The Royal Scottish Academy is exhibiting the work of fourteen third year ECA students, as the Version Galore exhibition returns for its second year.
The project challenges the students to choose an item from the RSA collection and produce their own response to it. The collection was established almost 200 years ago and contains over 10,000 artworks, housed when not exhibited, at its store in Granton.
Lecturer Kenny Hunter RSA, who leads the project, said: “This exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy has allowed the students of ECA to share their artwork and research with a wider public. It has also given them the opportunity to work directly with a significant historical collection of Scottish Art.”
Izi Coonagh, from the BA (Hons) Intermedia programme, chose two works to respond to – The Deluge by John Martin, and Into an Older Land by Victoria Crowe.
She said: “Having the opportunity to select two works from the RSA collection, and view them in person at the Granton store, was a luxury which gave us an inspiring peep behind the scenes, casually passing a monumental Henry Moore before viewing our chosen works.
“Version Galore has been a positive experience, having the opportunity to respond to works within the RSA collection, and work with the RSA staff, has taught me how to operate in a professional setting. Having my work included in an exhibition, held in the RSA building on Princes Street, which has been a familiar presence throughout my life, feels like an achievement.”
Another of the exhibiting students, BA (Hons) Photography student Yousuf Malik, said: "I chose an artwork called At a Hong Kong Dinner Party by David Michie. My own work is usually rather colourful and artists who create similar work resonate with me a lot. So as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect.
“It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do, as it wasn’t as simple as maybe taking on the same painting style as the original artist. I wanted to do something fun. The painting is a group of people out for dinner. So the project then became creating a series of photographs concerned with the aesthetics of nightlife, but through the style of fashion advertising. In particular the controversial American Apparel ads from the early 2010s.
“I grew up in Edinburgh and the RSA is a very iconic building, so this feels like such an insane opportunity. We got a lot of freedom to do what we wanted!"
BA (Hons) Painting student Vitto Ginevri said of her selection, The Dreamers (Unknown – after Albert Moore): “It resonated with me because of its clear Mediterranean influences – the ochre tones and terracotta accents, the patterns on the cloth.
“Specifically, I was inspired by the feeling of respite that I felt when looking at it, and decided to create a similar work through the lens of ritualistic leisure in acts such as cooking, which characterised my life spent in Italy with my grandparents in the early 2000s.
“This project was really the most wonderful opportunity to return to a classical approach in painting, and to take a step back from the chaotic, fast-paced, and digitised world in favour of reminiscing over my grandparents, and over the warmth that being in their house always gave me. Exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy is truly an honour, and I still cannot believe that my lovely grandparents, Mario and Rosalba, are going to be represented in such a historic institution."
The students exhibiting are:
Izi Coonagh
Molly Cooper
Marlowe Dong
Vitto Ginevri
Rania Javid
Carol Jourdan
Natasha Kawalek
Lyndsay McColl
Yousuf Malik
Ilakkiya Mohanraj
Kitty O’Brien
Sienna Ponting
Ellis Robertson
Dora Zoi
Version Galore is in the RSA President’s Room and Corridor from 8 March to 6 April, Mon-Sat 2-4pm, Sun 2-4pm. Viewing is by appointment only: please call 0131 624 6110 or enquire via the RSA’s contact page
