Output details

10 Dialogues : Richard Demarco, Scotland and the European Avant Garde

The publication provides the first substantial independent assessment of Demarco’s work to foster exchange between Scottish and European artists during the later Cold War period and its aftermath. The co-authored content is contained in a) the 6,000 word introduction, which provides an overview of that work; and 2) the 6,000-word chronology of relevant exhibitions and projects from 1963 to 2010. McArthur's individual contribution was the 2,000-word essay on David Mach. The content relates to the thesis of Output 1 but required specific research in three respects:

1) To establish Demarco’s core ideas and key projects and to place them in context. The objective was to offer an independent critical narrative to stand beside Demarco’s hitherto sole account of his achievement. This was primarily the work of McArthur with input from Watson.

2) To establish the most complete and authoritative chronology of this aspect of Demarco’s work, building on fragmentary sources and on extensive new archival research. This was primarily the work of Watson with input from McArthur.

3) To establish the individual artists’ relationships with Demarco, and where necessary, to clarify artworks made in association with him. This work included the preparation of sole-authored texts (McArthur on Mach; Watson on Beuys) and the reprinting and commissioning of texts by 12 other authors to expand the range of critical viewpoints, with the purpose of exemplifying Demarco’s spirit of open dialogue. Among the other contributors are Richard Demarco, Wieslaw Borowski, Matei Stircea-Craciun; Mary Jane Jacob, Margaret Garlake, John McEwen and Alastair Maclennan.

McArthur and Watson also agreed that the format of the publication (designed by Watson) should acknowledge the graphic design of John Martin, whose work for Demarco, from the 1960s to the 1980s, contributed greatly to the Demarco Gallery’s international identity and reputation.