John Muir Exhibitions...

Scotland's Art assembles under one roof the cream of Scottish art held in local civic and academic collections in every airt o' Scotland. While the exhibition charts the major influences and significant movements that have distinguished Scottish art in the past, the exhibition also contains the work of contemporary artists whose creativity guarantees that a distinctive Scottish voice will continue to be heard in the new century and millennium. It was in 1849 that the young John Muir left his native Dunbar and Scotland for the United States of America, but his is another Scottish voice relevant to our times. The dawning of a momentous date in human chronology causes us to reflect on the survival of humanity, and the thirty million other plant and animal species with which we share the planet. An Infinite Storm of Beauty, Muir's great vision of an evolving creation, documents his life through contemporary paintings, early and modern photography of the wild places he loved and personal possessions and artifacts. The exhibition reclaims the American preservationist as a Scottish icon, but with modern and international relevance.

Scotland's Art opens at the City Art Centre on 1 July 1999, followed by An Infinite Storm of Beauty on 31 July. Both exhibitions run through 2 October 1999.