Jenny Brownrigg

@jennybrownrigg.bsky.social

Curator and writer living in Glasgow, Scotland. Exhibitions Director at The Glasgow School of Art. Board member Glasgow Sculpture Studios and Pier Arts Centre. On GSA UCU committee. she/her www.jennybrownrigg.com

Very glad to have seen Joanne Coates exhibition ‘Red Herring’ at Timespan in Helmsdale, Scotland, the result of a 6 month residency. The work focuses on the migrant female workforce in the herring fishing industry from 18th-20th centuries, linking back to Helmsdale, with its ties to the industry.

Three women wearing long aprons pose for a formal photograph. All have their hair pulled back tight. ‘Three women herring gutters July 1884’, Wick Society, Johnston Photographic Collection.This is a portrait of a woman worker in the herring industry. She smiles but her mouth holds a wire she is pulling as she tightens a bandage on her fingers. ‘Portrait of a woman with bandaged fingers’, courtesy Waterlines Lybster This wall construction is at the heart of the exhibition at Timespan. It is freestanding, with wooden frame visible. It has been covered on the outer side in a thick red plastic. Archival photographs and images are pinned to the interior surface of the frameworkThis is a black and white photograph by Joanne Coates of a figure in a dark dress making her way through the landscape. It is a close up, with the composition cutting off the head, to show the figure in movement. ‘Trajicere’, 2024, Joanne Coates

After an excellent run at Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, exhibition moves onto The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney. This centenary of Bet Low’s work focuses on her time in both Glasgow and Orkney, and has been co-curated by GSA Exhibitions and the Pier.

This is an advert for the preview of ‘Bet Low: An Island on Your Doorstep’, showing one of Low’s paintings ‘In the Hoy Hills’. This oil painting depicts a gray mist coming down onto a series of hills- the darkest hill is in the foreground with the hills behind, in lighter shades of grey as they recede.

Aswell as researching women’s photography in Scotland I’ve been enjoying using a box brownie camera since 2020. With such a small viewfinder you never know what you will get until the prints come back. The camera is held at waist height to take the photograph.

The Parkhead Forge cinema in Glasgow is a really futuristic design. There is a large triangle above each door. Placed within this shape are smaller metal triangles which fit together in a pattern to form a large square. This black and white photograph looks up a channel made between two hulking rocks. Looking over a rocky foreground to the bay at Rackwick, Orkney. It’s a misty day but the striking steep headland forms the backdrop to this scene.This landscape shot is looking back over the land formation that surrounds the village of Sanna in Arnamurchan. There are small houses in the distance, that are surrounded by a ring system of small hills. To the right the white sand of Sanna Bay creeps into the grass.

As an introduction one of my research interests is 20th century women photographers in Scotland. In 2024 as part of Glasgow International with Craigmillar Now, I curated an exhibition of Sandra George’s (1957-2013) work. Sandra was a Black photographer, artist and community worker in Edinburgh.

This exhibition poster image is a photograph Sandra George took of a collage of self portrait photographs at different ages.

I was invited to speak at a research methods session at Liverpool John Moore University Art and Design yesterday. The Exhibition Research Lab had an excellent show ‘The Contactless Condition’ by Ofri Cnaani, ‘resurrecting a burnt-down museum in Brazil through its digital traces.

The exterior of the John Lennon Art and Design building on a sunny dayA wider shot of the John Lennon Art and Design building, with grass and two trees infront of it The introduction panel for the exhibition The Contactless Condition This photo depicts a collage of photographs that the artist places in front of them, of images of the displays in the museum they are depicting in the film