Victoria Morton with films by Anne;Marie Copestake - Inverleith House (14 March - 2 May)

Parts of Portrait (2010)
Image courtesy of: The artist, The Modern Institute and Sadie Coles HQ.
Photograph: Ruth Clark, © RBGE 2010.

Walking into the bright sunlit rooms of Inverleith House one is struck by one notion - colour.

This is Victoria Morton's largest exhibition to date and her first solo museum exhibition in Scotland in just under a decade. The vibrancy of the pieces' colours and textures seem to fill the house with a sense of summer spirit. Which is perfect for this time of year, and not at all surprising as Victoria tends to divide her time between her studios in Glasgow and Italy.

Morton describes her work as "explicit abstract realism" and according to Morton the desire to create is born from the physical desire to create and also the "mental exercise involved in the disruption and reform of complex image making." There is a distinct feeling, when looking at the artworks, that if Victoria had created it 5 minutes earlier or later the piece would be completely different. Each work has its own unique energy birthing from the 'when' and 'how' it was formed.

The exhibition also includes sculptures by Morton. The use of domestic objects such as chairs, headboards and photographs reminds one that Inverleith House was at one stage a family home. The works lend the feeling of entering into a personal space, yet remains familiar and engaging. Like walking into the home of a close friend.

In the basement one finds films by Anne-Marie Copestake. Copestake unfolded the concept of Trigger Tonic video archive. The subjects are visiting artists, writers and musicians who travel to present their works to others. Conversations are arranged with them about their work, with local artists conducting the interviews. The films shown at Inverleith House feature Ellen Cantor interviewed by Cathy Wilkes and the group Chicks on Speed interviewed by Victoria Morton. This is the first time the films have been shown in this form. A video projection Touch bump overlap unable to separate, landing on two planes has been developed for this exhibition and is being shown for the first time.

Turner in January: National Gallery Complex 1-31 January 2010

It is that time of year again where we welcome an honoured Scottish tradition which has spanned over a century, the annual display of Turner watercolours.

These watercolours, renowned for their excellent state of preservation were bequeathed by Henry Vaughan (1809-1899). Vaughan was the son of a wealthy hat maker. At the age of 21 he came into a large fortune which helped him create a diverse collection of pictures. These artworks were not only chosen for quality and condition but also scholarly intention of reflecting each stage of Turner's long career.

Vaughan died unmarried in 1899. Under the terms of his will, Vaughan's watercolours were divided between the National Galleries of Ireland and Scotland, The British Museum and the Victorian & Albert Museum.

Vaughan stipulated that measures should be taken to preserve his bequest in its fresh & brilliant condition. In his will he stipulated that the watercolours be 'exhibited to the public at one time free of charge during the month of January.'

Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in London in 1775 and died there in 1851. A total of 38 watercolours in the Vaughan Bequest embody most periods of Turner's career. Ranging from the blue and green wash of his 'Monro Period' drawings of the 1790s; The works which derive from his early travels in Brittan and the European Continent; His illustration projects in partnership with publishers and engineers; to his views of Germany, Venice and Switzerland dating from the 1830s to the 1840s.

Turner was one of the first to exploit the full potential of watercolour. The awesome magnitude and spontaneous vigour of his finest landscapes are here seen as vividly as both Turner and Vaughan had intended them.