Summertime in the art world means one thing: the annual degree shows, in which final-year art students aim to create their best work.
Glasgow School of Art is one of the last to open its doors to the public – only Grays in Aberdeen is later – but with a list of famous alumni from Joan Eardley to Christine Borland, Simon Starling to Alison Watt, there are no shortage of spectators keen to spot the cream of the next generation of artists.
The finished work is still under wraps as adjudicators decide each student's degree class in a show split into four sections – Architecture, Fine Art, Design and the postgraduate Master of Fine Art – across three campuses.
For students it's a nerve-wracking time, but one of immense relief. A random pick through the current crop throws up Steven Grainger, who only applied to GSA when he realised he didn't want the place he'd been offered at the then RSAMD to study Violin Performance. A former art teacher advised him to apply to the Environmental Art department of GSA. "She said it would suit the way I do things. And it has," he says. "It's pretty hands-off, but I never liked being told what to do."
Grainger's show includes materials that are a mix of the found – including an old shipping palette – the traditional and "stuff I got in B&Q". He has four works in the show, three sculptures and one spoken text. "I couldn't have done any of this without the fantastic help we've had from the technicians," he says, having only learned how to weld, now a key part of his practice, three months ago.
On more diminutive yet prolific scale, jewellery student Francesca Flynn – whose work is pictured above – has fielded over 30 works in her final degree show, her pieces exploring the facets of natural and constructed crystals.
Both Grainger and Flynn, like many of this year's graduates, sope to make it as practising artists; both are focused on getting their own studio, although Flynn, who, with her graduating jewellery peers, will exhibit next month at New Designers in London, is "open to whatever possibilities might arise".
"I'm figuring out how I can afford to keep making work," she says, adding that she plans to stay on in the city. "There's an amazing support network here in Glasgow; everyone is helping each other out. There's a real sense of enthusiasm that you can do it." That, perhaps, is one of Glasgow's greatest parting gifts.
Glasgow School of Art Degree Shows (0141 353 4500, www.gsa.ac.uk) run from June 9-16 (MFA, June 7-16). Fine Art/Architecture, Garnethill Campus, 167 Renfrew Street; Design, Skypark Campus, Finnieston Street; MFA, The Glue Factory, 15 Burns Street
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article