Love is in the air

LOVE is in fact an exhibition of twelve large-scale multi-media collages made between 1988 and 1991 by Steven Campbell, one of Glasgow’s most celebrated artists.

Campbell began the works on his return to Scotland in 1987 following a five-year period of living and working in New York. The collages represent a little known area of Campbell’s work practice which includes clay, plaster and papier mache sculpture, drawing, printmaking and textile design.

While Campbell’s paintings were often executed with terrific speed - a canvas, he claimed, could be completed in five days- these large scale, predominantly two-dimensional collages were each made over a period of weeks.

This is in part due to the laborious way in which the artist chose to work with material (hand painting and then adhering individual strands of string rather than painting once they were integrated into the collage).

A spokesman says of the exhibition; “Completed at the kitchen table amid the rhythms of family life, the resulting collages are testament to Campbell’s modest needs, his restless imagination and experimental nature but perhaps even more so to his sensitivity to the world around him.

“In these works we see a manifestation of the most powerful cornerstones of his life, his family, the natural world and his boundless imagination.”

The Tramway, Glasgow. Preview runs on January 19, 7-9pm.

Arresting appearance

JOAN As Police Woman is set to appear in Glasgow.

The performer, AKA Joan Wasser, has a new single out now, Tell Me, taken from her forthcoming album Damned Devotion (released February 2) which will be showcased on her new tour.

Wasser is acknowledged as a thrilling live performer and starkly honest lyricist. “My maxim is if it feels scary to say it, it’s the thing you must say.”

The new album, it’s claimed reveals a thoughtful lyricism married to her most accessible music to date.

Progressing backwards

TWO of the Seventies most progressive rock bands are set to appear in Scotland in the Spring.

Yes are appearing as part of the band’s 50th anniversary tour. As well as performing classic Yes hits, the band will also be returning to their glory days with sides one and four of their 1973 album Tales From Topographic Oceans.

This was their first album to top the UK charts.

Jethro Tull are also celebrating 50 years as a celebrated band and Ian Anderson and co will be appearing at eight shows in the UK. The concerts will feature a broad mix of material from the band’s diverse catalogue.

Their show will take in tracks from This Was, Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung, Thick As A Brick, and Too Old To Rock And Roll.

Yes: The Glasgow SEC Armadillo, March 16. Jethro Tull, the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, April 6.