Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery is adding a touch of American art to Scotland’s capital city. Their newest exhibition features the work of artist Bill Bollinger (1939–1988), one of the first sculptors of his time. His work has previously been linked and likened to other artists such as Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson, Eva Hesse and Fred Sandback. Now, it can be re-examined and enjoyed again.
The Fruitmarket Gallery’s Director Fiona Bradley said:- “We are so excited to be able to show this important art historical work to audiences in Edinburgh. Made in the late 1960s, it looks as strong, radical and beautiful in its simplicity now as it did then.”
The creativity of Bollinger’s work can be seen in the technical and industrial materials that he chose to use. Aluminium pipes, rope, rubber hoses, chain-link fencing, light bulbs and wheelbarrows are blended with a radical yet elegant element. Bollinger appears to exploit the laws of gravity, balance, and the inherent properties of water in work. Bollinger said he was “not interested in the aesthetics of form, but the fact of form.” One of his most notable pieces is a sculpture, created in the 1960s at the height of the space race, which still has an astonishing energy and power.
The exhibition brings together major sculptures and drawings by Bollinger. This includes the majority of his existing works from collections in both Europe and America. Careful reconstructions of lost works from his celebrated solo exhibitions are also included. As are works of art created during his iconic group exhibitions from New York in the late 1960s.
This exhibit provides the first ever overview of Bollinger’s brief, but extremely intense, artistic career. It is an opportunity to rediscover the radical practice of this exceptional artist.
