Jenny Brownrigg
@jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
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Curator and writer living in Glasgow, Scotland. Exhibitions Director at The Glasgow School of Art. Board member Glasgow Sculpture Studios and Pier Arts Centre. On GSA UCU committee. she/her www.jennybrownrigg.com
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jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
As an introduction one of my research interests is 20th century women photographers in Scotland. In 2024 as part of Glasgow International with Craigmillar Now, I curated an exhibition of Sandra George’s (1957-2013) work. Sandra was a Black photographer, artist and community worker in Edinburgh.
This exhibition poster image is a photograph Sandra George took of a collage of self portrait photographs at different ages.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
The Box Brownie sees:
1 The Coves, Anstruther to Crail coastal path, Fife
2 Volcanic stones, Elie harbour neck, Fife
3 Erosion, white chalk from cliff, Holywell, Eastbourne
4 Beach, Holywell, Eastbourne
The Coves is the name for a strange cliff formation on the Fife coastal path. This black and white photo shows the strange almost finger like construction of the caves with a series of eroded arches. This black and white photo shows the volcanic rock. The floor is white, with smaller black rocks strewn across it, and larger black rocks forming a bank around the outer edge. The photograph focuses on eroded boulders of white chalk lying at the bottom of the cliff. Dark wooden posts form a line down the stoney beach
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
Very glad to have seen Joanne Coates exhibition ‘Red Herring’ at Timespan in Helmsdale, Scotland, the result of a 6 month residency. The work focuses on the migrant female workforce in the herring fishing industry from 18th-20th centuries, linking back to Helmsdale, with its ties to the industry.
Three women wearing long aprons pose for a formal photograph. All have their hair pulled back tight. ‘Three women herring gutters July 1884’, Wick Society, Johnston Photographic Collection. This is a portrait of a woman worker in the herring industry. She smiles but her mouth holds a wire she is pulling as she tightens a bandage on her fingers. ‘Portrait of a woman with bandaged fingers’, courtesy Waterlines Lybster This wall construction is at the heart of the exhibition at Timespan. It is freestanding, with wooden frame visible. It has been covered on the outer side in a thick red plastic. Archival photographs and images are pinned to the interior surface of the framework This is a black and white photograph by Joanne Coates of a figure in a dark dress making her way through the landscape. It is a close up, with the composition cutting off the head, to show the figure in movement. ‘Trajicere’, 2024, Joanne Coates
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
Nice and light, around 9pm, upon disembarking from ferry. Looking over to the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney.
The Pier Arts Centre is a low, stone building, on a pier in Stromness. The pier has got a dark band of colour across its side, accumulated from the rising tide. The viewpoint is looking over the harbour. The island of Graemsey is in distance. It is 9pm at night but still very light, although a gray sky.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
After an excellent run at Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, exhibition moves onto The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney. This centenary of Bet Low’s work focuses on her time in both Glasgow and Orkney, and has been co-curated by GSA Exhibitions and the Pier.
This is an advert for the preview of ‘Bet Low: An Island on Your Doorstep’, showing one of Low’s paintings ‘In the Hoy Hills’. This oil painting depicts a gray mist coming down onto a series of hills- the darkest hill is in the foreground with the hills behind, in lighter shades of grey as they recede.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
Dear Karen, I’ll be sorry to see you go! Jenny
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
If you are in Glasgow 11 Jan 2025 come to Reid Gallery, GSA, and join the co-curators - Andrew Parkinson (The Pier Arts Centre) and I, for an exhibition tour at 11am. You can book your free ticket via gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/e...
Exhibition tour ‘Bet Low: An Island on Your Doorstep’ | The Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions Department
gsaexhibitions.co.uk
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
The next exhibition in Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art is the centenary exhibition of painter Bet Low (1924-2007) which is in partnership with The Pier Arts Centre. It will run 11 Jan-8 Feb 2025 at GSA then 1 Mar-7 June 2025 at PAC.

For more information gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/b...
This poster is for the exhibition by Bet Low called ‘An island on your doorstep’. The image is of one of Low’s paintings - ‘In the Hoy Hills’ showing a receding series of hills. A gray mist touches the top of the hills.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
Aswell as researching women’s photography in Scotland I’ve been enjoying using a box brownie camera since 2020. With such a small viewfinder you never know what you will get until the prints come back. The camera is held at waist height to take the photograph.
The Parkhead Forge cinema in Glasgow is a really futuristic design. There is a large triangle above each door. Placed within this shape are smaller metal triangles which fit together in a pattern to form a large square. This black and white photograph looks up a channel made between two hulking rocks. Looking over a rocky foreground to the bay at Rackwick, Orkney. It’s a misty day but the striking steep headland forms the backdrop to this scene. This landscape shot is looking back over the land formation that surrounds the village of Sanna in Arnamurchan. There are small houses in the distance, that are surrounded by a ring system of small hills. To the right the white sand of Sanna Bay creeps into the grass.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
That’s so nice to hear Katherine! Baltic have just published a big publication on Franki Raffles.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
In 2017 in partnership with Alistair Scott at Napier University I curated an exhibition on socialist feminist documentary photographer Franki Raffles, (1955-1994), at Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art. There’s currently an excellent large exhibition of her work at Baltic, Newcastle.
This is the poster for Franki Raffles: Observing Women at Work. The image, from her archives held at University of St Andrews Special Collections depicts two women plasterers, taken on her road trip to the Soviet Union.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
In 2022/23 at City Art Centre in Edinburgh I curated a survey show- ‘Glean: early twentieth century women filmmakers and photographers in Scotland’. This brought together work from 17 archives mostly across Scotland of 14 women.
The poster for Glean shows Shetland filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson standing on top of a car with her tripod and camera to get the shot. This image is from her archive held by Shetland Museum & Archives.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
As an introduction one of my research interests is 20th century women photographers in Scotland. In 2024 as part of Glasgow International with Craigmillar Now, I curated an exhibition of Sandra George’s (1957-2013) work. Sandra was a Black photographer, artist and community worker in Edinburgh.
This exhibition poster image is a photograph Sandra George took of a collage of self portrait photographs at different ages.
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
I was invited to speak at a research methods session at Liverpool John Moore University Art and Design yesterday. The Exhibition Research Lab had an excellent show ‘The Contactless Condition’ by Ofri Cnaani, ‘resurrecting a burnt-down museum in Brazil through its digital traces.
The exterior of the John Lennon Art and Design building on a sunny day A wider shot of the John Lennon Art and Design building, with grass and two trees infront of it The introduction panel for the exhibition The Contactless Condition This photo depicts a collage of photographs that the artist places in front of them, of images of the displays in the museum they are depicting in the film
jennybrownrigg.bsky.social
The current exhibition at Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art is ‘Ah,Sugar’ by the Birmingham based artist Marlene Smith, curated by Cubitt Curatorial Fellow Seán Elder. On until 14 Dec 2024. gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/m...
Poster for Reid Gallery showing a collaborative self portrait by Marlene Smith with Ajamu. The photograph is a close up of the nape of a woman’s neck, with her shoulder raised.