The Scottish Gallery presents Victoria Crowe Decades

For Edinburgh Art Festival 2025, The Scottish Gallery presents Victoria Crowe Decades, celebrating the artist’s 80th year.

Article Source: The Scottish Gallery
Last Updated: 25 March 2025 11:45

This exhibition showcases a powerful collection of new works, that reflect over six decades of Crowe's dedicated artistic journey.

Decades invites viewers into a deeply personal world, where themes of life, nature, and memory intertwine with the landscapes, portraits, and experiences that have shaped the artist’s path.

Victoria Crowe's first solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery took place in 1970, and since then, she has worked in partnership with The Gallery for over five decades.

“As I approach my 80th birthday, I have created a new body of work that looks back to move forward, which I hope offers a nuanced look at my artistic progression and approach over the years. By weaving together the strands of memory, place, and emotional depth, I have revisited past explorations whilst still engaging with ongoing concerns.” — Victoria Crowe, 2025

Decades will be a powerful reflection of the Victoria Crowe’s life and work which will be held over two floors of The Scottish Gallery and Dovecot Studios will continue the celebration with a thoughtful curation of her collaborative relationship with the world-renowned weaving studio.

“Crowe’s outstanding body of work reflects not only the evolution of her artistic vision but also the deep connection she shares with life, memory, and nature. As The Gallery celebrates her 80th year, Decades serves as a powerful reminder of the enduring relevance of art and stands as a testament to Crowe’s dedication, vision, and ever-evolving creative spirit. It is a privilege to stand alongside her as we share this new chapter.” — Christina Jansen, The Scottish Gallery

NOW | New Horizons

Recent residencies, including time spent in Orkney and at Dumfries House, have further shaped the artist’s work as has the heightened awareness that lockdown brought to our consciousness. Her recent work has explored the familiar landscape psychologically transformed, a transitional place in the ecologically changing world. Crowe’s exploration of new horizons, both physical and conceptual, culminates in a series of striking new works capturing the liminal quality of twilight and the resonance of time’s passage.

THEN | Decades

• The Kittleyknowe Years. The journey begins in 1968 with the artist's first landscape sketchbooks capturing the emotional resonance of life in the Pentlands. For over two decades, the artist lived in the remote landscape of Kittleyknowe, where intimate observations of nature were paired with the intimate portrayal of her neighbour and shepherd, Jenny Armstrong.
• Portraits. The exploration of psychology and the inner life are essential to her portrait work. Crowe’s work investigates not only the physical likeness of subjects, but their unspoken emotional experiences—highlighting themes of loss, love, melancholy, and memory: what lies beneath the surface.
• Venice. For 12 years, the artist had a studio in Venice, a city rich with history and fragile beauty. These paintings delve into the artist's response to grief, finding parallels between the endurance and survival of Venice and the inner sense of continuum.
• Plant Forms. From botanical studies to symbolic references in art history and herbal medicine, Crowe’s plant studies offer a meditative look at the passage of time and the fragility of life.

Dovecot Studios & The Scottish Gallery | Victoria Crowe

2025 presents a unique opportunity to engage with the breadth of Victoria Crowe’s remarkable career. This summer, The Scottish Gallery is partnering with Dovecot Studios to present Shifting Surfaces, an exhibition that invites audiences to explore the inspiration and collaboration behind Crowe’s textile masterpieces. The show spans her iconic Large Tree Group (2007) to the recent tufted rugs from the Orcadian Series (2023). Shifting Surfaces delves into the connection between her paintings and woven interpretations, highlighting her exploration of light, landscape, and memory. This exhibition will be open from 26 July to 11 October 2025.

Image: Threshold between Sky and Sea, Known and Unknown. Victoria Crowe

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