Three day opening for Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will reopen on 8 November with a new exhibition, You Are Here 2020: Stories, Portraits, Visions.
This will feature contributions from the public and well-known figures such as the portrait of Emeli Sandé, painted by Samira Addo who won Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018.
The gallery will open for three days a week from early November to 10 January 2021 when the arrangement will be reviewed. Initially visitors will be welcomed from Sunday to Tuesday inclusive.
When the Portrait Gallery reopens, visitors will be able to enjoy the artwork on the ground floor, including the magnificent Great Hall, the ambulatory on the first floor and the galleries on the second floor.
There were 120 submissions for inclusion in the new exhibition, and a rotating selection of these will be shown along with five striking examples of portraiture from the national collection.
These include two bronze busts of influential women Scots Makar Jackie Kay and the pioneering Dr Elsie Inglis; a photograph and display of work prints by Iain Stewart from his series Tender, for which he shadowed two Edinburgh GPs; Man Up, a video work featuring Mercury Prize-winning Edinburgh band Young Fathers; and the Emeli Sandé portrait.
Sir John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “We are delighted to be opening the Scottish National Portrait Gallery again with an exhibition featuring people’s experiences of 2020. We have received many queries from the public asking when they can visit again, so I’m really pleased that we have found a way to manage this demand within the constraints that Covid-19 has placed on us. This will mean that all four of the Gallery sites will once again be open and that once again we will be able to share the full breadth of our collection.
“I am very grateful to all the colleagues at the National Galleries who have worked very hard to create a safe and engaging experience for our audiences and I am also grateful to our visitors for their loyal support. The Portrait Gallery has always been a place that helps us to recognise individuals, experiences and spark conversations, so we hope that the public will once again enjoy the beautiful surroundings and artwork.”
Modern One will open on 5 November for three days each week - Thursday to Saturday inclusive. Modern Two is open seven days and the first exhibition is the exquisite Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema. Not to be missed.
nationalgalleries.org/visit