From the Richard Demarco Archive

Founded:
Traverse Theatre (1963)
Richard Demarco Gallery (1966)
Demarco European Art Foundation (since early 1990s)

Events / exhibitions

1964

15 August – 5 September
Traverse Festival Exhibition of International Contemporary Art
Presented by the Traverse Art Gallery in the Bank of Scotland Offices, 97-99 George Street, Edinburgh.
Artists: Mark Boyle, Xavier Corbero, Olivier Herdies, William Featherson, Esther Gentle, Abraham Rattner, Allen Leepa + text by Pierre Restany. Exhibition cat. Text by Douglas Hall (Curator of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.) (archive photo)

1968

18 August – 7 September
22 Canadian artists’ exhibition at ECA
Presented by RDG and Canada Council
Edinburgh International Festival
Incl. Michael Morris!

1969

1. 10 March – 4 April
‘Four Romanian Artist’ at RDG
Paul Neagu
Ion Bitzan
Peter Jacobi
Ritzi Jacobi

2. 22 August – 13 September
Six One-Man Shows: William Scott, William Crozier, Rory McEwen, James Howie, Paul Neagu, Yago Pericot
Edinburgh Festival
Photo: Acompanying to Neagu’s Palpable Art exhibition was his Palpable Art Manifesto! 4 pages (in the RD archive under Neagu)
Photo: Exhibition card showing Neagu’s temporary structure to be erected round the statue of Lord Melville, Edinburgh
Photo: Exhibition invitation


1970

1. 21 August – 12 September
‘New Directions’ exhibition at RDG


2. 23 August -12 September
Edinburgh International Festival
3 exhibitions by the RDG:
a, Strategy: Get Arts (Contemporary Art from Dusseldorf)
RDG at ECA, Lauriston Place
in association with Kunsthalle Dusseldorf
Organisers: Richard Demarco
Georg Jappe
Jurgen Harten
Jennifer Gough-Cooper
Karl Ruhrberg

35 artists living and working in Dusseldorf. Including: George Brecht, Joseph Beuys, Robert Filliou, Gerhard Richter, Daniel Spoerri, Dieter Rot, Klaus Rinke, Gunther Weseler, Henning Christiansen, Monika Baumgartl, Blinky Palermoetc.

The title of the exhibition: a palindrome by Andre Thomkins.
Initiative: by RD after his visit to West Germany. 27 January – 7 February: Demarco’s tour of West German Arts Centre’s. Daily report: 28th February: called Beuys. Agreed on Beuys taking part in Dusseldorf in Edinburgh exhibition (later entitled Strategy: Get Arts). Later in a letter to the German Embassy he says Beuys will arrive on 6 may with Georg Jappe.

Documents / information sheets / press release: RD Archive (under publications)

The press release says: “The Richard Demarco Gallery considers that the Exhibitions it will be involved during the 1970 Festival … will help redefine the role of the artist in this new decade and re-define the very nature of Art Exhibitions” …. ” This will be the first major exhibition of Contemporary German Art in Britain since the war and no fewer than 20 artists will be invited over to help create the Exhibition which will make the installation an art-form in itself.”

Filliou’s letter to Jappe explaining his proposed work: working on the spot that he would leave behing as an intention to demonstrate what he called The Principle of Equivalence (Bier Fait, Mal Fait, Pas Fait). That Vocational Thing is a concept that within the Festival will combine performance, action, audience participation, spontaneous creation of work etc.

Filliou’s statement of the Vocational Thing, that was hung on the wall. (Maybe we could transcribe it?).

Photos from the Archive:
1. Photos of Robert Filliou’s work: The Vocational Game
2.Photo: catalogue page with George Brecht’s work
3. Photo: Press cuttings
4. Photo: Adran Henri with Gunther Weseler’s installation. Henri also wrote a review in the Scottish International magazine!
5. Photo: Blinky Palermo making his wall painting Blue/Yellow/White/Red ECA
Rainer Ruthenbeck
6. Photo: 26-30 August. Beuys Celtic (Kinloch Rannoch) Scottish Symphoni performance event with Henning Cristiansen (under Alistair Park)
7. Photos of the show under Klaus Rinke in the RD Archive

b, Sound in Space
ECA
A sound environment by Keith Critchlow and Alan Hacker
4 late-night performances between 25-29 August

c, Exhibition of seven artists (4 Scot, 3 Romanian)
RDG, 8 Melville Crescent, edinburgh
Rory McEwen, Patricia Douthwaite, Alistair Park, Michael Docherty, Paul Neagu, Horia Bernea, Ilie Pavel

1971
23 August – 11 September
‘Romanian Art Today’
RDG
Edinburgh International Festival
Artists: Paul Neagu, Vladimir Setran, Pavel Ilie, Ovidiu Maitec, Horia Bernea, Radu Dragomirescu (goog photos under Rado D’s name)
Performance by Neagu: ‘Horizontal rain’, Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh

1972
1. 26-30 May
Between Sculpture and Performance (Sculpture Events Take Over From Objects)
Alistair Park
Tom Marioni
Tony Hepburn

2. 3-28 July
Drawing workshop with Edinburgh arts Participants at Greyfriars Churchyard by Paul Neagu

4. 20 August – 9 September
‘Atelier ‘72’ (contemporary Polish art)
Zbigniew Warpechowski’s performance (in audience: Paul Neagu)

1973
1. August
‘Eight Yugoslavian Artist’ RDG
Marina Abramovic ‘Rythym 10’
Gergely Urkom
Rasa Todosijevic

2. 19 August -30 September
The Austrian Exhibition at RDG (19 August – 9 September) and at the ICA, London (12-30 September)
Edinburgh Arts 1973
23 artists incl: Ernst Schmidt Jr., Gunter Brus; Herman Nitsch; Peter Weibel
Arnulf Rainer, Gottfried Bechtold, Hans Hollein
27-29 August – Film Screenings event – Kurt Kren Peter Kubelka, Valie Export, Marc Adrian

3. August / September
Lowelies and Dowdies
Cricot 2 Performance
Forrest Hill Poorhouse
Edinburgh Arts 1973
Photo: Eduardo Paolozzi in the audience

1975
1. April
Paul Neagu: ‘Gradually Going Tornado’
Performance at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
With his Generative Art Group (founded in 1972) (+ participation of Anish Kapoor)
Also performed in Arnolfini in 1969
This performance was televised and broadcasted on 18 November 1974, as one of Grampian Television’s ‘Images’ series of television programmes (broadcasted between 21 October – 16 December 1974), devised and introduced by R Demarco. (photo in RD Archive under Neagu)
Transcript of RD’s introduction to ‘Images’ from 1974 is in the RD archive (under Neagu)

2. 26-27 July
‘To Callanish from Hagar Qim’ exhibition
Photo: Special Unit, Barlennie Prison, Glasgow
(Page from Edinburgh Arts 1975 catalogue)
Six inmates of the prison at the time: jimmy Boyle, Jimmy Lindsay, Larry Winters, Dave Mathers, Rab Wallace and J.C.Smith. Ed. David Bellman, publ.RDG

3. 29 September – 25 October
Aspects ’75 (Contemporary Yugoslav Art)
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
RDG in collaboration with the City Art Gallery, Zagreb
Exhibition toured: Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Leigh


1976
1. 12 July
Rigel Rolfe: The Table: Open Hand, Closed Fist
Performance
National College of Art and Design, Dublin
Edinburgh Arts 1976 (RD archive)
Photo: 11 July Neagu and Rolfe in R’s studio in Dublin
Photo: 6-24 September 1977, Rolfe and Neagu in an exhibition in Air Gallery, London (Edinburgh Arts Europe 1977 related project)

2. 4-24 December
A Journey from hagar Qim to the Ring of Brodgar (also referred to as Edinburgh Arts – Europe ’76)
Fruitmarket Gallery
Presented by RDG
Part: Nigel Rolfe: Mound Manas performance

1979
20 August-9 September
Awangarda Polska, 1910-1979
1. Exhibition presented by RDG and the Polish Ministry of Culture at 3 places: 179 Canongate (‘Ten Contemporary polish artist from the collection of Museum Sztuki, Lodz,’), The Fruitmarket gallery and at the RDG (Atelier ’72)
Edinburgh International Festival
2. September-October
S.I.Witkiewich (1885-1939) exhibition
Third Eye Centre
Part of Awangarda Polska
Jerzy Beres performance!

1980
1. 1 pm 29- 1 pm 30 March
Alastair MacLennan ‘To Walk A Stone’
24 hour performance at RDG Monteith House

2. 25 August – 6 September
‘Alernative Policies and the Work of The Free International University’ event
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh Arts 1980
1. Photos: Beuys lecture / event
2. Photos: Beuys making Art=Kapital /Jimmy Boyle Days blackboards !!!
3. Photo of Beuys and Boyle meeting in 1981, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh
4. Photo: 5 September - Press cutting from The Scottsman on Beuys’ hunger strike during the Jimmy Boyle Days against the transferral of Boyle from the Special Unit to a closed prison.
5. Photo: Petition and Press Statement by Beyus’

1984
3-14 August
Art and the Human Environment conference/event
Part of the programme for Demarcation ’84 for Edinburgh International Festival.
Jimmy Boyle was speaking

Other performances / events:

1970s and 1980s Cricot2 theatre (Kantor)
Paul Neagu 1972, Going Tornado performance at the Forrest Hill poorhouse in 1974 (well documented in the Archive); Action at Deeside, Aberdeenshire and at Roslin Glen, Calanais (Callanish) – 1975, 1976, 1978
Joseph Beuys – Twelve Hour Lecture 1973; Lecture at the ‘Oil Conference’ – 1974, = capital / Jimmy Boyle Days – 1980, Lecture event 1980
Tadeusz Kantor (Crocot 2) – The Water Hen 1972, Lovelies and Dowdies 1973 (Beuys’ was in it); 1973 lecture / workshop at Forrest Hill Poorhouse (archive Photos), 1976 The Dead Class
Paula Andreson – Clothes Event – 1973
Andrew Drummond – Event – 1975


Articles / Manifestos / letters / info

Paul Neagu-sculptor: Personal general report of observations regarding Edinburgh Arts 1977, London, September 1977. Talking about the necessity of ‘being together’, of meetings and journeys. (RD Archive under Neagu)

Letter from Marina Abramovic, 5 November, 1975 to Anne Goring (RDG assistant). She is talking about being in London. Thanks Anne to arranged her to meet Neagu. Says that the director of Garage Gallery invited her to do a performance in January, 1976. And that she got a letter from Jimmy Boyle.

9 May 1970 – Photo of Beuys, Seth Siegelaub, George Jappe and Peter Townsend (editor of Studio International) meeting in London (before Stategy Gets Arts)

21 February 1975. Press cutting from the TIMES Educational Suplement. Review by Emilio Coia on Neagu’s Generative Art Group Exhibition at the Compass Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland (RD Archive under Neagu). The group was formed in 1972.

28 October 1975 – Invitation letter from Paul Neagu’s Generative Art Gallery, office and studio, 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, London (invitation letter/mail art work to Richard Demarco in the RD archive under Neagu)

22 March – 10 April 1976 – Bits and Pieces, Exhibition of works by Joseph Beuys from the collection of Caroline Tisdall. Show at Paul Neagu’s Generative Art Gallery, London (photo of exhibition invitation card in the Demarco Archive, under Neagu). Neagu was part time lecturer at Hornsey College of Art.

22 September – 31 October 1976 – Emballages 1960-76. Tadeusz Kantor exhibition in Whitechapel Gallery, London (director then: Nicolas Serota) Photo: RD archive under Serota

August 1977
A week long International Programme of Performance Art curated by Caroline Tisdall and Timothy Emlyn Jones for the Free International University
Wrexham, Wales
Artists: Joseph Beuys, Mario and Marisa Merz, Jannis kounellis, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Nigel Rolfe, Tine Keane and Timoth Emlyn Jones
Photo: under Rolfe in the Archive

This event is archived in the What’s Welsh for Performance Archive as: How the Past Perishes – How the Future Becomes/ Fel y darfu’r gorffennol - fel y del y dyfodol, 1-6 August 1977, Wrexham: National Eisteddfod field. Also mentions other artists: John Latham, Brian O’Doherty