Art worth seeing
14 January 2025
Despite tough times for the arts and uncertain funding, Scotland’s galleries are continuing to stage interesting and ambitious exhibitions. Susan Mansfield selects some of the must-see shows of 2025.
Subject Matter
All about the art?
8 November 2024
As the Turner Prize turns 40, some critics are suggesting it has run its course. Susan Mansfield visits this year’s show to gauge the health of the UK’s biggest art prize.
The invisible magic of design
13 September 2024
As Scotland’s national design festival gets underway in Dundee, Susan Mansfield explores how we became a design-conscious nation.
The Best of the Fests
30 July 2024
With the world’s largest arts festival happening in Edinburgh in August, the only question is where to start. Veteran festival critic Susan Mansfield selects highlights for Artmag readers from across the Festivals.
A window on the world
11 July 2024
If you missed Glasgow International, don’t worry – many of the headline exhibitions are still running. Susan Mansfield reflects on Scotland’s contemporary art biennial
The Outsiders’ Biennale
11 July 2024
There’s no Scottish exhibition at this year’s Venice Biennale, but there is a radical attempt to reverse the notion of outsiders and insiders in the art world. Susan Mansfield reports.
A Colourful Drama
24 June 2024
Writer, screenwriter and Artmag contributor Malcolm McGonigle watched the excitement build in the room at Lyon & Turnbull’s Scottish Paintings & Sculpture auction in Edinburgh.
All Things New
11 June 2024
As another new generation of artists bursts out into the world, Susan Mansfield picks some of the art highlights from the Scottish degree shows.
The New Philanthropists
13 May 2024
As public funding for the Arts hits the doldrums, Susan Mansfield meets some of the individuals and organisations who not only collect art but choose to support artists to do what they do best.
Many Happy Returns
12 April 2024
2024 is a bumper year for anniversaries. Susan Mansfield invites galleries and art organisations celebrating significant milestones to pause for a moment’s reflection.
A Celebration of Craft
19 March 2024
As Scotland’s makers take their work to the UK’s international showcase of craft, Susan Mansfield visits London to take the temperature at Collect 2024.
All in the mind
6 October 2023
The links between creativity and mental wellbeing are long established, but complex. Some of the participants in this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival talked to Susan Mansfield about what making art means for them
Back in the frame
1 September 2023
Markéta Luskačová, whose extraordinary work is currently on show in Edinburgh, is just one of a number of pioneering women photographers who are at last being recognised for their achievements. Susan Mansfield finds out more.
New directions
11 August 2023
Director of Edinburgh Art Festival Kim McAleese spoke to Susan Mansfield about the changes she has made, and how she hopes to make the Festival stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Changing the tune
4 August 2023
Nicola Benedetti’s first programme for the Edinburgh International Festival reveals a determination to make concerts more accessible, but she must be careful not to alienate the faithful.
Minding the gap
7 July 2023
While women now outnumber men by 2:1 in art schools, opportunities are far from equal in the art world. Susan Mansfield looks at two exhibitions addressing the gender gap.
A one-night wonder?
24 May 2023
As Dundee prepares to host the first ever Art Night to take place outside London, we ask if 24 hours in June can pave the way for a new way of experiencing contemporary art.
Lest we forget
5 April 2023
In a world which would rather forget the Covid-19 pandemic, artists are playing an important part in creating spaces to remember. Susan Mansfield spoke to three of them.
Tartan barmy
16 March 2023
Both adored and derided, tartan appears everywhere, from kitsch souvenirs to haute couture. As V&A Dundee prepares to showcase it in a large scale exhibition, Susan Mansfield looks at its enduring appeal to artists and designers.
Art AND Craft
9 February 2023
Susan Mansfield explores how the boundaries between craft and art are becoming blurred.
Heads up!
16 January 2023
Who are the names to watch out for in 2023? Susan Mansfield spoke to artists, curators and makers we are likely to hear more about in the coming months.
On the Road Again
10 December 2022
After two years of disruption, actors, singers, dancers and musicians are happy to be back on tour – most of the time! Susan Mansfield heard about the highs and lows of life on the road.
Eyes on the Prize
30 November 2022
The 2022 Turner Prize exhibition has been unveiled at Tate Liverpool. But is Britain’s most famous art prize losing its shine? Susan Mansfield put the question to Tate director and chair of the Turner jury, Alex Farquharson.
The Art of the Extraordinary
14 October 2022
As ‘outsider art’ goes on permanent display for the first time in one of Scotland’s top museums, it poses important questions about who faces barriers to the art world today. Susan Mansfield finds out more.
