Books About Island Contemporary Art

Hulabhaig is looking for books about Island Contemporary Art. Can you recommend any?

An Leabhar Mòr / The Great Book of Gaelic
Malcolm Maclean & Theo Dorgan

The Gaelic language remains the most potent living link between Scotland and Ireland. Through An Leabhar Mòr/ The Great Book of Gaelic, the work of more than 200 poets, visual artists and calligraphers from both countries has been brought together to create a major contemporary artwork in the form of a visual anthology. The 100 Gaelic poems have been nominated by leading poets and writers such as Seumas Heaney, Hamish Henderson and Alistair Macleod as well as the contributing poets themselves. The selection features work from almost every century from the 6th to the 21st and includes the earliest Gaelic poetry in existence. Comedy, tragedy, love, death, the spiritual and the bawdy are all represented in poems by Sorley MacLean, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Iain Crichton Smith, Michael Davitt, Kevin MacNeill and Cathal Ó Searcaigh. The 100 visual artists – 50 from each country – were commissioned to respond to the poetry in a variety of media.

The resulting book renews the connection between Gaelic Scotland and Ireland and is an extraordinary celebration in words and pictures of the diverse strands of contemporary Celtic culture from the earliest times to the present day.

Available from www.gaelicbooks.com

Rethinking Highland Art
Murdo MacDonald, Lesley Lindsay, Lorna J. Waite, Meg Bateman

Work by Gaelic-speaking artists and artists responding to the culture of the Gàidhealtachd an important part of the art of Scotland..

This book has its origin in a research collaboration between the Visual Research Centre, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (University of Dundee) and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (University of the Highlands and Islands) which led to a major exhibition, Uinneag dhan Àird an Iar: Ath-Lorg Ealain na Gàidhealtachd / Window to the West: The Rediscovery of Highland Art, held at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh in the winter months of 2010-11.

Available from  www.gaelicbooks.com

The Isle of Rust
Alex Boyd and Jonathan Meades

Here, at the north-westernmost periphery of Europe is what feels like a presage of the future, the distant future, the furthest future, after which there’ll be no future at all. This is the Isle of Rust – known, too, as Lewis and Harris. It is a blueprint, a working model of the day which will have no tomorrow. Jonathan Meades

Isle of Rust not only refers to the countless corroding tractors, weaving sheds and other visible signs of human settlement but also to the colours of the land: the reds of deergrass and the purple moor grass which make up so much of the moorland. It is a place of great contrast in both light and land, from the largely flat peatlands of Lewis, where the majority of islanders make their home, to the mountains of Harris. Alex Boyd

It’d be easy to mistake these landscapes for ruins. Rust is not ruin. There is in Meades-Boyd some kind of shared attention to the detritus of human life. They open their eyes to the humanity that inheres in what outlasts people’s lives. Dan Hicks

Available from www.luath.co.uk

Street Lyrics
Images at our Feet
Stephan-Maria Aust, Heike Winter and Magz Macleod

Street art in the truest meaning – art that is lying on the street. Everything about this book is extraordinary.

Extraordinary photographic subjects, in an extraordinary combination with poetry, in German and in English and a further, extraordinary language – Scottish Gael

Available from www.gaelicbooks.org

Donald Smith
The paintings of an Islander

‘DONALD SMITH: The Paintings of An Islander, Dealbhan le Eileanach’ opens the door to the work of ‘Dòmhnall Safety’, the Lewis painter who captured the life and landscapes of his native island over the course of some fifty years.

Available from www.acairbooks.com

Journeyman
The Art of Steve Dillworth
Georgina Coburn

Georgina Coburn’s book Journeyman – The Art of Steve Dilworth is the first comprehensive investigation of the life and work of this important groundbreaking artist. Based on five years research and extensive interviews, the story of Dilworth and the evolution of his remarkable work is examined in detail, revealing one of the country’s most innovative and globally significant artists.

Since the 1970s, Steve Dilworth has been redefining art in his approach to making objects and handling of natural found materials. His extraordinary work crosses many boundaries in terms of how we think about sculpture, art objects, and our relationship with the natural world.

Dilworth’s work has featured in various publications, television programmes and films, including Robert Macfarlane’s book The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot and the documentary Is Mise an Teanga / I Am the Tongue directed by Murray Grigor. Recent exhibitions include a major solo retrospective, Mortal Remains at An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway, and Off the Rock at the Pangolin London Gallery.

Journeyman – The Art of Steve Dilworth contains over 100 illustrations in colour and black and white.

Available from www.francisboutle.co.uk

UNNAD Indigenous 
Calum Angus Mackay

Photography and Painting from the Hebrides

When I first heard that Calum Angus Mackay was about to open an exhibition of his work at An Lanntair in 2024, as a precursor to the release of this book, I was somewhat excited.

Some of his early photos were already on my wish list for the Hulabhaig Collection,.

My research for Cruinneachadh Hulabhaig has unearthed many questions about island art and indigenous artists, and now that I have a copy of his book, I’m beginning to get answers.

The book is an honest account of Calum Angus’s life as an artist and crofter growing up and living on the Isle of Lewis. Its ability to offer a family and community oriented view of place from a self-examination both realistic and unsentimental is refreshing.

I highly recommend it.

Available from www.acairbooks.com

As an Fhearann - From the Land: A Century of Images of the Scottish Highlands
Edited by Malcolm MacLean and Christopher Carrell

Available from www.abebooks.co.uk

The Spirit of the Hebrides
Word and images inspired by Sorley MacLean

The Spirit of the Hebrides combines the poetry of Kenneth Steven with the photography of Alastair Jackson and features images of Skye and Raasay in homage to one of Scotland's leading 20th century poets, Sorley McLean.

The Spirit of the Hebrides explores islands as places to be discovered; places which shy away from recognition, yet are in some way familiar.

Kenneth Steven's poetry reflects on the link between people and the land; how identity is shaped by wild places; the passing of many of the old ways of the Hebrides; the enduring beauty of these islands; the hospitality of their people and the depth of their spiritual awareness.

Alastair Jackson's photography captures the wilder and remoter parts of Skye and Raasay, often in bad weather, but showing a glimmer of sunshine and hope on the horizon.

His wide horizons and stormy sky offer a glimpse into both the turbulent past and the deep spirituality of the Hebrides. This book uniquely captures the spirit of the Hebrides.

Available from St Andrew Press

More books to follow...

Can you help add to the pile?

Andy Laffan

05/Jan/2025

A Place for Island Contemporary Art

Call to Artists and Writers: Opening a discourse on Island Contemporary Art.

Call to Artists and Writers

Your chance to submit articles about Contemporary Art from the Scottish Isles.

Although Cruinneachadh Hulabhaig is primarily about collecting, documenting and showcasing Island Contemporary Art, I would also like to open up this platform for critical engagement and in doing so, help find our place within the wider Contemporary Arts culture.

So I'd like to invite artists, curators, writers and anyone with an interest in Island Contemporary Art to offer articles for publication here on this site. 

Considered articles must focus on Island Contemporary Art and could include personal reviews of art exhibitions, commentary on island art practice, essays on the history of island art or subjects relating to visual art's impact of island culture etc. etc.

Where budget allows fees will be offered inline with the Scottish Artists Union 2024 Recommended Rates of Pay.

Please get in touch if you would be interested in submitting an article for consideration. andy@hulabhaig.com

Pelt (Jura) by Giles Perring.

Andy Laffan, Hulabhaig Curator

05/Nov/2024