Complementing its current Inked Up: Printmaking in Scotland exhibition, Edinburgh’s City Art Centre is hosting Pop Life, which explores the intersection of popular culture and contemporary figurative drawing. A travelling exhibition, it has previously showcased in Sweden and the Netherlands, and this iteration has been tailored to include Scottish artists, alongside international artists, many of whom are exhibiting in Scotland for the first time. 

Each artist is known for engaging with popular culture, referencing diverse influences such as music, film, fashion, literature, social media and celebrities over the past six decades. Over 80 works are presented, with several new pieces created specifically for this exhibition.

Highlights include a room transformed with UV light by Marc Brandenburg (Germany) to explore unseen sides of the Tiergarten Park in Berlin; drawn tributes to country music icons by Laura Bruce (USA) accompanied by vocal renditions of their biggest hits; large scale drawings and a new, monumental sculpture by Edinburgh-based Jamie Fitzpatrick looking at who in society is publicly memorialised; and new drawings by David Shrigley in his absurdist and humorous style.

Also showing is Through Line (7th November – 2nd March, 2025), a group show centring on the exploration of line in artistic practice (see below).