Over the summer I revisited an area of the Highlands I'd previously become familiar with whilst travelling to various places in Ross-shire and Caithness with my Father as a young art student engaged in summer work as his labourer.
One of those is Helmsdale, resonant in my mind as being close to the birthplace of Scottish author, Neil Gunn; the reading of his book "Highland River" as a teenager played a major role in shaping who I am and the way I see the world today.
Helmsdale is also home to Timespan, a revelatory arts venue which plays an important part in bringing contemporary arts to the region and also acts an an important repository for local history and contemporary responses to that history. A quick pop in for a coffee quickly turned to anticipation over a Joseph Beuys exhibition which they were showing as part of The Artists Rooms Scheme. Beuys and Gunn, what a combination...both perfectly set within the Flow Country.
Beuys, one of the giants of post-war European art and without doubt, an influence on my own artistic practice, had a particular affinity with Scotland's wild landscapes which is well documented elsewhere...I won't expand on that here. The quality of the work was high and for some viewers, difficult; this was no 'fob off' to the local populace, no 'they won't get it' stuff - commendable and courageous on the curator's part. There was a strange reverence and more importantly, implicit understanding of the work from the local custodian who opened the door to the gallery space for myself and my boys. Without doubt, one of the standout exhibitions I saw during the summer, even better for being stumbled upon. More about Joseph Beuys, mountain goats, oak trees, the Flow Country and synergies to come...