Gray’s School of Art is ‘Back’ - Exhibition celebrates final year students

This interim exhibition launches on Wednesday 1 December across two venues in Aberdeen, the Look Again Project Space, St. Andrews Street and the Arkade, that’s part of the Anatomy Rooms.

Members of the public are invited to come and enjoy this five-day exhibition that explores a diversity of themes including environmentalism, gender identity, consumer culture, social media and many more across a variety of media from video and performance to printmaking, sculpture and photography.

Year Tutor, Jim Hamlyn from Gray’s School of Art, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for the students to share their work and to showcase their skills in preparation for their final degree shows in June 2022 after a far too long in the shadows of lockdown.

“Gray’s School of Art and the Contemporary Art Practice course in particular is an evolving and vital part of the visual arts community within the North-East of Scotland and our graduates contribute greatly to the richness and diversity of culture in the region and beyond.”

One of the students who has, curated and coordinated the exhibition, along with fellow students Alice MacDonald, Katie Taylor and Morgan Dunbar with the help of their peers, is EmmaJane Kingaby from Collieston, Aberdeenshire who is in her final year studying Contemporary Arts Practice.

EmmaJane said; “We are really excited to be launching ‘Back’! This is about us telling the world that we are back on campus following the pandemic.

“Gray’s School of Art is a community. A community of creatives who can bounce ideas around our studio spaces together. This is something we have missed deeply. Eager to return to workshops after almost two years of continuing our degrees under the restrictions of the pandemic, we are excited to show you what we have been up to since we have been back!

“Whilst preparing for the exhibition, many of us have adapted to a blended approach of study. For some, this is the first time exhibiting physically as we’ve so far only exhibited publicly via a digital means. As we approach graduation, we want to taste a physical exhibition and to introduce our work to the public. Everyone is invited to come and explore a collection of creative new work."

42 artists will be exhibiting including RGU’s Graduates in Residence, collaborative duo, Joe Morris and Claudia Sneddon (AKA “Anya Olive”) and MA Graduate in Residence, Iris Walker-Reid.

A launch night for ‘Back’, takes place on Wednesday 1 December between 6 - 9pm and everyone’s welcome to come along. The exhibition is then open to the public from Thursday 2 December until Sunday 5 December, 11am – 5pm. For more information visit: