Custom House in Leith is showing a tribute celebrating the centenary anniversary of the birth of Edward Gorey (1925 – 2000) – a witty American writer and illustrator who loved Scotland. Phantasmagorey features work by than forty artists in tribute to the artist, who published over 100 illustrated books, including The Gashlycrumb Tinies – an A-Z of untimely deaths, such as ’N is for Neville, who died of ennui’.
Among the accomplished participating artists are Jill Calder, illustrator of Coorie Doon with Jackie Kay, Jonny Hannah, illustrator of The Story of the Skids with Richard Jobson, Paul Barritt, animator with 1927 theatre company, whose show Please Right Back (reviewed by artmag.co.uk) was performed at last year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Additional contributors include Kate Charlesworth – cartoonist and author of Sensible Footwear: a Girl’s Guide – a history of gay and lesbian culture, Morton Moreland, cartoonist for The Times and four times winner of Political Cartoonist of the Year, Tom Gould, a regular illustrator for The New Yorker and The Guardian, Florence Shaw – artist and singer with Dry Cleaning, who recently supported Nick Cave on tour, and Peter Hynes – an artist and scriptwriter who has worked on BBC series Balamory and Molly and Mack.
Inspired by writers like Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, Edward Gorey influenced artists and writers like Tim Burton and Lemony Snicket, with his witty, macabre work. He was an anglophile – images full of ancient graveyards and ruined stately homes. Spending his entire life in New York and Cape Cod, he chose to travel abroad only once, visiting Scotland in 1975, where, inspired by his favourite film I Know Where I’m Going, (1945, dir. Powell and Pressburger), set on the isle of Mull, he embarked on a month-long tour of the Highlands and Islands. His one disappointment was on Loch Ness, reporting, ‘I did not see the monster – to my great regret – the great disappointment of my life, probably.’
The show is curated by Royal College of Art graduates Andrew Baker, illustrator and tutor at Leith School of Art, and Linda Hughes, animator, whose short film Fairground Fever premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2024. While celebrations are taking place in America for Gorey’s centenary, Andrew and Linda felt he deserved a tribute in Scotland – a place he loved – and the resulting exhibition offers the opportunity to admire contributions by some of the UK’s finest illustrators and artists, who admired the man and his unique artistry.
Part of a series of Gorey’s centenary celebrations, the exhibition is endorsed by the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, which works to preserve and promote his work and to support animal welfare causes, including Bat Conservation International – fitting for a man who won a Tony for his set and costume designs for a 1977 Broadway production of Dracula.
