My first and only face to face encounter with Roger Ackling (1947 – 2014) was in 2010 when he showed up as the external examiner for the degree work. Acking’s unassuming demeanour was evident and likewise in his work I found inspirational. I found somehting deeply spiritual and sublime in Ackling’s work where his attention to the sun and the found object are treated with equal respect and sensitivity. He takes on this process in his life’s work. It is not a mere signature that he cultivates but an explorative and meditative journey that rejoices in a process that links and corresponds and the artist becomes the inbetween entity in this conversation between drawing source and surface.

I have observed Maxine’s practice from afar and was instantly drawn to her aluminium blind series that takes after a minimalist approach and dare I say, also gives the nod to constructivism. I respect the artist’s sensibility in a work process corresponding with the concept and the material to inform its aesthetic. Perhaps the context in which I have seen this artwork also carries the constructivist ideals—in a new form of a war on an overlooked side of the art world, which is also troublesome for me. 


With this work I was arrested—the only hanging piece against the framework of her exhibition Before the work, there’s ‘I’. The exhibition tugged at my roots and I was left questioning my embodied knowledge up to that point. Artist Susan Hiller explains that our embodied knowledge is neither simply theoretical nor equivalent to visual experience. It might conflict with both. She adds that art can be a way to access this knowledge, which differs for all of us. Being an artist is not to be catapulted stratospherically detached from reality, but deeply rooted in presence and existence. At least that is important to me both as an artist and primarily as an individual. The following reflections I reiterate to myself so I do not become complacent but try to stay true to my work. 


My arrest was exactly what I had to reconsider. 


Amidst the text that many couldn’t even reach its immediacy let alone go beyond it, I felt hope blossom (contrary to a particular viewer who labeled the exhibition as hopeless). Interestingly, the artist disclosed that most people outside the art background found accessing the exhibition’s spirit easier than those whose jobs are deeply rooted in the arts. This impression took more substance when I was at the conclusive panel discussion. I felt awkward when some panel members missed the exhibition’s point and went into elaborate and tangential statements about their impressions and personal experiences of—how they make it in the art world—how the system is working for them—or how they are not part of the system, simply because they are not exhibiting—or how they were dying for a glass of wine instead of engaging. 


Through this work, in this collection, I find an opportunity to reconsider Roland Barthes’ 1967 essay theory of the ‘Death of the Author”, and how Before the Work There’s I, corresponds with that context. Speaking with the artist, I clarified that the consideration of using text as an art form is not alien to her and that she is drawn to genuine communication as much as she is repulsed by insubstantial prestige and faked depth that comes wiht certain art practices. It is arguable that some circles within the art world are in breach of the latter when they strive for to keep their agenda relevant and their feet on the pedestal. Am I part of the problem or the solution?


I am part of the art world. 


I have a responsibility. 


Where do I stand?

Thorunn and I exhibited together in Edinburgh in 2009 at Gladstone Gallery with a show entitled Surtr N Ogygia. At that time, my practice was starting to shift from 2D-3D and I was about to distance myself from painting. However, my foundation in art through the language of paint has influenced my responses to the world around me. At that time both of us were looking at Islands - Thorunn has taken the icelandic island of Surtsey as her focus of study, while I was looking at rock formation around Gozo. Thorunn had an expressive, deliberate and sure mark which I was drawn to. We decided to exhchange a work each and this particular painting stood out because of the range of mark as well as economic execution. For me it stands on its own but it also reminds me of all the engergy of work coming togehter in that exhibition, when mark making was still very important to me.

Before his death in the summer of 2011, the artist Robert Callender and his wife Elizabeth Ogilvie discussed a retrospective of his work, in the form of a publication: A2B. Robert conceived of this not as a book, but more a selection of small pieces collected in a 'rummage-box' or treasure trove. Elizabeth began fundraising for the project in the autumn of 2011, with private subscribers immediately responding to the idea of A2B. The generosity of these first subscribers enabled early research, development and production of a mock-up of the publication: a box containing several individual publications and pull-out items. In 2013 the project was recognised with a significant award by Creative Scotland. This work was launced in June 2015. In 2012 I was the first recipient of the Robert Callender International Residency for Emerging Artists. Since then I worked closely with Elizabeth Ogilvie and Lateral Lab.

Currently working between Greece and the UK, David Cass is an artist and occasional curator. He has exhibited his multi-media artwork in a range of venues and festivals since graduating in 2010: including group showings at Christie’s, The Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, MAXXI Museum, Cop21, 26, & 27; and solo presentations at The Scottish Gallery, British Institute of Florence and Venice Biennale.  David and I have shared a studio at Edinburgh College of Art and curated our graduation space in 2010. Since then our friendship fuelled conversations, collaborations, and mutual support that have definitely influenced my work and enriched my outlook on art. David’s work ethic and sensibility towards the found object and conscientous approach toward contemporary art and the environemnt are inspirational and Collection Simon Paul prides itself to include these works by David.    

The art of Ian Hamilton Finlay is unusual for encompassing a variety of different media and discourses. Poetry, philosophy, history, gardening and landscape design are among the genres of expression through which his work moves, and his activities have assumed concrete form in cards, books, prints, inscribed stone or wood sculptures, room installations and fully realised garden environments.  


These works of Ian Hamilton Finlay are treasured by the collection as they were a gift from Elizabeth Ogilive and Robert Callender to the artist for work, connection, and friendship.