Richard Demarco
Encyclopedia
Richard Demarco, CBE
(born in Edinburgh
, 1930) is an Italian Scottish
artist and promoter of the visual and performing arts.
in Edinburgh in 1963. Three years later he and other organisers of the theatre's gallery space left the Traverse to establish what became the Richard Demarco Gallery. The gallery, which doubled as a performance venue during the Edinburgh Fringe, ran from 1966 to 1992.
For many years, the Demarco Gallery promoted cultural links with Eastern Europe, both in terms of presenting artists such as Paul Neagu
from 1969, Marina Abramovic
from 1973 and Neue Slowenische Kunst
from 1986 within Scotland, organising exhibitions of contemporary Polish, Romanian and Yugoslav art and in establishing outgoing connections for Scottish artists across Europe.
Richard Demarco's involvement with the artist Joseph Beuys
led to various presentations, from Strategy Get Arts in 1970 to Beuys' hunger strike during the Jimmy Boyle
Days in 1980.
Also particularly notable were the presentations by Tadeusz Kantor
's Cricot 2 group during the 1970s and 1980s, including a celebrated unofficial performance of The Water Hen at the former Edinburgh poorhouse
during the 1972 Edinburgh Festival. Cricot 2 returned to Edinburgh in later years. Demarco introduced Beuys and Kantor to one another and in one performance of Lovelies and Dowdies Beuys performed under Kantor's direction.
For many years, after the Scottish Arts Council withdrew its annual grant in 1980 following controversy associated with Joseph Beuys' support for Jimmy Boyle
, the Demarco Gallery led a financially-straitened existence. Since the early 1990s, Richard Demarco's activity has continued under the auspices of the Demarco European Art Foundation.
In November 2008 a substantial selection from Demarco's archives, covering the period 1963-1980, was made available on-line by the University of Dundee [see below for direct link to online archive]. Images of Demarco's activities during this period, in particular collaborations with Joseph Beuys, Tadeusz Kantor, Paul Neagu and Marina Abramovic are available in the selection from the Demarco archives. Detailed documentation of the Edinburgh Arts journeys from 1972-1980 are also available in this selection.
. He has attended or been extensively involved with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, since its inception. Over the years he has put on a wide variety of theatre productions, art exhibitions and cultural events. Some of the new artists appearing at his venues have gone on to become major figures in the arts.
The gallery venue, sometimes described as an artistic version of Brigadoon
, was never run for profit; many performers were allowed to put on productions or exhibit at little or no cost. And Demarco himself has been no stranger to artistic and commercial risks. For instance, in 1995, his venue hosted a group of artists flown out from the then besieged city of Sarajevo
alongside an opera installation by the young Damian Hirst. Demarco's venues have tended to attract a fairly bohemian clientele, often including such contemporaries in the alternative arts movement as fellow Traverse co-founder Jim Haynes and left-wing publisher John Calder
.
No stranger to media controversy, Demarco has challenged successive Fringe organisers' boundaries by staging events outside Edinburgh. These have included a full costume, full length production of Shakespeare's Macbeth
staged on Inchcolm
Island in the Firth of Forth.
Since the mid 90's and end of the Cold War
he has lost backing from visiting arts and other sponsoring bodies. Always a controversial figure, his approach has not always sat easily with the Scottish arts establishment as the Fringe has become increasingly dominated by commercial considerations.
Demarco's most recent direct involvement at the Fringe was in collaboration with Rocket Venues at the Roxy (also sometimes known as the Demarco Roxy) Art House, a converted church on the corner of Roxburgh Place and Drummond Street on the South Side of Edinburgh, previously used by the Pleasance
Theatre and subsequently renamed The Bowery after the venue was sold. It is now a regular music venue.
. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by universities in Europe and North America and, from 1993 to 2000, he was Professor of European Culture at the University of Kingston.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, 1930) is an Italian Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist and promoter of the visual and performing arts.
Richard Demarco Gallery
Demarco was a co-founder of the Traverse TheatreTraverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...
in Edinburgh in 1963. Three years later he and other organisers of the theatre's gallery space left the Traverse to establish what became the Richard Demarco Gallery. The gallery, which doubled as a performance venue during the Edinburgh Fringe, ran from 1966 to 1992.
For many years, the Demarco Gallery promoted cultural links with Eastern Europe, both in terms of presenting artists such as Paul Neagu
Paul Neagu
Paul Neagu was an internationally important British-Romanian artist, working in diverse media such as drawing, sculpture, performance art and watercolor...
from 1969, Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramović is a Belgrade-born New York-based Serbian performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art.” Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and...
from 1973 and Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst , aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans...
from 1986 within Scotland, organising exhibitions of contemporary Polish, Romanian and Yugoslav art and in establishing outgoing connections for Scottish artists across Europe.
Richard Demarco's involvement with the artist Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
led to various presentations, from Strategy Get Arts in 1970 to Beuys' hunger strike during the Jimmy Boyle
Jimmy Boyle
James Boyle may refer to:*James Boyle , professor of law*James Boyle *Jimmy Boyle , Scottish sculptor and novelist, former gangster*Jimmy Boyle , American baseball player...
Days in 1980.
Also particularly notable were the presentations by Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor was a Polish painter, assemblage artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad.- Life and career :...
's Cricot 2 group during the 1970s and 1980s, including a celebrated unofficial performance of The Water Hen at the former Edinburgh poorhouse
Poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse was a government-run facility in the past for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....
during the 1972 Edinburgh Festival. Cricot 2 returned to Edinburgh in later years. Demarco introduced Beuys and Kantor to one another and in one performance of Lovelies and Dowdies Beuys performed under Kantor's direction.
For many years, after the Scottish Arts Council withdrew its annual grant in 1980 following controversy associated with Joseph Beuys' support for Jimmy Boyle
Jimmy Boyle (artist)
Jimmy Boyle is a Scottish sculptor, novelist and convicted criminal.In 1967 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of another gangland figure, William "Babs" Rooney...
, the Demarco Gallery led a financially-straitened existence. Since the early 1990s, Richard Demarco's activity has continued under the auspices of the Demarco European Art Foundation.
In November 2008 a substantial selection from Demarco's archives, covering the period 1963-1980, was made available on-line by the University of Dundee [see below for direct link to online archive]. Images of Demarco's activities during this period, in particular collaborations with Joseph Beuys, Tadeusz Kantor, Paul Neagu and Marina Abramovic are available in the selection from the Demarco archives. Detailed documentation of the Edinburgh Arts journeys from 1972-1980 are also available in this selection.
Edinburgh Festival
Richard Demarco has attended every Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. He has attended or been extensively involved with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, since its inception. Over the years he has put on a wide variety of theatre productions, art exhibitions and cultural events. Some of the new artists appearing at his venues have gone on to become major figures in the arts.
The gallery venue, sometimes described as an artistic version of Brigadoon
Brigadoon
Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
, was never run for profit; many performers were allowed to put on productions or exhibit at little or no cost. And Demarco himself has been no stranger to artistic and commercial risks. For instance, in 1995, his venue hosted a group of artists flown out from the then besieged city of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
alongside an opera installation by the young Damian Hirst. Demarco's venues have tended to attract a fairly bohemian clientele, often including such contemporaries in the alternative arts movement as fellow Traverse co-founder Jim Haynes and left-wing publisher John Calder
John Calder
John Mackenzie Calder is a Canadian and Scottish publisher who founded Calder Publishing in 1949.-Biography:John Calder was a friend of Samuel Beckett, becoming the main publisher of his prose-texts in Britain after the success of Waiting for Godot on the London stage in 1955-56...
.
No stranger to media controversy, Demarco has challenged successive Fringe organisers' boundaries by staging events outside Edinburgh. These have included a full costume, full length production of Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
staged on Inchcolm
Inchcolm
Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, it was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh...
Island in the Firth of Forth.
Since the mid 90's and end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
he has lost backing from visiting arts and other sponsoring bodies. Always a controversial figure, his approach has not always sat easily with the Scottish arts establishment as the Fringe has become increasingly dominated by commercial considerations.
Demarco's most recent direct involvement at the Fringe was in collaboration with Rocket Venues at the Roxy (also sometimes known as the Demarco Roxy) Art House, a converted church on the corner of Roxburgh Place and Drummond Street on the South Side of Edinburgh, previously used by the Pleasance
Pleasance
The Pleasance is a street in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is largely residential, although the University of Edinburgh owns property in the area.-University of Edinburgh union:...
Theatre and subsequently renamed The Bowery after the venue was sold. It is now a regular music venue.
Honours and awards
Previously appointed as an OBE, he was raised to a CBE in the New Year Honours List in December 2006. In 1976, Richard Demarco received a Gold Medal from the Polish government and in 1986, he was made a Cavaliere of the Italian RepublicOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951...
. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by universities in Europe and North America and, from 1993 to 2000, he was Professor of European Culture at the University of Kingston.