2026 marks 200 years since the founding of The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), and to celebrate the occasion and contribution of Scottish artists to the culture of the country, the UK and the wider world, they’ve launched RSA200: Celebrating Together. This initiative brings together over 100 partners from the Borders to the Highlands, in a celebration of both Scotland’s rich art history and the work that Scottish artists continue to create today.
I only got a small taste of what RSA200 has to offer, and it’s fitting that I started at the RSA building. Instead of looking at the past, it’s looking forward to the future of Scottish art with a selection of works by recent graduates in its New Scottish Contemporaries exhibition, an initiative that’s separate from the UK-wide New Contemporaries programme.
There’s a great diversity in the practice, and the exhibition feels lively with experimentation and playfulness, something I wasn’t expecting given the global turmoil, but I welcome this push back against the inevitable doom spiral we tend to be drawn towards daily.
I was first drawn to Daye Allan’s vibrant self-portrait, which incorporates items such as clothing, DVD titles, and a nod to Super Mario. Suggesting that in this case, the clothes do make the man, at least in part. It’s in a strong gallery alongside the glitching paintings of animals by Malachy McCrimmon, where emojis and icons from the game Minesweeper capture our always-on culture, like an Instagram feed made into an artwork. The works of Cameron W Tucker, inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, round out a strong corner of the show.
It’s not just the big and bold that caught my eye; Poppy Gannon’s delicately stitched leaves are a great testament to how the relationship between humanity and nature can be one of healing and regeneration. Millie Stewart’s mini-tower of ceramic vessels takes us inside the processes of a wood-fired kiln, with crystallising salt and ash hinting at works in progress and tantalisingly suggesting an unfinished outcome that won’t be completed.
There are some great painters in the show as well. Ella Williams’ compositions are filled with motifs, symbolism and figures that show a great use of light and colour. Nicola Mackintosh’s smaller-scale paintings of intimate moments between people, whether that be a quiet drink or a birthday celebration, capture the energy of those fleeting moments.
A final mention should go to Natalia Bojarska’s metal sculptures equipped with speakers that hold their weight even when surrounded by other works. They remind me of Richard Serra’s pieces, and their resonating presence gets into your bones – in a good way.
Just down the road is Fruitmarket, which is hosting an exhibition by Ilana Halperin, who, through sculpture, drawing and photography, brings together geological and human time, often with a touch of playfulness. She maps the lifetime of a volcano with her own life, given they share a birthday, boils milk in a saucepan over a sulphur spring in Iceland and ‘grows’ sculpture in a process that mimics rock formation.
If you’re looking for a bit of recent Scottish art history, Modern Two is hosting an exhibition of the works of landscape painter Joan Eardley, with her moody, heavily textured paintings hanging alongside those of other artists from the gallery’s collection.
It’s a venue always worth visiting for the monumental Paolozzi sculpture in the cafe, and, along with the nearby Modern One, it has some great sculpture outside. Modern One also has a superb Surrealism collection that is always worth a visit.
For more 20th-century art, it’s worth heading just outside of Glasgow to Greenock to visit the Wyllieum. I’ll admit I didn’t know much about George Wyllie, and it was a revelation to discover his inventive and playful art, which included sailing an oversized paper boat in different parts of the world, from Glasgow to New York, and hanging a life-sized straw locomotive from crane to recognise Glasgow’s contribution to rail travel, after all, 18,000 locomotives were produced here and sent to 43 different countries. The straw version hung, waiting for a ship that never arrived, and was then set on fire as a public performance.
He came to art late in life and made one hell of an impact. He met and worked with Joseph Beuys, and his works inspired many other artists whose works are currently on display at The Wyllieum. He’s an artist who deserves to be better known south of the border.
I only sampled a small selection of what’s on show at RSA200, and it highlighted both the great Scottish artists of the recent past and those who continue to make work today. It will leave you hungry to see more of the venues participating, and it is a great excuse for a cultural tour of Scotland.
RSA New Contemporaries 2026 is on until 22nd April and is ticketed.
Ilana Halperin: What is Us and What is Earth is on at Fruitmarket until 17th May and is free to enter.
Joan Eardley | The Nature of Painting is on at Modern Two until 28th June and is free to enter.
George Wyllie RSA (1921-2012): From the Clyde to Sarajevo to the Venice Lagoon is on until 31st May and is free to enter.
See the full RSA200 programme for all events and participating institutions.
The first image shows Cameron W. Tucker’s work at the RSA. Photo: Julie Howden.
The second image shows Natalia Bojarska’s work at the RSA. Photo: Julie Howden.
The third image is of Ilana Halperin’s show at Fruitmarket. Image courtesy the artist and Patricia Fleming Gallery. Photo: Ruth Clark.
The fourth image is of the current show at the Wyllieum. Image courtesy of the Wyllieum.
