Jupiter Artland opens in May with two new exhibitions

Jupiter Artland will have an extraordinary installation of new sculptural works by Glasgow-based artist Laura Aldridge this year, “bringing together the cosmic with the everyday, building a world indoors and outdoors filled with fictions, songs, luscious colour and sensual texture”.

The exhibition will be open from 11 May to 29 September, and spans indoors and outdoors at Jupiter Artland.

This year the sculpture park and Café Party at Jupiter Artland will be open seven days a week until 29 September allowing visitors every opportunity to see the works on display and enjoy a coffee or a meal during the visit.

LAWNMOWER creates a space “where materiality might absorb or encourage certain feelings”. Aldridge’s varied artistic activities are imbued with a sense of freedom and play, leaving space for audiences’ own interpretations and feelings.

Also opening at the same time this Spring are Andrew Sim’s new paintings that will transform The Ballroom space at Jupiter into a dreamlike forest, with plants and trees growing beneath rainbows and star-studded skies. Sim lives and works in New York drawing on everyday experiences representing their experience of Queerness. This exhibition of brand new work continues Sim’s exploration of trees, with works made on-site at Jupiter and at the artist’s London studio. It will be the artist’s biggest exhibition to date in Scotland.

Glasgow-born artist Andrew Sim draws upon their everyday experience, conscious and unconscious, creating forms and characters that represent their experience of Queerness. Sim depicts archetypes and cultural images in the foreground of their paintings, carefully considering the pivotal time to use certain imagery. These autobiographical moments and symbols document the duality and evolution of Queer lives. Winged horses, flowers, rainbows and werewolves have all featured in this painted mythology.

Laura Aldridge’s work combines luscious colour and sensual texture with handmade and collaged qualities. Richly glazed ceramics, elements sculpted in modroc and fishing floats are illuminated among soft folds of fabric. Aldridge creates a “Push and pull between dualities, such as
synthetic versus natural and object versus subject, whereby the tension lies in the viewer’s very own experience.” Working across textile, ceramic, glass and found objects, Aldridge does not spoon feed, she has a clarity about how much should be laid bare and visitors should be prepared to embark on a journey through their own experiences and senses. LAWNMOWER will also premiere a series of new
video works that Aldridge has made in collaboration with artists and musicians from her creative community.

Edinburgh Art Festival 2024

JUPITER RISING the Scottish artist-driven art and music festival returns to Jupiter Artland this summer and there will be a collaborative event with Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF) on 17 August 2024.

The festival is curated by Jupiter and EAF,
to create an innovative programme of live-music and sound. Expect unique site-responsive
performance, artist moving-image and film programmes, talks and discussions, artist-led workshops
and all-ages programmes, plus the return of the infamous late night stage showcasing progressive
club nights with the best of Scottish and international DJs.

Great British Menu The Dinner

One of the best kept secrets is the outdoor dining evenings at Café Party. Every Friday from 24 May. £80 per person. More details here.