Work by UHI artists from Highlands and Moray will be on show at prestigious Society of Scottish Artists Edinburgh exhibition
Artists from UHI Inverness and UHI Moray will have their work on display at a renowned Scotland-wide annual exhibition.
Arts teacher Frank To and one of his students, Amy Storey, are among the artists selected by the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) for their annual exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, which opens to the public until Wednesday 11 December 2024.
More than 200 works have been selected from more than 2000 entries for the showcase, including painting, sculpture, installations, video and performance.
Inverness award-winning artist and SSA co-president, Frank To, said: "The SSA has been in existence since the late nineteenth century and has constantly grown strength to strength to the point at which it is now one of the largest and oldest artist-led societies in Scotland.
“With a membership of more than 1500 members, this is testimony to its importance as well as its continuing success in showcasing the best of Scottish contemporary art.
"We are delighted to be have our annual exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy once again; a tradition which is an exhibition highlight in the Scottish art scene’s calendar."
This year's SSA exhibition includes work from 12 recent graduates selected from Scotland’s five university art schools earlier this year. Artworks by recipients of various SSA awards and international partnerships also feature.
Among them is former Fortrose Academy pupil Amy Storey is one of the winners of the prestigious SSA New Graduate Award is showing her mixed media pieces which encompasses paintings, fabrics and embroidery, as well as photographs. Her work highlights the connection between arts and memories.
Since it was founded in 1891, the SSA has had a proud history of promoting contemporary artists at all stages of their career. The Society's first show in 1892 exhibited work by Rodin, Raeburn and Rembrandt, alongside paintings by established Scottish artists such as Joseph Farquharson and Noel Paton.
Picasso, Munch and Paul Klee were three internationally known artists whose work was exhibited in the following decades, demonstrating the organisation's pioneering approach to bringing the latest developments in contemporary art to Scotland.
Also selected for the exhibition is a delicate and accomplished portrait in oil by the youngest artist to exhibit, 17-year-old Ruby Mitcham, of her Gordonstoun best friend and room-mate, Iona. This rising art star is currently on an art scholarship to the world-renowned secondary school in Moray in the north-east of Scotland. Earlier this year, Ruby was shortlisted for the Scottish Portrait Awards and nominated in the Young Fine Artist category.
