An exhibition of work by Charly Murray and Javier Ternero provides a delicious contrast to the noise and vibration of Haddington Place.
Quiet City lives up to its title with understated calm in both colour and composition.
This reviewer liked Ternero's curiously blue study of Calton Road, which perfectly captures the depths of that street's shabby, shame-faced disappointment (right). I also liked the composite diagonals of 'Kelvin Bridge' (below).
Both reminded me of mid-19th-century photographic cityscapes, for their dim lighting, their eschewal of sharp focus, and the intriguing absence or doubling of human figures.
Among Murray's works, it was the gentle ambers, greens and blues of a wintry 'Queen Charlotte Street' which most appealed. One can almost feel the drizzling hush.
This exhibition doesn't shout. It doesn't overwelm with flashy effects or weight of numbers. Take it on its own terms, slowly, thoughtfully and with pleasurable melancholy.—AM
Quiet City continues in The Gallery at McNaughtan's Bookshop until Friday 5 June.
