A visit to Edinburgh’s Botanic Garden to see the first museum exhibition in Scotland by the internationally celebrated British sculptor, Thomas Houseago.
Thomas Houseago’s work playfully subverts the expectation of sculpture. Drawing reference to a multitude of styles such as Classicism, Cubism and Futurism, Houseago’s intentionally clumsy forms trade the imperious and enduring qualities of traditional bronze or marble for the humble aesthetic of plaster and various found materials. Lacking the weighty physical stature associated with three dimensional media, Houseago’s ‘monumental’ structures appear almost comically flimsy, reducing the grandiose weight of art history into sympathetic effigies.
This exhibition has been curated to coincide with an exhibition of original drawings used by John Hope, the early and for a long time unrecognised pioneer of botany who, in two short decades, built up the Royal Botanic Garden to be one of the leading institutions of its kind in Europe.
Joining us in discussion to explore the links between Houseago’s bold new works – including the arresting 2.5m-high Untitled Lumpy Figure which will be installed in the gardens – and Hope’s fascinating large-scale botanical images, will be Linsey Young, Assistant Curator of exhibitions at Inverleith House.
