To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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When less is actually more
ANGUS REID discovers a choice exhibition of Alexander Zyw work - a Pole who adopted Edinburgh in the aftermath of WWII
(L to R) In Depth, 1948-9; The Dance c1948
[The Scottish Gallery]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Alexander Zyw,
Before & After, work from 1934–1951
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
THE most worthy of attention show in lockdown Edinburgh is also the most modest. A dozen paintings in a small room at the Scottish Gallery amount to an account of the impact of WWII on the soul, the mind and the canvas of a great modernist you have probably never heard of.
The artist is Alexander Zyw (1905–1995), who trained in pre-war Poland and who, by a series of accidents, lived in Edinburgh from 1941 – 1970.
He resided in France when Nazi Germany attacked, fought as machine gunner with Polish units. After defeat he escaped via Spain and then wangled the position of war artist with a Polish 1st armoured division based in Scotland.
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