Pop Life

The third leg of a touring exhibition of Contemporary Drawing that was also shown in Laholm and Amsterdam




Sandra Vásquez De La Horra		David Shrigley Untitled 2024 Acrylic, pencil and ink on paper 76 x 56 cm
El HorizonteE Es Toda Mi Referencia 2028 Graphite and gouache on paper in wax 50 x 56 x 20 cm	Los Trucos del Mago 2007 Graphite and gouache on paper in wax 70,5 x 49,7 cm

Marcel van Eeden Untitled 2022 Compressed charcoal on canvas 120 x 166 cm		Andrew Cranston And in the end 2024 ink on paper 13.4 x 18 cm

Charlotte Schleiffert		Laura Bruce Goodbye Is Half The Words You Know 2008-2012 Graphite on paper and sound installation 100 x 70 cm
Shout to be heard 2011 mixed techniques on paper 238 x151cm	Reindeer 2015 mixed techniques on paper 238 x151cm

Marc Brandenburg Untitled 2024 graphite on paper 5 x (22 x 658,30 cm)		Paul McDevitt Drinking Monster on the Way to Work 2024 Wallpaint 280 x 450 cm Notes To Self 2012 - 2021 Ink, acrylic on paper 30 x 21 cm

Jamie Fitzpatrick Red in sweet Tooth and sweet Boots 1, 4, 3 2022 Bronze, acrylic, oil and crayon on paper 150 x 106 cm Petrified Adoration (Pre Rubble) 2024 Acrylic Modified Stone & Rubber 180 x 80 x 60 cm		Fiona Michie The Boat House 2024 Charcoal on paper 110 x 63 cm

Euan Gray Dancers (Moulin Rouge) 2021-2024 Coloured pencil on paper 51 x 64 cm		Witte Wartena Can You Hear Me? 2020 Watercolour and pencil on paper 30 x 40 cm

For original Norwegian article click here The human figure in drama, humor and suspense Marc Brandenburg, Untitled, 2024, graphite on paper. POP LIFE, City Art Centre, 2 November 2024 – 9 March 2025. Photo: Greg Macvean
The group exhibition POP LIFE offers different perspectives on popular culture. In an exhibition that draws inspiration from politics, music, film, fairy tales and queer subcultures, the human figure is at the center.

	ISAK FROSTERØD

EDINBURGH City Art Center POP LIFE Artists in the exhibition: Marc Brandenburg, Laura Bruce, Andrew Cranston, Marcel van Eeden, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Euan Gray, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Paul McDevitt, Fiona Michie, Charlotte Schleiffert, David Shrigley, Donald Urquhart and Witte Wartena. Curated by Euan Gray and Witte Wartena The exhibition runs until March 9, 2025 Use of other materials Although the current exhibition explores the human body through drawing, some of the participating artists have added additional elements. Laura Bruce's portraits of country singers are accompanied by cover songs performed by her band, Dangerpony. The cover songs can be listened to via headphones. Marc Brandenburg's use of UV light immediately stands out from the rest of the exhibition. Brandenburg's work is placed in a separate room. The blue color engulfs the room and demands the audience's attention. The drawings in the room are dramatically illuminated in white contrast, creating a very poignant effect. Marc Brandenburg,Installation shot. POP LIFE, City Art Centre, 2 November 2024 – 9 March 2025. Photo: Greg Macvean Curiosity is already aroused outside the room. The blue, dark atmosphere draws you in, and a poster warns of explicit material, which increases the tension even more. Inside the room you are greeted by two panels with three drawings of a park. Not very explicit, nor adapted to the nightlife atmosphere that the UV light creates. On each of the end walls you discover what the warning was about: a drawing of a naked man lying on a sofa, and a scantily clad woman in a skull mask, sitting on a windowsill. The contrast between these figures and the park images is striking, but if you read the poster outside you discover that the park depicted is a popular meeting place for queers. Use of genre features Donald Urquhart also portrays parts of queer environments through his works. He draws on, among other things, the queer subcultures of the 1980s and the drag scene in London, of which he himself was a part. The work Cooking with gas depicts a playful, stylized figure of the iconic performance artist Leigh Bowery in a flamboyant costume. Donald Urquhart, Leigh Bowery - Cooking with gas, 2012, ink and gouache on paper. POP LIFE, City Art Centre, 2 November 2024 – 9 March 2025. Photo: Greg Macvean The work of Scottish artist Fiona Michie is also eye-catching. The large, detailed drawings are reminiscent of dark and mysterious scenes from the horror film genre. Inverleith depicts a woman standing in a pond, with water up to her shoulders. The woman stands with her back to the viewer and looks up towards a house in the distance. The unknown and disturbing characterises the picture. The similarity between Inverleith and Theodor Kittelsen's Nøkken (The Water Sprite) affects my experience of the work. Michie's works are often inspired by the supernatural, and Inverleith is particularly inspired by the gothic, psychological horror film The Innocents from 1961. Fiona Michie, Inverleith, 2011, Charcoal on paper. POP LIFE, City Art Centre, 2 November 2024 – 9 March 2025. Photo: Greg Macvean The participating artists' very different perspectives on queer environments, interspersed with humour, mystery and drama, fascinate. In the POP LIFE exhibition at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh, it is primarily the wealth of variation, and not just the individual expressions, that excites. This review is part of Kunstavisen's project: Kunst og unge stemmer (Art and young voices). The project is supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. FACTS ^___ POP LIFE is a touring exhibition that has previously been shown in Sweden (2022–23) and the Netherlands (2023). It is a collaborative curation between artists Euan Gray and Witte Wartena, and has been adapted from previous versions to include Scottish artists: Marc Brandenburg, Laura Bruce, Andrew Cranston, Marcel van Eeden, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Euan Gray, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Paul McDevitt, Fiona Michie, Charlotte Schleiffert, David Shrigley, Donald Urquhart and Witte Wartena.