DEMARCO GALLERY CATALOGUE TO THE 1966 - 1976 10TH ANNIVERSARY ..

THE RICHARD DEMARCO GALLERY CATALOGUE TO THE 1966 - 1976 10TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION ....
Edinburgh: Demarco Gallery, 1976
21 x 21cm, 60pp plus card covers. An enthusiastic, if never self-critical, review of the first ten years of activities of the Demarco project. This catalogue as usual reproduces images of the gallery's publications in lieu of long-sold works (which would be more interesting) and the listings of circa 400 exhibitions and events over ten years reminds one that if you show EVERYTHING then there will be many easily forgettable things displayed/promoted without virtue but that also some moments of brilliance will be found. These are moments of brilliance which really shine: Abramovic's first shows/performances outside of the Iron Curtain, Beuys' celtic adventures and 12 hour lectures, some of Ian Hamilton Finlay's earliest shows, a very early Hamish Fulton outing, a Boltanski intervention which didn't really happen due to local Tory council opposition (complete and utter fools), early displays of the Austrian Aktionists, German pop art in the form of the more anti-capitalist Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke all appear herein en passant albeit with an irritating lack of detail: and looking closely one sees that 1973 was an annus mirabilis for Demarco where his influence came together at a time when Scotland had ignored most of the important contemporary movements in European art and Demarco brought that art to Edinburgh when no-one else was interested - and for that he should be thanked. The index of names on the inside back and front covers is a very useful device and this is a very useful little book for those interested in what happened when. Fine condition.