This exhibition celebrates many of the recent acquisitions that have entered the collections since 2010. It includes photographs, paintings, drawings and sculpture and spans the 20th and 21st centuries. Of the paintings I especially enjoyed that of the author, Ian Rankin, in oils by Guy Kinder. Rankin is depicted in Edinburgh's Oxford Bar, a favourite haunt of both the author and his fictional character Rebus. Not only did I like the contemporary painting, I also enjoy the Rebus books. Another favourite among the paintings was the triptych in oils of Chris Hoy painted in 2012 by Jennifer McRae and also the chalk, charcoal and pastel portrait of actor, Gordon Jackson completed in 1996.
Among the photographs was a very interesting four image series of photogravures from 2013 by Alex Boyd. Unlike most of the exhibits, which are portraits, these are landscapes taken from the summit of Stacashal on the island of Lewis. These were rich black and white images printed on textured paper and looking almost like pastels. Interesting that people are still using such a technique. Of the portraits I liked the one of actor Brian Cox taken by David Eustace. Again in rich black and white and printed in 2011. The image fills the frame and is cast partially in shadow; it is an intense portrait. Another black and white portrait is the series of singer Carol Kidd by celebrated Magnum photographer Eve Arnold. These are silver gelatine prints taken in 1987.
On image I found very interesting was, Mill of Menie Mike and Shiela Forbes, by Alicia Bruce in 2010. In this postmodern work Bruce collaborated with the residents of Menie, a small community in Aberdeenshire. The area was the focus of extensive press coverage following the threat of compulsory purchase orders on several homes as part of Trump International's planned golf course and housing development. In Bruce's portraits she approached them from an art historical point of view, with the residents restaging compositions from famous paintings in much the same way that Cindy Sherman restaged her Untitled Film Stills. This image shows the couple reenacting Grant Wood's critical and influential 1930 painting American Gothic. Bruce portrays the couple as defiant subjects ready to fight for their land.
There is also a portrait by Jitka Hanzlova: Untitled from the series There is Something I Don't Know (2007-13). In 1982 Hanzlova defected from the communist regime in Czechoslovacia and settled in Essen, West Germany. Since then she has explored her experiences through photography producing a thought-provoking body of work some of which featured in an earlier solo exhibition, which I enjoyed.
Another moving portrait was of Louise Page, and Edinburgh resident and charity worker who died of bone cancer in 2013. The heart-rending image of her bu Rankin portrays her in tears with mascara running down her face, presenting her as both defiant and distraught in the face of death. The picture is part of a project inspired by Susan Sontag who wrote 'To take a photograph is to participate in another person's mortality. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to timeless, relentless, relentless melt.'
One final image that struck me was the 1964 image by Joseph McKenzie Horse and Cart, Gorbals. This reminded me very much of Alfred Stieglitz's horse bus images Winter on Fifth Avenue.
As always the National Portrait Gallery has produced a fascinating exhibition, which I enjoyed very much.
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