Friday 2 November 2007

Article: "Collecting at a Click" (oct-nov 07)

In October 2007 Artmag published our article "Collecting at a Click" in their October - November issue




Thursday 1 November 2007

From People & Places



"Drinker Granada" by Ronnie Buchan.
Oil on canvas. 30 x 30 cm.

...was the title of an exhibition celebrated at a local Health Clinic in Edinburgh and launched on the1st of November 2007.

It included work by German artist, Sigrid Acker and Scottish artists Ronnie Buchan, Jacqui Higgs and Jane Mitchell.
The event coincided with the clinic's 3rd anniversary and included tapas and live music for a truly relaxed celebration. The exhibiton featured works of remote (and not so much so...) places as seen and captured by the contributing artists.

Hosting the exhibition in a Clinic was quite an experience and it is still a an idea in our agenda for future events.
The links between art and health are fascinating and never ending.
The Autumn-Winter 2010 newsletter published by CHAS (Children's Hospice Association Scotland) is titled "Music is the Best Medicine". It provides evidence, through a series of personal, heart-warming stories, of the amazing effects of music in children with learning disabilities. It underlines the idea that "where words fail, music speaks". And I am of the opinion that the same is to be said of the visual arts. An increasing awareness of the effects that colour, shape, texture and, in summary, all sensory experiences have in our mood could partially be the effect of our tuning with the interior design industry; but science has always been much more cautious when it comes to establishing cause-effect relationships between the stimulation of our senses and the results in our health. Despite this, the emergence of studies related to Art Therapy and the demand for these professionals seems to indicate that we somehow start to assume the association between exogenous and intrinsic processes, even if scientific evidence is still limited in scope In this sense, art, both related to our ability to enjoy it; and our ability to communicate through it; have an effect in our quality of life and general health.

This exhibition filled the clinic space with visual memories of holiday landscapes, blossoms and sunny, relaxing times. We hope that it contributed to creating a healing mood; where health is not strictly related to body and the prevention of illness but especially to happiness, enjoyment and a healthy balance between body & mind.

Below:"Buganvilles" by Sigrid Acker, 53 x 73 cm. Oil on board