Outset Scotland supported Lauren Printy Currie's residency at Glasgow Women's Library, culminating in an exhibition for the Travelling Gallery, 'Her body remembered a night-blooming cereus, sweated industry and salt (what came near)'.
Over the course of her two-month residency, Printy Currie immersed herself in the extraordinary resources of Glasgow Women's Library - not only its books and archives, but also its people - to create a body of work that investigates the rich language, voices, and inclusive space of this unique library.
The lending library in Glasgow Women’s Library consists entirely of donations from its users and supporters, and eschews the Dewey Decimal System. Printy Currie responded intuitively to this unusual system, transcribing by hand the titles of all the books visible on the shelves in the library, before recording a variety of voices reading sections of this text. In this way, she created a multifaceted found poem, as well as a form of audio tour of the library, which could be experienced outwith the space. The installation in the Travelling Gallery was interwoven with layered images of carefully selected objects from the library's archives, deepening Printy Currie's exploration of feminist self-organising, marginalised experiences, and the defining principles of a cultural archive.
The Travelling Gallery toured Her body remembered a night-blooming cereus, sweated industry and salt (what came near) from 17th August to 5th December 2017, reaching audiences across Scotland – from Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway to Stromness in Orkney.
Lauren Printy Currie (b. 1985) lives and works in Glasgow. She graduated with a BA (Hons) Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee in 2008. Recent exhibitions and events include: If by chance when we are walking, we happen to walk in step, part of 2HB Vol journal 21 launch, CCA, Glasgow (2017); Devices, individuals and events, Pig Rock Bothy, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2016); "My word," she would repeat, poetry readings in the grounds of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2016); bleus, Cove Park, Argyll and Bute (2015); Square Legs, Round Bowls, Stereo, Glasgow Film Festival (2015); Portraits, Still Life and Landscapes, Usher Gallery, Lincoln (2014-2016); mood is made / temperature is taken, Glasgow Sculpture Studios, part of GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland (2014); read the room / you've got to, SALTS, Basel (2014); Waking up a shape, The Woodside Press, Bristol (2014); Baldachini, Cleland Lane, Glasgow International Festival (2014).
Travelling Gallery was established in 1978 and continues to bring contemporary art to communities throughout Scotland. Its dual focus is to create highly engaging exhibitions and to provide a unique platform for arts education. Curated with the Travelling Gallery's diverse audience in mind, the exhibitions display innovative artistic practices, representative of the international art scene. Travelling Gallery is a 'not for profit' organisation, regularly funded by Creative Scotland and supported by the City of Edinburgh Council.
Glasgow Women’s Library is the only Accredited Museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements, with a lending library, archive collections and innovative programmes of public events & learning opportunities.
