Major new exhibition by Anne Hardy opens at Talbot Rice Gallery

EDINBURGH’S historic Talbot Rice Gallery has been transformed into an immersive environment by artist Anne Hardy for a new solo exhibition exploring the relationship between human biology and emerging technology.

British sculptor Anne Hardy has transformed the University of Edinburgh’s historic Talbot Rice Gallery into an immersive environment for her new show, Feelings.

Running from 27 June until 27 September, the free exhibition will also form part of the Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Art Festival during August. 

The central installation features a series of eerie, human-like “beings” crafted from a mix of jesmonite, cast concrete, rubber tubing, and the artist’s own worn clothing.

These figures, surrounded by bronze-cast branches and earth drawings, represent a future archaeology where human biology and evolving technology blur.

The atmosphere is further animated by flickering light structures powered by live meteorological data piped directly from Marfa, a high-desert city in West Texas where Anne first developed the project.

A newly commissioned soundscape also plays throughout the room, blending natural elements like wind and birdsong with synthetic electronic frequencies.

Tessa Giblin, Director of the Talbot Rice Gallery, welcomed the artist’s sensory transformation of the space.

Tessa said: “Inviting Anne Hardy to respond to the dynamics and environment of our gallery has been an exciting journey to behold, as her practice turns to figuration and a composite of found and sculpted materials. 

“What felt particularly connected in terms of the exhibition being part of the Edinburgh International Festival, was her activation of the whole room through light and sound, propelling the visual arts into a performing environment, while clearly celebrating the enigmatic life of sculpture and drawing.”

Roy Luxford, Edinburgh International Festival Creative Director, added: “Every work in this year’s Edinburgh International Festival is being presented because it matters now, artistically and culturally.

“Anne Hardy’s installation is a perfect example, carrying both the weight of deep human history and the unease of a technological present to extraordinary effect.”