Two new exhibitions open at the Pier Arts Centre this weekend. Divine Imperfect, brings new and recent work by Christine Borland to the gallery while Portraits 1982-1997, highlights the work of the late photographer Gunnie Moberg.

Christine Borland is a Scottish artist who has gained an international reputation for her sculptural work and gallery installations. Divine Imperfect features new works that have been specially created for display at the Pier Arts Centre, including an interpretation of Oval Sculpture a work by Barbara Hepworth from the Centre’s permanent collection.

Christine Borland commented, ”I have been fascinated by the Hepworth Oval since my first visit to the Pier Arts Centre, 15 years ago. The mystery of the interior space is something I have wanted to explore since then. I am delighted that a new piece which makes the sculpture’s negative interior into a positive space, sits at the centre of the exhibition, ‘Divine Imperfect’, which combines work which has both a local reference and an international significance, like the Hepworth and a very special new series of pots made with the help of potter Andrew Appleby, from Skara Brae clay.”

The artist’s work bridges the fields of art and science, often embracing current technological advances in science and medical research in its creation. Divine Imperfect develops the artist’s interest in the human body and in reinterpretations of the female form, from a Neolithic Venus to a contemporary medical simulation manikin.

As part of the exhibition, Christine Borland will be installing a large-scale new work entitled ‘Grey Room’. The work has been created in response to a site visit to MYB Lace Factory in Ayrshire; the last factory in the world producing lace using machinery which has remained unchanged since the 19th Century. Part of the manufacturing process includes a ‘grey room’ where a team of women spend time marking, then darning by hand, the small flaws in the lace, made by the machinery.

The gallery installation includes long lengths of specially commissioned lace cloth from the MYB Lace Factory that has been woven to include a built-in flaw in the weave, which requires to be mended. The mend will become part of the pattern creating a unique collaborative fabric.

The mending process will proceed live during the period of the exhibition and members of the public are being invited to take part.

Carol Dunbar, Education Officer at the Pier Arts Centre said, “This is a great opportunity for people to have a hand in forming a new work by Christine in the gallery. The scale of the work along with the intricate nature of its design will provide a challenging but enjoyable experience for anyone interested in textiles and installation art. We are delighted to be able to bring this and other new work by Christine Borland to audiences in Orkney.”

If you are interested in participating in ‘Grey Room’ during the exhibition please contact the gallery on 01856 850209 or by email carol.dunbar@pierartscentre.com

Christine Borland will lead an informal tour of the exhibition on Saturday 23 June at 4.00pm – all are welcome, admission is free.

The gallery is also to display a specially selected exhibition of portraits from the photographic archive of Gunnie Moberg (1941-2007) over the summer. The portraits span some fifteen years 1982-1997 and record the writers and artists who have visited Orkney during that time, often for the annual St Magnus International Festival.

Since the first Festival in 1977, Gunnie regularly photographed the many international, national and local musicians, artists, and poets gathered to perform at the five day midsummer festival founded by Sir Peter Maxwell Davis and George Mackay Brown.

Carol Dunbar added, “This exhibition of a small selection of Gunnie’s portraits will provide an evocative reminder of the extraordinary rapport that the artist developed with the many world class performers, poets and artists that made their way to Orkney. Over the years many picture editors said to her ‘You must travel a lot to have such a big library of famous artists.’ ‘No,’ she said ‘they all come to me!’”.

Both exhibitions run until Saturday 18 August.

Source: Pier Arts Centre