Reflections of Craigmillar: Portraits of Modern Day Folk Heroes by Niamh Britton
Saturday 15th November - Friday 21st November
Exhibition Opening Friday 14th November, 4-8pm (Quiet opening 4-5pm, followed by refreshments and DJ 5-8pm)
Exhibition open daily 12pm - 4pm
Local artist Niamh Britton represents stories of belonging and community through her powerful portraits of local activism, people and mythology.
Margaret Fay Shaw
An older woman sits on a striped armchair with mid-century wallpaper in the background. She looks down at a large tabby cat that is sat on her knee which she strokes with both hands. The cat stares malevolently at the viewer.
Awatif
A head and shoulders image of a woman. She plays with her earring and stares at the viewer, jutting out her chin. Layers of text can be seen under some areas of the paint.
Edviges and Emilio
A man gazes with love and pride at the woman who leans against him. She clasps her hands at her chest. On his left hand side, the man affectionately holds his dog, a large Great Dane.
Paul
A cropped image of a man’s face looks pensively into the distance. The sunlight catches the side of his face.
Please Avoid the Area
A man stands in the bottom left hand corner, on a sunny day. He leans on the pedestrian crossing nonchalantly. Partially obscured text reads ‘serious disorder’ and ‘please avoid the area’.
Self Portrait as the Bingham Mermaid
A mermaid sits in front of a suburban underpass holding a red toy car. Her fishtail is iridescent. She is flanked by two panels. The left-hand panel is painted with symbols.
The right-hand panel has obscured firework symbols, and other symbols with the wording ‘you are now in a firework control zone- have you seen unsafe behaviour?’.
There is graffiti in the underpass that says, ‘Soma - A gramme is always better than a damn’. In the bottom right hand corner there are four discarded spoons on the ground.
In the undergrowth, in the top right-hand corner there is a fox peering through the bushes, looking over the mermaid’s shoulder. On the mermaid’s forehead there is a tattoo of cuneiform symbols.
999,999 trees
A woman sits on the steps of a mid to late century building. Her hands are clasped around her knee as she pensively stares off into the distance. A small twig sits next to her on the steps.
David at the Bothy
A bearded man is depicted from the waist up. He stands with his arms folded, staring quizzically at the viewer in front of a row of shops. There is partial signage that reads ‘Bothy’.
Maureen
A woman lays out woollen fibres on the table in front of her. She looks down at her hands as she works.
Fox
A fox stalking through the grass at dusk staring menacingly at the viewer.
Bird
A stylised image of a beady eyed crow like bird. The word ‘bird’ is etched on to the image.
You can learn more about Niamh Britton’s work at https://www.niamhbrittonart.co.uk/ or follow the artist on instagram @niamh_britton
This exhibition has been generously funded by Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council’s VACMA and Make Space grants.
Awatif, Photo
Three images of the same woman overlapping in black and white. One image gazes off into the distance. One image gazes into the lens. A single eye stares out blankly through the centre of the image.