World’s Largest Art Show to feature works from National Galleries of Scotland

Two works from the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland, Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch by Sir Henry Raeburn and Work No. 975: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT by Martin Creed, will form part of a vast exhibition entitled Art Everywhere, which will go on display on thousands of poster and billboard sites across the UK from 12-25 August 2013.

With over 30,000 Facebook likes and over a thousand individual donations, people from around the world have helped to create the world’s largest art show. Votes and donations came from far and wide including Europe, North and South America and Asia as well as the UK.

A projected audience of 90% of the UK’s adult population, from Banff & Buchan in Scotland to Torbay in Devon, and from Lowestoft in Suffolk to Belfast in Northern Ireland, will enjoy beautiful art instead of advertising for two weeks this summer.

Cities, towns and villages of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will have poster sites ranging from billboards to bus stops transformed into artworks across high streets, major roads, tube, train and metro stations, supermarkets, shopping malls, office buildings, cinemas, health clubs and bars. 2000 London buses and 1000 black cabs will transport the artworks around the city on view for passengers as they navigate the streets.

Using image-recognition and augmented reality technology via Blippar, each physical poster will be interactive, enabling the public to point their phones at the art to access instantaneous information about each piece, visit the collection and socially share their favourites.  Prints of many of the artworks can also be bought through the site via project partner, Easyart, with all profits going to the artist and Art Everywhere.

The public’s top 10 artworks in the final list of works range from two outstanding 19th century paintings, Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott and Millais’ Ophelia, to Turner ‘s, The Fighting Temeraire, L. S. Lowry’s Going to the Match and the sculptural installation, Cold Dark Matter, by Cornelia Parker.

Cornelia Parker, the only living artist in the top ten said: “I am absolutely delighted that the British public have voted my work Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View into the top ten. It’s a fantastic project and to see my work reproduced on posters across the UK is fulfilling a long held fantasy!”

The project is supported by many leading artists including Damien Hirst who said: “Art is for everyone, and everyone who has access to it will benefit from it. This project is amazing and gives the public a voice and an opportunity to choose what they want to see on their streets“

Contemporary artist Bob & Roberta Smith supported Art Everywhere by designing limited edition artworks as rewards for donations to the project through the crowd-funding scheme, exclusively available through the campaign. Bob and Roberta Smith said: “Art Everywhere is an amazing project. Quietly it marks a revolution in the reach and relevance of art. Art Everywhere is not just for people in the know, or for artists or for gallery goers.  Art Everywhere is for everyone. I think Art Everywhere is the most important initiative in visual art since the opening of Tate Modern. In one hour the number of people who will see Art Everywhere will exceed the number of people who visited our great public art galleries in the whole of last year! People will discover new artists.  I hope kids will be inspired to study art and to go to art school.”

Art Everywhere is a collaborative project between Richard Reed, (co-founder of Innocent Drinks), the Art Fund, Tate, and the poster industry. Working with Posterscope and Vizeum, the poster industry has donated tens of thousands of sites; media owners involved include Clearchannel, CBS Outdoor, JC Decaux , Ocean Outdoor and Primesight. Partnering creative agency, 101 generously supplied all the design including those for every poster and billboard.

Richard Reed initiated the idea for Art Everywhere. His passion for the arts led to the idea of having a public celebration across Britain. He said: “This is a joyful project with no agenda other than to flood our streets with art and celebrate the creative talents and legacy of the UK”.

Tate Director, Sir Nicholas Serota said:  “Tate is delighted to have partnered with Art Everywhere to reach audiences across the UK with much-loved art from public collections. It is a huge achievement made possible by the generosity of the poster advertising industry and the enthusiasm of Richard Reed. This ambitious project has given everyone the chance to take part in a national celebration of British art.”

Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund said: “The Art Fund is all about thousands of people coming together to bring great art into people’s lives. Based on the same premise, Art Everywhere is putting beautiful images of the best of British art directly onto the streets of towns and cities across the nation. It’s a celebration of national creative talent – our artists across the centuries, and the hundreds of museums and galleries who show their work to the public.”