Edinburgh Art Festival 2014 to feature over 100 artists

11TH EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL WILL TAKE PLACE FROM 31 JULY – 31 AUGUST 2014

Sometimes overlooked by those seeking more traditional Festival fare of music and theatre nonetheless the Edinburgh Art Festival is the UK’s largest annual celebration of visual art.

This year, the festival features a month-long calendar of more than 40 exhibitions alongside special events, performances and tours across 30 of the city’s museums, galleries and institutions, as well as artist-run, temporary and pop-up spaces. In its 11th year the festival will bring together over 100 leading and emerging Scottish and international artists. As part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, and during the year of Homecoming Scotland, this year’s programme will also see the presentation of a major international group exhibition bringing together five curators and 20 artists from across five Commonwealth countries.

Highlights include:

• The first solo exhibitions in Scotland by leading contemporary artists Isa Genzken and Wim Delvoye, and major exhibitions by Susan Hiller, John Byrne and Leon Morrocco, together with a new commission by Tris Vonna-Michell
• An international exhibition programmed by Edinburgh Art Festival, Where do I end and you begin, bringing together curators and artists from across the Commonwealth, including Amar Kanwar and Shilpa Gupta
• A wave of new exhibitions opening as part of GENERATION, a landmark event celebrating 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland, including exhibitions by Katie Paterson and Mick Peter at Jupiter Artland, Dalziel + Scullion at Dovecot Studios, alongside group presentations of key contemporary Scottish artists at City Art Centre and Talbot Rice Gallery
• In-depth art historical surveys including an overview of American Impressionism featuring works by Degas, Monet, Cassatt, Sargent and Whistler; the presentation of drawn and painting work by renowned art critic and artist John Ruskin; and the only UK showing of Chinese treasures from Ming: The Golden Empire
• A group show of newly-commissioned work at New Media Scotland, and exhibitions and performances showcasing the best emerging talent at Interview Room 11, GARAGE, the Glasshouse at Lauriston Castle and Edinburgh College of Art, amongst othersSorcha Carey, Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, said:

  “As the only major annual festival dedicated to the visual arts within the UK, Edinburgh Art Festival occupies a uniquely important place in the cultural calendar. Our 2014 programme continues to provide audiences with an unrivalled opportunity to immerse themselves in the very best historic and contemporary art, with an extraordinarily rich series of solo and group presentations of Scottish contemporary artists alongside exhibitions of leading international artists, many showing in the UK for the very first time.”

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, said:

“The Edinburgh Art Festival is a vital component in the success of Edinburgh’s wider festival programme, celebrating some of the very best visual art from Scotland and around the world. In the year of Homecoming, it promotes our fantastic culture, exceptional talent and reputation as a creative nation to a truly global audience.

“This year’s programme is a vibrant, exciting and diverse mix of exhibitions, events and publicly sited artworks. The Scottish Government’s support of the Generation programme underlines our commitment to supporting the arts, and shows our cultural ambitions for Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole are unmatched.”

Janet Archer, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said:

“In 2014, the Edinburgh Art Festival has a reach and a momentum which is infectious. Whether it is in one of the city’s internationally known venues or a pop up space you will be able to experience fascinating work by acclaimed and emerging artists from Scotland and across the world. This is a programme where you can plan what to take in, a programme you can experience on the spur of the moment. A month long calendar of events to look forward to and savour.”

Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland, said:

“Scotland is the perfect stage for events, and t

Commonwealth Exhibition at City Art Centre will see curators from five Commonwealth countries, present more than 20 emerging contemporary

artists in the year Scotland will welcome the world to the Glasgow 2014 Games.”

Cllr Steve Cardownie, Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion said:

“The Edinburgh Art Festival has delivered another fantastic and diverse programme for 2014, which includes exciting new artworks for public spaces in the capital. As the largest annual visual arts festival in the UK, the EAF brings the very best in the visual arts from across the globe to Edinburgh, greatly enhancing the city’s excellent reputation as home to the world’s greatest festivals. This year it is especially exciting to hear that so many artists from across Commonwealth countries will be taking part to celebrate Glasgow 2014.”

Major Exhibitions by Leading Contemporary Artists
Inverleith House will present new work by leading contemporary artist Isa Genzken in her first solo exhibition in Scotland.

Collective Gallery has commissioned to make the next in its series of freely downloadable ‘Observer’s Walks’. Open Eye Gallery will survey five decades of paintings by Leon Morrocco, and Stills Gallery will feature an exhibition curated by Owen Logan reflecting on the nature of peace and security in the modern world, featuring works by artists including Martha Rosler.

‘Where do I end and you begin’

As part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, and during the year of Homecoming Scotland, Edinburgh Art Festival, in collaboration with City Art Centre, presents an extensive group exhibition of international contemporary art. Held across four floors of the City Art Centre, Where do I end and you begin will bring together five curators and 20 artists from across the Commonwealth, introducing many international artists to UK audiences for the first time.

Highlights of the exhibition include the neon piece Where do I end and you begin by Indian artist Shilpa Gupta; an evolution of the critically-acclaimed Sovereign Forest, the highly poetic film installation by distinguished Indian artist Amar Kanwar; a newly commissioned site-specific wall installation by Nigerian-born, London-based Mary Evans; and a video installation by New Zealand artist Steve Carr. Johannesburg-based artist Mary Sibande, internationally acclaimed for her large scale figurative sculptures featuring the artist’s alter ego Sophie, will create a new work for the exhibition, while Canadian artists Brian Jungen & Duane Linklater show their recent film Modest Livelihood for the first time in the UK.

GENERATION in Edinburgh

The festival will feature the opening of several new projects as part of GENERATION, a landmark event celebrating 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland, which takes place at numerous arts venues across Scotland, supported by the National Galleries of Scotland and the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme. Jupiter Artland will present new work by Glasgow-based Mick Peter and daily performances of Katie Paterson’s Artist duo Dalziel + Scullion will respond to the architecture and geography of Edinburgh and the Isle of Lewis in a two-part exhibition at Dovecot Studios and its sister location in An Lanntair, whilst Counterpoint at Talbot Rice Gallery is a multi-disciplinary group show exploring the work of eight artists, including Ross Birrell, Keith Farquhar, Alec Finlay and Craig Mulholland.

Also part of GENERATION, the National Galleries of Scotland will host a multi-venue survey in GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland. The City Art Centre will examine the theme of architecture and the built environment in recent Scottish art, whilst OPEN DIALOGUES at the Royal Scottish Academy will showcase six artists from its successful RSA New Contemporaries exhibitions. The Fruitmarket Gallery will host a major retrospective of work by Jim Lambie, whilst Collective Gallery will reflect on 20 years of Ross Sinclair’s ‘Real Life’ project a year after his award-winning multi-work commission for the 2013 festival. A group exhibition of new and recent work by artists Laura Aldridge, Craig Coulthard, Mandy McIntosh, David Sherry and Hannah Tuulikki will open in Edinburgh and travel the length and breadth of Scotland with the Travelling Gallery, and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop will present a key exhibition by Scottish artist Paul Carter shown in Scotland for the first time.

Art Historical and Survey Exhibitions

American Impressionism: A New Vision at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art will trace the discovery of Impressionism by American artists in the late 19th century, featuring classic paintings by artists including Degas, Monet, Cassatt, Sargent and Whistler. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will present John Ruskin: Artist and Observer, an exhibition of the renowned art critic and artist’s drawn and painted work, and the National Museum of Scotland will also present a remarkable collection of original artefacts in the only UK showing of a collection of Chinese National treasures from the Ming Dynasty in Ming: The Golden Empire.

Poetry for the Palace: Poets Laureate from Dryden to Duffy at The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse will explore the 350-year history of poets laureate, including illustrations by textual artist Stephen Raw of poems by Carol Ann Duffy, the current Poet Laureate, while Edinburgh Printmakers will present new commissions by Scottish artist Calum Colvin alongside his archive of photographic transparencies compiled over the past 28 years.

The Best of Early and Mid-Career Artists

EAF is committed to showcasing early and mid-career artists in some of the city’s most interesting permanent, temporary and pop-up venues. For the 2014 festival, New Media Scotland will present new works by artists experimenting with technology in art, commissioned by the organisation’s Alt-w Fund, including Hadi Mehrpouya, Robert Powell,