The Scottish Endarkenment. Art and Unreason 1945 to the Present

‘The Scottish Endarkenment. Art and Unreason 1945 to the Present’ curated by Dr Bill Hare and Prof. Andrew Patrizio. 13 May 2016 to 29 August 2016. I showed a substantial body of new collaborative work made with John Beagles over the past year in this survey exhibition. This new work included two new digital animations and a sculptural installation composed from screenprinted cardboard boxes and chopping boards, additional manipulated found objects along with a 2m tall robot figure. The exhibition's curators aim to "provide a radically new presentation of the shared concerns which have obsessed many Scottish artists since the end of World War Two. The Scottish Endarkenment explores a wide range of disturbing and provocative topics, from ever-escalating international conflict, social inequality and unrest, gender identity and sexual prejudice – all fired by the dialectical struggles within the Scottish psyche between good and evil, Self and the Other. All these subjects are explored within a variety of different interpretations and mediums – from the out-and-out horrific to the darkly satirical". Other artists: John Bellany, Christine Borland, Joyce Cairns, Steven Campbell, Robert Colquhoun, Ken Currie, Alan Davie, Pat Douthwaite, Joan Eardley, Graham Fagen, Boyle Family, Helen Flockhart, Luke Fowler, Douglas Gordon, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Lys Hansen, Kevin Harman, Louise Hopkins, Georgia Horgan, Kenny Hunter, Matthew Inglis, William Johnstone, John Kirkwood, Shona Macnaughton, Chad McCail, Jock McFadyen, Wendy McMurdo, Jonathan Owen, Eduardo Paolozzi, Katie Paterson, Julie Roberts, David Shrigley, Simon Starling, Kerry Stewart, Peter Thomson, William Turnbull, Alison Watt, Richard Wright. Dovecot Gallery also hosted a one-day conference on Friday 17 June. The conference – Endarkenment | Stories of Unreason in Art and Culture from 1945 to the Present in Scotland and the UK – built on the exhibition concept. This brought together invited speakers, including a keynote, alongside shorter papers from emerging and established scholars interested in the theme.