WHERE THE EYE AND EAR MEET
An exhibition of painting and sculpture inspired by Jazz Music
The unique vision of artist and musician James Burnet Munro D.A. A.R.B.S. (1925-1990)
The City of Edinburgh Council Music Library
9 George IV Bridge ~ Edinburgh
(Basement beside Main Library)
2nd - 26th February 2011
Admission free of charge
Preview Tuesday 1st February
7pm -9pm
|
||||||
PRESS RELEASE
Exhibition of Art celebrates Jazz and the Creative life of
James B Munro DA ARBS (1925 – 1990)
Edinburgh City Council Music Library presents Where the Ear and Eye Meet:
An exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by James B Munro plus a new publication:
‘On a Creative Note’ ………2nd – 26th February 2011
(9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh ~ Basement beside main Library)
Jim Munro is remembered by many as Musician, Artist, Educator and importantly as a catalyst promoting sculpture in the 1960s > 1980s. He came from a family in Musselburgh which embraced music and art as part of daily life and played in Dance Bands for nearly fifty years. Studied at Edinburgh College of Art and played music on a weekly basis at venues such as The Plaza and Locarno Ballroom. He performed with the Johnny Keating Student Jazz Orchestra and hosted Show Bands with his brother Alex. But as a teacher he fully embraced the creative ferment during these decades, and promoted the performance of music alongside the introduction of stone carving, ceramic work and sculptural metalwork which moved expression and opportunity beyond the conventions of drawing and painting. Latterly he was a lecturer at Moray House College. A memorial exhibition was held there in 1990, at the Chessel Gallery, and recently in 2010 at Dalkeith Art Centre.
He was an innovator, who fused his passion for performing jazz music with creating sculpture, and recognised the need for cross-curricular exploration to enhance a skills base and to prepare students for the real world. Jim Munro was supporting a vanguard, a philosophy which over the following forty years has profoundly influenced school studies, sculpture workshops and art colleges. However, he would lament the power of ‘health & safety’ policies which are partly responsible for gradually dismantling the traditional skill-based training in many creative institutions.
Much of Jim Munro’s prolific creative output has been preserved and can be viewed on his web site: www.jamesbmunroartist.com and in the publication On a Creative Note: Revealing early college drawings and ceramics to later bronzes and stainless steel sculptures which won him much recognition, nationally at the Royal Scottish Academy and in international exhibitions. Twenty years after his death, the energy of the man is still palpable within the physical symbolism of his work. The exhibition will also profile a short film which inter-cuts archive movie material with aspects of Jim Munro’s legacy. His work is held in several private and Public Collections.
It’s appropriate, therefore, that the exhibition will also feature a specially-made short film including archive clips, courtesy of Scottish Screen Archive NLS.
The new Publication, On a Creative Note, will be for sale; raising funds for Cancer Charity. This new book places Munro’s life and work in the context of a time of major economic, political and cultural change, and presents viewpoints which consider the changing role of the evolving art, education and jazz scene. Importantly, the book also is enriched by new poetry and prose specially created by the Tyne and Esk Writers Group under the leadership of Midlothian’s recent writer in residence, Brian Whittingham. The book is richly illustrated, includes essays and commentary on the changing cultural landscape and is augmented by quotes and press cuttings. Copies can be viewed at the exhibition and sales will assist with fundraising for Cancer Charities. Further information about the life and career of Jim Munro can be found on the website www.jamesbmunroartist.com.