25 March 2010 at 6pm
This month, we will be joined by the artist Peter Liversidge to discuss his recently opened exhibition The Thrill of it All. Some of you will remember seeing Peter’s work – Signpost to Jupiter – during our Spin-off trip to Jupiter Artland in 2009.
Any exhibition of work by Peter Liversidge is predicted to present the unpredictable. For more than a decade, Liversidge’s work has encompassed every medium creating paintings and drawings, photograhy, performance and sculpture. The tone of his work shifts from the playful to the poignant, but is always underpinned by a generosity that unifies and characterises his distinct and varied approach.
Given the uncertainty that a Liversidge exhibition presents, every element in an exhibition of his work begins at the artist’s kitchen table with Liversidge sitting alone writing proposals on an old manual typewriter. These hand-typed pages, present an array of possible and impossible ideas for performances and artworks in almost every conceivable medium. In a sense, the first realisation of every work is in Liversidge’s head, then on the page, then in the mind of the reader, and finally as a physical object or happening.
This will be a chance for us to explore the ideas that underpin Peter’s practice and to discover what role we play within his creative process.
18 July 2009 at 9.15am
We are offering a Spin-off trip to the newly opened contemporary sculpture garden, Jupiter Artland, in the grounds of Bonnington House, just outside Edinburgh. Leading artists including Ian Hamilton Finlay, Andy Goldsworthy, Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and Anish Kapoor, have been commissioned and have created work within the 80-acre estate of this Jacobean mansion.
Robert and Nicky Wilson bought Bonnington House in 1999. They soon realised the potential of the estates formal gardens, fields and woodlands as a perfect site for installing contemporary sculpture, fulfilling Nickys long-held ambition to create a sculpture garden. Strongly influenced by Ian Hamilton Finlay’s garden Little Sparta in Dunsyre, Jupiter Artland places art within the landscape.
The foundation has a charitable status with a strong commitment to produce educational resources for schools. They are also committed to nurturing the work of contemporary artists and will be offering an annual residency on an invitation basis. They will also continue to commission new site specific works.
The cost for the trip is £20 per person which includes entry to Jupiter Artland and a tour by their staff, Spin discussion and transport to and from the garden from the city centre. We will be hiring a mini bus which will leave the National Gallery of Scotland on the Mound at 9.15am and will drop people back in Edinburgh around 2pm.
