Alison Harper

Posted on by

2013-10-06 Alison HarperAlison studied at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art (1981 t0 1985) and as one of “The Glasgow Girls” was part of the resurgence in figurative painting that emerged at that time. In 1993 Alison won The Commonwealth Scholarship to paint in India for two years (1993 to 1995) and upon her return to the United Kingdom took up a part-time lectureship in Painting and Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art (1995 to 2002) becoming one of the youngest lecturers to teach there. Selected exhibitions include The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Royal Academy, London; Leicester City Art Gallery; Stirling Museum; The Boundary Gallery, London; The Compass Gallery, Glasgow; The Collins Gallery, Glasgow The City Arts Centre, Edinburgh; The Graphic Museum of Tokyo, Japan;  The India Today Gallery New Delhi, India and The National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi. Alison is a recipient of numerous Scholarships, awards and prizes including The Commonwealth Scholarship, The Norwegian Government Scholarship, The Cheltenham Drawing Prize, Ruth Davidson Memorial Award and  The Prince’s Drawing School Bursary Award. Alison is included in the following publications,  The Who’s Who in Art andWho’s Who of Women in the World. Aside from being the Founder and a director of TheESOP, Alison works part-time as a tutor and the Co-ordinator for Drawing and Painting at the City-Lit Institute in London.

 Education

1981- 1985 BA (Hons 1st Class) in Drawing & Painting, Glasgow School of Art. Distinction in written thesis 1984 International Summer Academy of Fine Art, Salzburg. 1985-1986 Post graduate Studies in Fine Art at Oslo Academy of Fine Art, Norway. 1993-1995 Post-diploma in Fine Art (First Class) at M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat, India. 2001-2002 “The Drawing Year” A year of part-time study in drawing at the Prince of Wales Drawing Studio, London

Group Exhibitions

1984 “On the theme of Love”, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh 1985 “New Generation”, Compass Gallery, Glasgow. R.G.I., McLellan Galleries, Glasgow. 1986 Academy Student’s Exhibition, Kunstnernes Hus, Norway. National Autumn Exhibition, Kunsternes Hus, Norway. 1987 Paisley Drawing Institute, Paisley. “Day 17” Mum, Ran Out of Beans”, Glasgow School of Art. “Women Live, Inner dimensions”, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh. “Glasgow Girls”, Boundary Gallery, London. 1988 “New Generation Glasgow”, Tron Theatre, Glasgow. “The Painted Flower”, Main Fine Art, Glasgow. Glasgow Group, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow. 8th International Art Fair at Bath, with Compass Gallery. Los Angeles International Art Fair, U.S.A. 1989 The Barbizon Gallery, Glasgow. “Art Event”, Kensington, London. “Inner Visions”, Ballroom Gallery, Orkney. Paisley Drawing Institute, Paisley. “Works on Paper”, Boundary Gallery, London. “Art ‘89”, Art Fair, with the Boundary Gallery, London. “Six Women in the Air”, Air Gallery, London. 1990 “Old Now and Only Drumming” two woman show, WASPS Gallery, Glasgow. Olympia Art Fair with Richard Demarco Gallery, London. 1991 Paisley Drawing Institute, Paisley. “Patrons Choice”, Art from the Billiard Room, Glasgow. “Glasgow Girls”, two woman show, Boundary Gallery, London. 1992 “The Religion of Art”, The Glasgow Buddhist Centre, Glasgow. 1993 BP National Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery, London. 1995 “Art Today”, India Today Gallery, New Delhi, India. 1996 Noble Grossart Painting Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh and Glasgow School of Art. “In Miniature”, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh. 1997 “Glasgow Girls” Boundary Gallery, London. “Venus’ Flowerbasket”, 345 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London. Cheltenham Open Drawing Competition, Cheltenham College of Art & University of Hull. (Commendation). “Sahmet – 50 Years of Independence”, Sahmet, Delhi, India. 1998 Cheltenham and Gloucester National Open Drawing Competition (third prize), touring to University of Lincolnshire & Humberside and Kunstatte Vest Banhof, Berlin. “Prints from Scotland”, UK, Iwate Arts Festival, Kyoto, Japan and touring to International Graphics Museum, Tokyo. 1999 “Tongues of Diamond: Myth, Metaphor and Story-Telling in Painting” Collins gallery, Glasgow, touring to Leicester City Art Gallery and Stirling Museum. Cheltenham Open Drawing Competition The Art Fair The One off Contemporary Art Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya. 2000 “The Body is Still a Good Read”, The Pentagon Centre, Glasgow “Myth and Reality”, Nairobi   Museum, Kenya. 2001 Noble Grossart Painting Exhibition, Glasgow School of Art and Lloyds TSB Headquarters, Edinburgh 2001 “Paintings and Drawings”, Wild Cherry, London 2002 “Glasgow Girls 2002”, Boundary gallery, London 2002 “Glasgow Girls”,  Shetland Museum 2004 “Solus”, Glasgow Print Studio 2004 “Love”,  Vaila Fine Art, Shetland 2005 “Monumental Women” with Paula Rego and Nicki de St. Phalle, Boundary Gallery, London 2008  “Painting Venice”,Vaila Fine Art, Shetland

Awards

1982 Glasgow School of Art Portrait Prize. 1985 John and Anna Laurie Bequest Travelling Scholarship. 1985 Norwegian Government Scholarship. 1988 Lady Artists Trust Award. 1993-1995 Commonwealth Scholarship. 1998 Cheltenham National Open Drawing Competition, 3rd Prize. 1998 Ruth Davidson Memorial Award for three months study in France. 2001 The Prince of Wales Drawing Studio Bursary

Collections

  • BBC Scotland Collins gallery
  • Strathclyde University
  • Museum and Arts Loan Service
  • Private Collections: United Kingdom, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Malta, France, South Africa, Kenya, India and the United States    

Selected Bibliography

  • “Glasgow Girls”, Clare Henry, The Glasgow Herald, 23rd November 1987
  • “Here Come the Glasgow Girls”, Dorothy Wade and Justine Picardie, The Independent, June 1987
  • “Glasgow Girls”, Mary Rose Beaumont, Arts Review, November 1987
  • “Scotland” Clare Henry Arts Review, 8th May 1989
  • “Scottish Paintings: 1837 to the Present” William Hardie, pages 214-215, 1990
  • “Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture” Peter JM McEwan 1994
  • “Alison Harper, Angels wear Silver“, Sandy Moffat, catalogue introduction, Compass gallery, October 1995
  • “Passage to Magic of India, Alison Harper“, Clare Henry, The Herald. 30th October 1995
  • “Alison Harper”, W. Gordon Smith, The Scotsman. October 1995
  • “Storming the Citadel”, Clare Henry, The Herald. 13th March 1997
  • “Journey into outer space”, The Glasgow Herald, 15th May 1997
  • “Restoring Female Identity; Strategies by Scottish Female Artists”, Catherine Agnes Stewart, Final year Dissertation, Glasgow School of Art, June 1997
  • “Later Editions, Prints from Glasgow“, Martin Hopkinson, Iwate Art Festival, Japan, Introducing Scottish Culture and The Environment of Iwate, Catalogue essay. September 1998
  • “Myth and Story telling: The Work of Alison Harper”, Urthona magazine, Autumn 1998
  • “Tongues of Diamond”, Collins gallery catalogue introduction, Sandy Moffat, January 1999
  • “A Lore unto Themselves”, The Herald 13th February 1999
  • “Tongues of Diamond”, The List, 4th February 1999
  • “Mythmakers”, Michael Murphy, Glasgow University Guardian, Jan. 1999
  • “Tongues of Diamond”, Elizabeth Mahoney, The Scotsman, 28th January 1999
  • “The Body is Still a Good Read”, Giles Sutherland, The Times, May 2000
  • “The Core of Attraction”, Interview with Dharmacharini Ashokasri, Urthona magazine, August 2002
  • “Who’s who in Art 2006”
  • “Two Paintings, Two painters…” Barry Didcock, The Sunday Herald, 8th April 2007