flat-panel lighting.
Featured artists
There are five invited featured artists, all exhibited together on the first floor – Jim McDade (painting), Hoisun Yung (drawings), Liz Reid (drawings and painting), Jade Stout (painting) and David Gillanders (ceramics and photography).
Ray, a series of seven drawings by Hoisun Yung, was commissioned to mark the establishment of the Art Department in its Art Deco home and displays immaculate fine pen work and use of pattern and colour.
Evidently, in current times, artists are particularly drawn to seascapes as, also on the first floor, a wide expanse of wall space is given over to almost seventy seascapes and other works with maritime themes. Here there are four pieces by Chris Taylor, including Tidal Rhapsody, skilfully detailed, created in pastels and conveying coastal wave formations approaching the beach.
Nautical artist Emma McKie has three circular pieces in the show, including What lies beneath, with mackerel, herring, salmon and octopus in gouache, watercolour and acrylic with resin glaze.
In the extensive portraiture section there is also much to admire, including Thomas Donnelly’s Renaissance and Dutch Master-inspired oil paintings of women, including Dutch maid, one of three works in the show. His skill in conveying the folds and fabric of the woman’s clothing and the expression in her face is remarkable.
Portraiture submission includes some famous faces too, which is always entertaining: look out for Jack Nicholson, Just Jack, painted in oils by Cherie Jardine, and Andrew Galbraith’s The Chef – a portrayal of Gordon Ramsay in acrylic and pencil.
People are all sorts, in pencil, pastel and charcoal, appeals to my sense of humour: the artist Elizabeth Shepherd (work signed Lyz) says her work is, ‘Exploring inclusion – life is for all sorts of people’.
Three-dimensional work is interesting and varied – robots, papier-mâché birds, architectural models, assemblages of found objects, ceramics and art-glass work.
Look out for Kelvingrove Bandstand by Karen Bonella, which is a wonderful model of the bandstand known to many in Glasgow, in its pre-restoration condition, complete with graffiti and street art applied.
Very accomplished stained glass by Geraldine McSporran, Tim Kirman and Katarzyna Bialogrzywy is presented in the wide front window area of the first floor, allowing daylighting from behind. I particularly enjoyed Katarzyna’s stained glass with copper foil piece Lost in Dance, where the dancer sits very well in the Art Deco surroundings of the building.
Also in the window area are two beautifully engineered robot-like figures by Alexander Ramsay, including Woody loves Ruby, incorporating two lights and immaculately-crafted in re-purposed and custom-made metal and wood. There are also strikingly colourful and detailed paintings in acrylic on wood panel by Alexander, including Plenty more fish in the sea depicting exotic multi-coloured Paisley-pattern shaped fish.
There are three works by Lorna Pirrie in the show, including 1st Day, described as a ‘trompe l’oeil life painting of 1st day of school’ which I find quite nostalgic in its depiction of the small photo prints of family life produced after you sent your ’spool’ away for developing, and humorous too in that a dog is getting into the photographer’s view, but our view of the photo is obscured by the back of another photo print having dropped in front – all very skilfully conveyed.
There is immense variety in this show, using many techniques and media, with works covering every imaginable subject, broadly organised in groupings by subject matter or by medium. As a volunteer with the hanging team throughout the process I can say that out of necessity it is a closely-spaced gallery hang but with great consideration given to the challenge of arranging hundreds of disparate works to achieve a balanced result. There is humanity, love, and humour on show here, as well as political commentary and protest. There are scenes of Scotland, urban and rural, and of many other parts of the world, plus scenes and imagery entirely from the artists’ boundless imaginations.
As in previous years, the scale of the show means it may take more than one visit to absorb the scope of work on show, but visitors will certainly find any length of viewing very rewarding. Entry is free to all and there is a full-colour catalogue featuring a selection of works, priced £5. Almost all works are for sale, across a wide price range, much of it very affordable. The Big Art Show 2025 still has around four weeks to run, until 15th November – don’t miss it!
With thanks from Artmag to author Gordon Reid.
