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Aberdeen Artists' Society 2010 Exhibition

A warm welcome to this the Society's 76th exhibition. Hopefully the exhibition will brighten the spirits after what has been a pretty horrendous winter. This year the images for the Catalogue and the exhibition publicity were photographed in the studio of Julie Wyness and many thanks to Julie for allowing her work to be used in the range of marketing items for the show. This includes street banners, 'Call for Work' posters, the official exhibition poster the catalogue, invite cards, adverts and other items. We hope you enjoy not only the exhibition but the complimentary publicity items also - indeed the whole package.

Julie is one of a number of artists working and exhibiting in the NE who have graduated fairly recently from art school and one of a growing group of 'mature graduates'. It takes courage and commitment to return to study - change career or move in new life directions and a collective congratulations to all in this category. Of course the next stage is being able to produce and exhibit work, including the necessary investigation, research and travel, along with also developing a degree of self publicity, - very necessary to ensure that the public actually are aware of what you are doing. (Please see our feature on women artists working in the NE in the back section of this Catalogue.)

This is where you, the visitor to the exhibition, comes in. It is exciting to see so many artists - both young and mature who produce work, exhibit and indeed attempt to exist on work produced and sold. So - why not consider purchasing work from the exhibition to establish or add to your own collection, or indeed collect work for your workplace. Another exciting venture is in commissioning work e.g. a portrait / personal study, suite of prints for the workplace or an item of jewellery. If you require assistance with this then please ask the exhibition custodian to point you in the right direction - we will be glad to assist.

Thanks to the expertise of David Henderson of Gray's School of Art for his curatorial role this year in presenting the show along with the Hanging Committee and, of course, the skills of the Art Gallery exhibitions staff in actually placing the work on the walls of this wonderful art gallery.

So what else is the AAS about - apart from organising this annual exhibition. The Society is involved in partnership and cooperation with: local print workshops; educational establishments; (in ensuring we get submissions to the show from all over Scotland); GHAT (Grampian Hospitals Art Trust) who receive assistance from the proceeds of the Catalogue sales for the purchase of artwork for hospital spaces; and, many other supporters/ partners - who have been involved in our Purchase Prize Awards over the years and in other support. Later this year the Society hopes to present an open print show in a local venue - details will be publicised when arrangements are finalised.

Of course on the topic of support and partnership - thanks again to our sponsor Shell U.K. Limited, who assist with the costs involved in publicity and catalogue production and who provide the Shell Awards totalling a fantastic £8,000 this year.

You may feel able to contribute in developing the work of the Society - details can be obtained from the custodian desk. The Society is managed by way of the AAS Council who meet monthly during the year and the Hanging and Selection Committees who ensure work is selected and presented appropriately in line with the Society's constitution.

Enjoy the exhibition and we would be delighted to receive your comments to assist us in planning future shows.

Andy Dewar, President, Aberdeen Artists Society.

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Aberdeen Artists' Society 2009 Exhibition - click heading for more info

Welcome to the society's 75th exhibition. The society was formed originally way back in 1827 but due to world events, political uncertainties (hope present financial follies don't halt the flow) and other factors, exhibitions have not been held on a continuous basis in this time. Let's celebrate our 75th anyway - we have another excellent exhibition this year to enthuse about and bring on the 100th.

Last year we featured the 25th year of support by Shell U.K. Limited, commemorated by an extended catalogue feature and other events. We are fortunate to continue our special partnership with Shell U.K. Limited. Recently our key link with the company for most of these 25 years, Margaretha Simpson has retired from the company. We wish her all the best - in, I am sure, her many new adventures. A big "Thank you" Margaretha.

The exhibition is well up to the excellent standard of the last few years - thanks again to the efforts of David Henderson, of Gray's School of Art and the Hanging Committee, who work with great pace and skill within an ever decreasing time frame.

The visual interest of the exhibition is of course supported by the catalogue and support banners, posters and publicity material. Following on from selected artist (Michael Waight) coupled with the design skills of Foyer Graphics, the council invited Allan Watson, Subject Leader in Sculpture at Gray's School of Art to allow access to his studio and work in progress for imagery to use in this year's promotional material, including the catalogue. Thanks to Allan and of course Stuart Johnstone, photographer, who shot the work in his usual skilled manner.

In viewing the exhibition I would ask that you invest some time in the appreciation of the exciting new expression on show - eg new media including digital imagery in printmaking, photography, video - new paint techniques and the ever fascinating world of jewellery and ceramics with its new materials and technology.

Due to concerns over membership of the society (with some of us in key roles but 'getting on a bit') and the belief by council that many people were unaware of eg "How to join the Society" and it's forms of membership, a small information leaflet is now available - you can pick one up from the reception / sales desk. Due to an earlier initiative, some months ago recent ex graduates of Gray's were informed of our need for new blood and indeed some 5-6 new council members have taken up duties and hopefully will help drive AAS on to continued success in future years.

We hope you enjoy this 75th exhibition, work is for sale, and probably in this time of limited investment opportunities - purchase of original artworks or short edition prints etc may not just be a personal pleasure for self or workplace but it may also be a sound investment! And remember, proceeds of catalogue sales continue to assist the purchase of works for GHAT.

The Society was saddened to hear of the passing of two members, Sylvia Wishart, eminent artist and lecturer from Shetland and Frances Jamieson, jeweller and ceramicist who's work graced the exhibition on many occasions. These two artists are noted in our 'In Memoriam' section within the catalogue.

Congratulations to Ian Mckenzie Smith, Honorary Member of AAS, a staunch supporter of the Society. Ian was awarded the CBE for services to the arts in Scotland having already an OBE, awarded in 1992 for services to art.

Andy Dewar, President, Aberdeen Artists Society.

Aberdeen Artists' Society 2008 Exhibition - click heading for more info

Welcome to the 74th Exhibition of the Aberdeen Artists Society. This year's exhibition is a particularly significant one as it marks 25 years partnership with Shell UK. There is a special feature section on this unique union in this catalogue. The Society is extremely indebted to Shell for their magnificent support during these 25 years with the unique Shell Awards and a mass of other support. Over this time, the awards (with their substantial value) have ensured that the exhibition has been successful by way of achieving a high level of submissions and of course the high calibre of work being submitted has also been a feature.

Shell support has also meant that the Society has been able to provide a level of publicity for the exhibition which would have been well 'outwith budget' for the Society itself with a quality catalogue, press ads, city wide banners and assistance in providing transport for artists submitting works via the Scottish art workshops.

The exhibition is an exciting one this year - thanks to the Hanging Committee which was led this year by David Henderson, of Gray's School of Art, following three years of curatorial input by Malcolm McCoig. A quality hang demands a wide range of intuitive design skills let alone considerable organisational and management skill in facing up to some 300 works, in four massive bare rooms with 4-5 members of a hanging committee, which have to be placed ready for the wall within two days.

Key aim in presenting the annual exhibition is to provide access to an exhibition, which is both visually stimulating and thought provoking, to the people of the NE of Scotland, and for visitors to Aberdeen. Over the years some 25-30,000 people generally visit the show in the four / five week period it is open to the public.

As always I would invite you to consider purchasing work from the exhibition - either for your home or workplace. Building your own art collection can be extremely rewarding and satisfying - with often the added incentive that original artwork generally increases in value over the years rather than the depreciation of most consumer goods.

In attempting to improve the quality of exhibition generally the Society has been delighted to use the imagery of Michael Waight, who produced several print montages for use in designing the publicity material for the show and of course the Catalogue which is in a new format for this special partnership celebration year. Thanks to Michael for his powerful imagery.

We hope you enjoy the show - if your work is in the exhibition, thanks for your submission. If your work was not selected this year, thanks also and please try again soon. If you are a visitor, we appreciate you calling in to view the exhibition.

proceeds from the Catalogue sales are donated to GHAT to assist the purchase of works for the collection in the buildings and spaces of NHS Grampian.

Andy Dewar, President, Aberdeen Artists Society.