ARCHIVEDKyra Clegg The first solo exhibition at the artspace by this Scottish artist following her research at Perth and Kinross Council Archives Guest-curated by Kirsty Duncan

3 Apr – 10 Aug 2010 FREE exhibition guide

How do we remember? Is there a difference between our personal and our collective memories and what role do archives play in the stories we tell each other about our lives? As an artist in residence at Perth and Kinross Council Archives these were some of the questions that intrigued me. An archive is a place where people search for answers but I found a place full of questions – a hall of mirrors where an infinite number of pasts are reflected into our present. Kyra Clegg Perth and Kinross Council’s Archive collections in Perth’s AK Bell Llibrary date from the 12th to the 21st Centuries with documents ranging from medieval parchment to electronic files. Using these records Kyra Clegg shines a light on unusual aspects of Perth’s history involving themes of identity and memory. The artist reveals a past seldom found in history books within her new video, print and mixed media works. Archival documents which inspired the artist include early photographic records of petty criminals from the 19th Century who emerge from the gloom in a series of ‘identity boxes’ entitled Timelocks. Including ‘the notorious hen thief’ these prisoners were jailed for what today we would call ‘minor misdemeanours’. Appropriating the format of the Victorian portrait lockets, Clegg challenges our ideas of early portraiture reminding us how facial types were categorised at that time. The irony is that without their troubled histories these faces would have been lost to us forever.

Kyra Clegg (lives and works in Newburgh) graduated in Sculpture from Exeter College of Art and Design in 1983 and has since pursued her international practice through mixed media installations, photography and video. Her recent solo exhibitions include Hides and Habitats at Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland and Richard Attenborough Centre, Leicester. Related to the theme of habitation this solo show explored the visual poetics involved in our sense of place. Clegg has also taken part in Claylines – a Scotland’s Year of the Artist Residency based at Errol Brickworks (with Jane Kelly); Natural Elements, an Art for Europe exhibition at Scotland House, Brussels and A Visual Conversation as part of Qi Baishi International Cultural Festival, Hunan, China. She is a committee member on Perthshire Visual Arts Forum. Archived is the artist’s first solo exhibition at Threshold artspace, Perth.

Related events and resourcesFollow us on: Facebook | YouTube | Flickr | e-artnow | e-flux | artrabbit | ambit | artfacts | Artforum | issuu Book an exhibition tour with Iliyana Nedkova: By e-mailing inedkova@horsecross.co.uk well in advance Enjoy a brunch preview with the artist: 3 Apr 2010, 11am-2pm, free but RSVP: inedkova@horsecross.co.uk as space is limited View exclusively online: Extracts from an Archive (2010) by Kyra Clegg: www.youtube.com/Thresholdartspace Experience a related show by the artist: 26 Mar – 15 Jul 10 | AK Bell Library, York Place, Perth, PH2 8EPDownload all Read More back issues for free: Horsecross Arts journal for critical writing and in-depth analysis of contemporary artInvest into artist limited editions: As part of Collect + Support: Horsecross Arts exclusive limited editions by contemporary artists

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Threshold artspace | Horsecross Arts

Perth Concert Hall | Mill Street | Perth | PH1 5HZ Perth Theatre | 185 High Street | Perth | PH1 5UW | UK0044 (0) 1738 621 031 | info@horsecross.co.uk | www.horsecross.co.uk/about/threshold-artspace/

Open Mon to Sat | 10am-5pm or late on performance eveningsadmission free

Threshold artspaceBold contemporary art by Scottish and international artists in Perth since 2005

transcribed transformed transported (2009) | mixed media boxes > Showing at Box Office AreaDocuments in archival collections can be interpreted from a variety of viewpoints giving them a fluid, transformative quality until fixed by a particular line of enquiry. In this work archival frag-ments have been transformed into butterfly specimens - collected and pinned down in boxes.

reCollections (2009) | mixed media > Showing both at Bar Stools Area The past is a reflection of now. Memory holds our lives together.

data protected (2009) | inkjet on cotton handkerchief > Showing at Wall Area Opposite the Screen Images from the police conviction records of the mid 19th century for a period of a few years showed not only the prisoner’s faces but also their hands.

reCollections (2009) | artist’s video | 5min 30sec showing on a loop > Showing at Screen Wall AreaA series of images from the Perth and Kinross Council Archives.

traces of days (2009) | mixed media boxes

> Showing at Top of Stairs leading to Mezzanine LevelA series of diaries in the Archives recounts the day to day activities of a young girl. She continued to write these daily accounts into adulthood. The collection, three boxes full eventually spanned a period of more than fifty years. Diaries leave an after-image - a trace of one person’s personal life and history.

timelocks (2009) | mixed media boxes> Showing at the Walls on Mezzanine Level Using copies of photographic police records of minor convictions from the mid 1800s this series of works challenges our perception of early portraiture. We are familiar with the images contained in Victorian lockets and the desire of the sitters to be remembered but these likenesses were taken for very different reasons. Caught by a trick of the light they are unwilling captives to the future and yet their faces also ask us to ‘forget me not’.

who do we think we are? (2009) | mixed media prints> Showing at the Walls in the Mirrorball Area Archives are not just storehouses. What is considered important to preserve in them is influen-tial in creating a sense of our collective identity.

Portuguese Waves: Joana Bastos | Mauro Cerqueira | Susana Mendes Silva at Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall Perth and Kinross Today: 100 works by 31 Scottish artists at Threshold artspace, Perth Concert HallExclusively online: works by António Olaio | Vuk Cosic | Julita Wojcik | Alec Finlay and Susan Collins at Threshold artspace website

ARCHIVED | Kyra Clegg Guest-curated by Kirsty Duncan. Produced by the artist, guest-curator and Horsecross Arts for Threshold artspace. Artist’s residency initiated by Perth and Kinross Council Cultural Services. Funded by Perth and Kinross Council.

Also on view as part of Collect + Support: Horsecross Arts exclusive limited editons by contemporary artists> Showing at the walls above sofa at Box Office Area

Glenlandia. The Four Seasons (2006): 26 May 2006, 05:18 | 6 July 2006, 18:342 Nov 2005, 17:58 | 31 Dec 2005, 23:02

Susan Collins Born 1964 in London where she lives and works

£150 each or £500 for a portfolio of 4 unframed artworksA set of 4 inkjet prints on archival matte paper | Limited edition: 20 + 2 Artist’s Proofs each. Prices exclusive of VAT and delivery charges.

Acres Wild Triptych (2009): Sound of Raasay (2008) | Drumadoon (2008) Glow, Western Ross (2007)

Marek Styczen Born 1976 in Elblag, Poland. Lives and works in Perth

£100 each or £200 for a portfolio of 3 artworks | A set of 3 inkjet prints on archival double weight paper mounted on aluminium Limited edition: 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs each. Prices exclusive of VAT and delivery charges.

Pick up your free collector’s guide from the wall pocket beside the artworks in the artspace or download it from the artspace website.

For sales inquiries please contact Iliyana Nedkova, Creative Director (Contemporary Art) at inedkova@horsecross.co.uk

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