The Common Guild

Join us this month to celebrate the opening of our new exhibition ‘A moment of darkness at noon’ by Joanna Piotrowska. The artist’s first exhibition in Scotland, it includes a series of newly commissioned, large format photographic works, photographic collage and framing devices in a specially devised installation. The exhibition continues Piotrowska’s investigations into the unconscious through Jungian psychoanalysis, focusing on intuitive and pre-verbal forms of expression. In this installation, layered collages of nudes, landscapes, and tightly-cropped faces, including images from the artist’s own family archive, merge together in an ambiguous and hallucinatory space of possibility. ‘A moment of darkness at noon’ is co-produced with Huis Marseille, Amsterdam. With thanks to Phillida Reid and Sam Talbot PR. Preview Details / Saturday 23 May, 4–6pm The Common Guild Library, 5 Florence Street, Glasgow, G5 0YX The preview will be preceded by an artist’s talk, 2.30–4pm, where Piotrowska will be speaking about her work and new exhibition. Prebooking via our website recommended. The exhibition continues until 18 July and is part of Glasgow International festival, taking place 5–21 June 2026. Visit our website for more details. Link in our bio. Images: Joanna Piotrowska, ‘Untitled’ (detail), 2026, collage, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Phillida Reid. Design: Thomas Spallek. @gifestival @janka_piotrowska @huismarseille @phillidareid_grapestreet @mr.sam.talbot @studio.thomas.spallek #TCG #JoannaPiotrowska #GI2026 #GlasgowInternational

Artist Talk / Joanna Piotrowska Join us for an artist talk in our Library with Joanna Piotrowska on the opening day of her first exhibition in Scotland, ‘A moment of darkness at noon’. She will discuss her new exhibition, alongside her broader practice. Piotrowska utilises photography, performance and film to examine the human condition. Her psychologically charged compositions often take place in domestic spaces and constructed environments. These ‘social landscapes’ probe unconscious actions and behavioural responses, addressing the dynamics of familial relations to explore personal expression, childhood memory, and practices of intimacy. Event details / → Saturday 23 May, 2.30–4pm → TCG Library, 5 Florence Street → Free, booking recommended Visit the link in our bio to book a space. Following the event, join us for a preview ‘A moment of darkness at noon’. The exhibition runs till 18 July. Image: Joanna Piotrowska, Architecture, 2026, collage, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Phillida Reid @gifestival @janka_piotrowska @phillidareid_grapestreet @mr.sam.talbot #TCG #JoannaPiotrowska #GI2026 #GlasgowInternational

Listen / Artist Talk – Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press You can now listen to a recording of an informal artist’s talk by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press. She was joined in conversation by TCG’s outgoing Director, Katrina Brown on the opening day of her recent exhibition at The Common Guild, ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’. Together they discussed the developments in Banner’s work at the time of ‘Every Word Unmade’ and reflected on its resonance today. The recording can be found on our Soundlcloud page and reached via the link in our bio. Image 1: Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’. Installation view, The Common Guild, Glasgow, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London. Photo: Ruth Clark. @fionabannerakathevanitypress @frithstreetgallery @therobertsinstituteofart @urban_office_ @_katrina_brown

Our May newsletter is out now with details on our upcoming exhibition, ‘A moment of darkness at noon’ by Joanna Piotrowska and accompanying Artist Talk. Find out about our next Detours event with curator Sam Shiyi Qian, read Calum Sutherland’s Commentary on our recent exhibition by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press and listen to a recording of Banner’s Artist Talk. Subscribe via the link in our bio to stay up to date with all the latest news at The Common Guild. Image: Joanna Piotrowska, ‘Untitled’ (detail), 2026, collage, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Phillida Reid. Design: Thomas Spallek. @janka_piotrowska @phillidareid_grapestreet @calum_sutherland_

“By turning away from discourse, narrative and description, Banner’s work acts as a reminder of the abstractions of language, its capacity to name, educate or deceive. For her, it feels like a tabula rasa, an effort to find a way to begin again. Looking at the illuminated letters, I think about how it is always a struggle to write.” Curator, writer and artist Calum Sutherland reflects on our recent exhibition ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’ by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press with this latest Commentary text. Download a PDF of the Commentary via the link in our bio. @fionabannerakathevanitypress @calum_sutherland_

Tomorrow / Join us for our conversation event with Irineu Destourelles and curator and Many Studios founder Natalia Palombo to discuss ‘Thirty-two Texts with Distress’, a solo exhibition by Destourelles currently on view at the nearby Gorbals Public Library, and Destourelles upcoming project for Glasgow International. Event details / → Thursday 30 April, 6-8pm → 5 Florence Street, G5 OYX Free, booking recommended For more details and to book a free space, visit the link in our bio. Image credit: Irineu Destourelles, ‘Thirty-two Texts Concerning Different Spaces’, 2026. Photo: Erika Stevenson. @manystudios @nataliamaria_p @irineu.destourelles @urban_office_ @gifestival

. This is the last day to see my exhibition 𝗜𝗦𝗕𝗡 𝟵𝟳𝟴-𝟭-𝟵𝟭𝟯𝟵𝟴𝟯-𝟵𝟳-𝟬 (𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘) @thecommonguild The exhibition itself is my most recent publication, together with this accompanying curling unfurling 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗹, a catalogue of sorts, which is an object as much as a text, almost like a slice of tree, paper, something ephemeral, wound tight to re-find a solid form, which gradually unwinds and undoes as pieces are torn off and read (or not read)! It is also, as a coil, a representation of time, done and undone. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗹, 2026 with Ariana Reines, Newsprint, cardboard, Published in 2026 by The Vanity Press - ISBN 978-1-913983-36-9 This programme of exhibitions, entitled ‘Studies’ are developed in conjunction with the Roberts Institute of Art @therobertsinstituteofart @arianareines @frasermuggeridgestudio 🙏

Closing today / Today is the last day you can visit ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’, an exhibition incorporating works by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press from 1996–2026. The exhibition embodies a span of time and at the same time it is an anti-chronological, momentary, present-tense reading. Working with a range of media, including drawing, sculpture and performance, Banner attends to the malleable flexibility of language as a means through which to explore conflict and gender. Our doors are open 12–5pm today at 5 Florence Street. On the ground floor of the building, you can visit our Library and brows texts and recommend reading by the artist. Visit our website for details. The exhibition is the first in a new, annual series, entitled ‘Studies’, developed in conjunction with the Roberts Institute of Art. Images: Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’. Installation views, The Common Guild, Glasgow, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London. Photo: Patrick Jameson ‘Every Word Unmade’ (2007) is courtesy of the David and Indrė Roberts Collection. @fionabannerakathevanitypress @frithstreetgallery @therobertsinstituteofart @urban_office_

. A few years back I started making Marmalade, Seville oranges come in briefly, vivid orange heat in the darks of February. As my show opened in March I decided to exhibit my Mallarmé. Previously I have distributed it amongst friends and colleagues. It moves, is stored or consumed in the manner of a publication. The Vanity Press - always pithy! ‘Mallarmé conflates Banner’s thick cut marmalade with dissonant French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, equating, potentially radicalising, the domestic endeavour of chopping, stirring, boiling, reducing and bottling “itself an act of framing” and naming it as a poetic act. At the same time Mallarmé riffs on the double meaning of Mal Armé - badly armed, or by extension bad arms.’ From Mortal Coil, 2026 Mallarmé, 2026 Glass jars, printed label, marmalade Dims variable can be found in the library at The Common Guild, Glasgow @TheCommonGuild #Mallarmé #AlwaysPithy #FionaBannerakaTheVanityPress #TheCommonGuild 𝗜𝗦𝗕𝗡 𝟵𝟳𝟴-𝟭-𝟵𝟭𝟯𝟵𝟴𝟯-𝟵𝟳-𝟬 (𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘) at The Common Guild, Glasgow @TheCommonGuild 21 March - 25 April 2026 This programme of exhibitions, entitled ‘Studies’ is developed in conjunction with the Roberts Institute of Art @therobertsinstituteofart #Mallarmé Marmalade AlwaysPithy FionaBannerakaTheVanityPress TheCommonGuild

Closing this Saturday / Our current exhibition by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press is entering its final weekend. You can visit ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE) today, tomorrow and Saturday 12–5pm at our gallery space at 5 Florence Street. While you are here, you can visit our Library on the ground floor and read texts and recommend reading by the artist. Visit our website for details, link in bio. ‘Every Word Unmade’ (2007) is courtesy of the David and Indrė Roberts Collection. Images: Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’. Installation views, The Common Guild, Glasgow, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London. Photo: Ruth Clark. @fionabannerakathevanitypress @frithstreetgallery @therobertsinstituteofart @urban_office_

. Zero Poem is a very long neck tie and also a publication. It is slung high up in the Common Guild’s old school room, as if for a child that grew up and didn’t stop growing! It also acts as a sort of tag for this show. Zero Poem, published 2026, ISBN978-1-913983-42-0, Printed fabric, stitching, 810×12cm 1. Uncoiling 2. Planning (short version) 3. Hanging The Common Guild, Glasgow @thecommonguild Thankyou @tildajonathanbespoke for the superb stitching #zeropoem #FionaBannerakaTheVanityPress #TheCommonGuild #SS2026

It’s the last week to see Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’ at @thecommonguild . ‘Every Word Unmade’ (2006–2007) from #theDavidandIndreRobertsCollection, like many of Banner’s, is about communication and the building blocks of language: here fragile and faltering, combined, in its use of neon, with the seductive language of the street and commerce. When it was first made, ‘Every Word Unmade’ represented a pause in Banner’s densely verbal work that addressed the myths and narratives of conflict – a spirited attempt to denude language of its manipulative power and start again.    📆 Until 25 April   Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Installation view, ‘ISBN 978-1-913983-97-0 (EVERY WORD UNMADE)’, The Common Guild, Glasgow, 2026. Courtesy the artist, the David and Indrė Roberts Collection and Frith Street Gallery, London.  📸 Ruth Clark 
 @fionabannerakathevanitypress @thecommonguild @frithstreetgallery #theRobertsInstituteofArt #FionaBanner