About the Gallery

Supporting Compass Gallery

For over 30 years, Compass Gallery has set a precedent of visiting all the Scottish Degree shows. It is an opportunity for the gallery’s directors Cyril and Jill Gerber, to make contact with the young artists, and select then exhibit the most interesting and exciting works in the New Generation exhibition.

Compass Gallery is supported by Glasgow City Council

The exhibition is currently on tour at The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum. It will then travel to Wick, Thurso, Inverness, Greenock and Aberdeenshire. We are very excited about this exhibition. What happens when you ask a group of creative and imaginative artists to explore the theme of Memory? You’ll probably get a myriad of different answers. Perhaps a family holiday, the lyrics of a song, a trip to the theatre, a feeling of peace in a familiar place, a loved friend or relative losing their memory, a story from the past, your favourite comfy chair, the day that we won the Cup, wartime reminiscences. We selected and invited a group of 76 artists from across Scotland, and some from further afield, to create a special work with their own interpretation of the theme. The artists vary greatly in style, age and background. Amongst those participating, there are established Royal Scottish Academicians, senior art school lecturers, full time painters, sculptors and recent graduates. Some work in bronze, some in glass, others are figurative or surrealist painters and printmakers. So the interpretations of the theme could be very wide apart. Anything from narrative to a psychological study, a visual metaphor or treasured reminiscence. In fact the exhibition could be quite a surprise package as much to us as to you, ranging from the obvious and predictable to the somewhat unexpected. Each specially chosen artist has his or her own individual response to the topic, creating a lasting sensory and visual experience for the onlooker. There will be humour, melancholy, pathos, fear, happiness, joy and all the emotions that make up the human spirit. The response of these artists has been fantastic, with many saying that the subject was inspirational, touching them in a personal sense. The works in this exhibition explore ‘The Force and Form of Memory’ and the impact it has on our lives. The Arts play a vitally important role, enhancing the quality of our day to day lives. However, their importance as cognitive decline sets in for people with dementia is not yet really understood or appreciated. Often a person who may not have spoken for a long time, may suddenly remember a past event or person. This sudden return of memory can be triggered by seeing an image, an object, or even hearing a particular piece of music. Compass Gallery is working in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, raising awareness of the importance of creating today’s memories, which will become future reminiscences, and the impact that memory-loss related illness have on the lives of those affected by dementia. All works are for sale. Compass Gallery’s commission will be shared with Alzheimer Scotland. We hope that you will come along and see, hopefully purchase from this fascinating exhibition. The exhibition will be touring throughout Scotland, and may vary slightly from venue to venue. Please contact the gallery for further details.

Current Exhibitions
28th October 2011 - 19th November 2011
The Force and Form of Memory - page 2

The exhibition is currently on tour at The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum. It will then travel to Wick, Thurso, Inverness, Greenock and Aberdeenshire. We are very excited about this exhibition. What happens when you ask a group of creative and imaginative artists to explore the theme of Memory? You’ll probably get a myriad of different answers. Perhaps a family holiday, the lyrics of a song, a trip to the theatre, a feeling of peace in a familiar place, a loved friend or relative losing their memory, a story from the past, your favourite comfy chair, the day that we won the Cup, wartime reminiscences. We selected and invited a group of 76 artists from across Scotland, and some from further afield, to create a special work with their own interpretation of the theme. The artists vary greatly in style, age and background. Amongst those participating, there are established Royal Scottish Academicians, senior art school lecturers, full time painters, sculptors and recent graduates. Some work in bronze, some in glass, others are figurative or surrealist painters and printmakers. So the interpretations of the theme could be very wide apart. Anything from narrative to a psychological study, a visual metaphor or treasured reminiscence. In fact the exhibition could be quite a surprise package as much to us as to you, ranging from the obvious and predictable to the somewhat unexpected. Each specially chosen artist has his or her own individual response to the topic, creating a lasting sensory and visual experience for the onlooker. There will be humour, melancholy, pathos, fear, happiness, joy and all the emotions that make up the human spirit. The response of these artists has been fantastic, with many saying that the subject was inspirational, touching them in a personal sense. The works in this exhibition explore ‘The Force and Form of Memory’ and the impact it has on our lives. The Arts play a vitally important role, enhancing the quality of our day to day lives. However, their importance as cognitive decline sets in for people with dementia is not yet really understood or appreciated. Often a person who may not have spoken for a long time, may suddenly remember a past event or person. This sudden return of memory can be triggered by seeing an image, an object, or even hearing a particular piece of music. Compass Gallery is working in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, raising awareness of the importance of creating today’s memories, which will become future reminiscences, and the impact that memory-loss related illness have on the lives of those affected by dementia. All works are for sale. Compass Gallery’s commission will be shared with Alzheimer Scotland. We hope that you will come along and see, hopefully purchase from this fascinating exhibition. The exhibition will be touring throughout Scotland, and may vary slightly from venue to venue. Please contact the gallery for further details.

Future Exhibitions
23 February 2012 - 17 March 2012
Angela Steel - Knots

Angela Steel’s series of seven stained glass panels ‘Tangled Routs’ tells the powerful story of a girl incarcerated. The room she inhabits is filled with the fiery motifs of the childhood she tries to hold on to as she resists the change which adulthood bestows upon her. A meditation on where she came from, where she is going, and what lies on the other side of the door, culminates in these seven new panels. Researching a once grand, now dilapidated burnt out house nearby to where she lives, used as a children’s asylum from the 1900’s, Steel uses this as her starting point, setting the timeline of the girl’s story so that her most tumultuous years span the world wars. In her physical desertion from her present circumstances and absorption of this parallel experience, the girl embarks on a personal journey far from where she is, yet still somewhat entangled in her surroundings. The savage butchery of those caught up in war mirror her experiences in the asylum. As her outward appearance is ever more vacant, so her inner life is even more rich. This morbid fantastical escape parallels and transfers to the cell she inhabits. There is no safety on her journey, no safe haven. This powerful and imaginative story is exquisitely depicted in the panels of stained and etched glass reminiscent of medieval times. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art in Drawing & Painting, Angela Steel turned to the medium of stained glass to challenge her skills and express her personal and imaginative ideas. She has honed her skills in residencies and master classes of Northlands Creative Glass, Lybster, and is a regular exhibitor in the West of Scotland. Compass Gallery is proud to present this solo exhibition, and include her work in the Scotland-wide tour of The Force and Form of Memory exhibition.