Gralloch
Artist
Henry Coombes
(London, England, born 1977)
Date2008
MediumDVD
ClassificationsTime-Based Media
AcquisitionPurchased in 2008 with assistance from the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland.
Copyright© Henry Coombes (2009)
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG014493
About MeHenry Coombes was one of the six artists selected to represent Scotland at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. Originally trained in film, he now uses a variety of media to produce apparently familiar and comfortable imagery which on closer inspection reveals itself to be of dark and subversive subject matter.In his work he makes particular reference to the society of rural Scotland and also to classical and Victorian art. This theme is continued with "Gralloch" (which was included in Coombes' Venice exhibition) in which a shot stag has a human face - as there is an actor "in" its body, expressing the soul of the dying animal and projecting the pathos of the event to the audience. The film follows the gillie as he shoots then disembowels the stag, whilst inside its body a sad face peers out, lamenting its fate.
More About Me
Coombes made this film as a Scottish representative at the 2007 Venice Biennale. A ghillie shoots and disembowels a stag, while within the body a sad face peers out lamenting its fate
Gordon Highlanders Regiment
