Expo Commissions Announced
2010 Expo Commissions Announced
Details of three major Edinburgh Art Festival commissions, supported by the Scottish Government’s Expo Fund, were recently announced. Internationally acclaimed Scottish artists Richard Wright and Martin Creed will each make a new work: Wright will make a major new painting at the Dean Gallery and Creed is set to create a public work in the centre of the city. The third commission will introduce Scotland’s new generation of visual arts talent to the international audience at the summer Festivals.
Curators, artist-led groups, galleries and artists are invited to apply to the fund for the creation of new work by a Scottish born or based visual artist, to be unveiled at the 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival.
If you would like to download information and an application form for the 2010 Expo Commissioning Fund for an Emerging Artist, click here.
THE STAIRWELLS PROJECT
The Stairwells Project at the Dean Gallery will see 2009 Turner Prize nominee, Richard Wright, make a major new painting on the fabric of Thomas Hamilton’s Dean Orphan Hospital, now the Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The Dean Gallery is one of Thomas Hamilton’s most important buildings and the stairwells, both outside and inside, are key features of his design. Both of the stairwells will be made available to Richard for his work.
Richard Wright in one the Dean Gallery stairwells, the site for his Expo Commission painting. Photograph by Angela Catlin.
The Buildings of Scotland volume on Edinburgh describes the inside of the stairwells thus: ‘their great height is exaggerated by inward inclination at the clearstorey stage.’ This is indeed one of their key features. The inward inclination of the windows makes it look as if the towers are falling in on themselves. It is a very dramatic effect. The other major and singular feature of the stairwells is the exaggerated height of the banisters. This is so that the orphans could not climb on to them to slide down and possibly hurt themselves.
“The design gives an Alice-in-Wonderland effect to the stairwells,” says Keith Hartley, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. “It is as if they had been built for giants. The idea of having twin stairwells is that one would be for the girls, the other for the boys. All of this provides a rich visual vocabulary and historical context for Richard Wright’s wall-painting.”
“Ever since Richard Wright made two exquisite, but ephemeral wall paintings for our exhibition Correspondences: Art from Scotland and Berlin in 1997,we have wanted to have a permanent painting by the artist in one of our Gallery buildings. When the opportunity came to apply to the Scottish Government’s Expo Fund to commission Richard to make a major painting in the Dean Gallery, we seized the opportunity eagerly. We are delighted that we were successful in being selected and look forward to working with the artist and the Edinburgh Art Festival in the coming months.”
THE SCOTSMAN STEPS PROJECT
Meanwhile, in the city centre, 2001 Turner Prize winner, Martin Creed, will make a new work on Edinburgh’s historic Scotsman Steps. Curated by Fiona Bradley of the Fruitmaket Gallery, the work will premiere at the 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival as a destination artwork within Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.
“The Scotsman Steps are an historic artery between Edinburgh’s old and new towns,” says Fiona Bradley. “Siting an artwork on the Steps will bring Martin’s work to the attention of people who use the Steps, but who would not normally consider themselves an audience for art. At the same time a new work by a Scottish artist of such high international repute will raise the profile of The Steps, encouraging art audiences, who will seek the work out, to use this landmark highway.”
The Scotsman Steps, location for Martin Creed's new Expo work. Photograph by Angela Catlin.
The Steps, which are presently somewhat dilapidated, have been identified by Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh World Heritage as a priority for refurbishment. This work is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2010 summer festivals with Martin Creed’s artwork a key part of the refurbishment.
“Built into the fabric of Edinburgh, Martin’s work will engage audiences outside the gallery environment, becoming part of their everyday experience of navigating through the city and highlighting the Scotsman Steps’ existence and purpose – they have historically always been designated as a road, linking the old and new towns. The work will also challenge audiences, encouraging them, as much of Creed’s work does, to think again about how they inhabit the world.”
Commenting on the opportunity that the Expo commission offers, Martin Creed said:
“It will be great to be back in Scotland. I am happy, excited and nervous to be playing at home”