Summerhall
Gregor Schneider: Süßer Duft Edinburgh 2013 (Sweet Scent Edinburgh 2013)
2 – 25 August 2013
Gregor Schneider, u r 1, Rheydt, 1986
A major new installation by this forceful German artist, created especially for Summerhall's imposing and ominous basement. For one month the space will be transformed into a series of contrasting light and dark rooms and corridors. The work promises a deeply intense experience and a strong, perhaps controversial statement about racism and slavery.
Visitors to Süßer Duft enter the space alone and are emerged in an artwork that for many will be far from a comfortable experience but will also be unforgettable.
Schneider’s previous works and installations such as Haus u r (1985 – present day), Totes haus ur (2001) in Venice (where he won the Golden Lion Prize), Die Familie Schneider (London, 2004), Weisse Faulter (2007) and END (2008) have established him as one of the foremost artists working in Europe today and one not afraid of tackling controversial or even taboo subjects.
Please note that this installation is open only to those over 18 and includes nudity.
Exhibition in the Basement Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 1—6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Fiona Banner: The Vanity Press
2 August – 27 September 2013
Fiona Banner, film still from Chinook, 2013
British artist Fiona Banner’s presentation at Summerhall premieres new film works and recent publications with a focus on performance.
Three video works will be shown for the first time: Mirror, based on a performance with actress Samantha Morton (a kind of verbal striptease); Jane's which parodies the hubris of sculpture making and Chinook in which a Chinook helicopter performs an absurd yet beautiful aerial ballet. The films will be shown along with hand-modelled neons and other works relating to Banner's fascination with semantics and military flight.
Publishing, in the broadest sense, is at the heart of Banner’s practice. In 1997 she started working under the imprint The Vanity Press, and has since published an extensive archive of books, objects and performances, many questioning the notion of authorship and copyright.
Exhibition in the Meadow Gallery and surrounding galleries.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Michael Nyman: Man With A Movie Camera
2 August – 27 September 2013
Michael Nyman, Man with a Movie Camera, (film still) 2010
Michael Nyman’s first ever exhibition in Scotland will consist of a major installation showing simultaneously the video film-maker, photographer and composer’s ten (10!) remakes of the famous vintage film “Man with a Movie Camera” by the Russian film-maker Dziga Vertov and his wife Yelizaveta Svilova (who edited the film).
Nyman’s ten films share identical frames which are synched exactly to the original film and additionally all of the films share a common soundtrack written by the artist and composer. All ten films and the original work will be able to be viewed from a single view point in the gallery space or the visitor may walk amongst the screens and monitors.
Other photographic works by Nyman will be shown also in the side rooms of the upper gallery. The works in this series are entitled “Sublime” and consist of photographs taken by Nyman as he travels the world.
Exhibition in the Upper Church Gallery, Hope Park Terrace.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
One Hundred Multiples By Lawrence Weiner
2 August – 27 September 2013
Lawrence Weiner, Lost at Sea, 1994
Taken from the collection of the curator Piet de Jong this survey of one hundred of the multiples released by the conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner will be exhibited for the first time at Summerhall before touring elsewhere.
Lawrence Weiner is arguably the most influential artist to come out of the conceptual art movement of the 1960s. His “Declaration of Intent” of 1968 defined for many the credo of conceptualism – in that “Declaration” Weiner explained for the following generations of artists that a work did not need to be physically made, it was simply enough for the work to be conceived to establish it as a work of art.
Weiner’s multiples have been an essential aspect of the artist’s practice since 1969. They on one level may be seen as an act of democratising art and making works affordable but also can be seen as a method of distributing Weiner’s ideas about art by the addition of texts (“Statements”) to everyday objects. Posters, badges, bags, cups, t-shirts, pens, cutlery, vases, writing desks and tables are all items by which the artist’s “Statements” may be mediated – yet the choice of object is often crucial to the interpretation of the work.
Exhibition in Courtyard Gallery and Dissection Room Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Robbie Thomson: Ecstatic Arc
2 – 31 August 2013
Robbie Thomson, Ecstatic Arc, 2012
Combining music and mechanical choreography, Ecstatic Arc is a stunning theatrical installation based on a dystopian future of masks and sculptures, created using found objects, recording devices and a caged Tesla coil. Ecstatic Arc was commissioned by Cryptic for Sonica 2012 and sold out - this is another chance to experience this unique work.
Sonica: sonic art for the visually minded is a programme of events that presents emerging British talent alongside exceptional international artists.
Part of the Made in Scotland Showcase 2013.
Exhibition in Library Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Sun Ra: The Immeasurable Equation
2 August – 27 September 2013
An exhibition of previously unseen cover art and LP covers and ephemera from the esoteric, spiritual jazz great Sun Ra and the Arkestra plus photographs by Baron Wolman and others of the band and their eccentric front-man in concert and backstage. Set in a lounge space at the top of Summerhall visitors are welcome tor relax on chairs and a couch and listen to the music of the band.
Exhibition in The Attic Lounge.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Ryan The Wheelbarrow: Werkr
12 August – 27 September 2013
Ryan The Wheelbarrow, Live Fashion Vandalism/Know One’s Business, 2012
An emerging and popular artist from Miami, Ryan the Wheelbarrow is a painter, “fashion vandal” and custom designer of collectable vinyl art toys for the sophisticated and stylish youth market. Unusually for an urban interventionist he works with typography and letters to create overlapping, intense and colourful canvasses but as well as exhibiting his paintings, in a two day event Ryan the Wheelbarrow invites members of the public to join the art process and get their clothes screen-printed live for a small fee of £10 per person – thus creating a wearable 1of1 work of art. This will be the first time RtW will have exhibited outside of the United States.
Exhibition in Lower Church Gallery.
Live Fashion Vandalism – the public performance will take place in the Lower Church Gallery at 3pm on Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th August. This is a paid performance. Entry will be paid for at the door.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Martin Green: Scuffed Underside
2 August – 27 September 2013
Martin Green, Untitled, 2012
Green creates delicate artworks half-way between sculpture and paintings. Using a strange assortment of unusual found objects, a series of experiments lead this quiet contemplative man to form works that see parts of memorial poppies inserted in to books with sawn pages, dye from discarded baseball hats seeping into strips of paper transcribed with lines from Philip Larkin, torn painted paper held against the wall solely with umbrella spokes and images of footballers' faces lined with pocket fluff. Despite the bizarre ingredients, Green is a remarkable artistic find and this represents his first ever solo exhibition.
Exhibition in Dean’s Office Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Chinese Modern Abstract Art: Moving Beyond
2 August – 27 September 2013
Six contemporary Chinese artists (Liu Guofo, Guan Jing Jing, Yang Liming, Liang Qian, He Gong and Wu Jian) will be exhibiting works in an arts project conceived by Chinese poet Yang Lian and Dr Janet McKenzie (Editor: Studio International) . The exhibition seeks to open a new page on Contemporary Chinese Art, to move forward from the perception in the West of a contemporary Chinese art, based on many artworks that are in the view of Yang and fellow artists and intellectuals who experienced the Cultural Revolution at first hand, largely derivative of Western language and sources and failing to do justice to the diverse work being produced by artists who seek a deeper intellectual and spiritual standard in their work, a canonical basis for Chinese contemporary art.
Exhibition in The Long Corridor.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Johnny Miller: Hut Drawings
2 August – 27 September 2013
Johnny Miller, Senegal, 2013
As part of Summerhall’s ‘Pop-Up-Art’ installations in the main courtyard, Tokyo-based artist Miller will be exhibiting hundreds of his detailed ink and gouache drawings in a large purpose built hut (a strategy for exhibiting the artist has used before). Taking his inspiration from Japanese culture, graffiti, the Rake’s Progress and woodcuts as well as the Japanese written language, Miller creates a deliberately confusing and overwhelming environment for those who enter in the space.
Exhibition in Summerhall Courtyard.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Stuart McCaffer: Saki and Flynn
2 August – 27 September 2013
McCaffer is a conceptual artist and also a trained barber. As part of Summerhall's 'Pop-Up-Art' installations in the main courtyard the artist will revisit his past, with a reconstruction of his barbershop 25 years after it first opened its doors. The barbershop will be open alongside a project in which McCaffer will catalogue the hair collected from the floor of the shop, before making hair candles as mementos.
Exhibition in Summerhall Courtyard.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Mads Teglers: Looking For Eva
2 August – 27 September 2013
Mads Teglers, Looking For Eva, 2012
Documenting a young woman's attempt to understand her itinerant and adventurous grandmother through role play, Tegler's photography is exhibited as installation rather than a traditional hanging. Different sizes of images, some merely ink-jet outputs of reproductions from photographs, others glossy c-prints, overwhelm the space. This installation is part of Summerhall’s ‘Pop-Up-Art’ initiative.
Exhibition in Summerhall Courtyard.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Derek Jarman: The Blue Book
2 August – 27 September 2013
Blue was the last film made by the acclaimed film-maker. Written at a time when Jarman knew he was likely to die from AIDS-related causes, the screen is entirely taken up with a deep blue colour with a poetic mostly-auto-biographical text read over it by Jarman. Less known is the artist book Jarman planned before his death – a large-sized book that reproduces the text of his film but contained in hand-painted blue boards, end papers and solander box. Jarman sadly died before he was able to complete the books planned (none were signed for example) but Summerhall will be exhibiting one of only four proof copies made on Jarman’s behalf before his death, the texts from the book and other related material.
Exhibition in Summerhall Courtyard.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Timothy Neat and John Berger: Last Of The Heroic Modernists - John Berger In Scotland
2 August – 27 September 2013
John Berger, photograph by Timothy Neat
Scottish writer and filmmaker Timothy Neat has collaborated with John Berger since 1978. As a 'trailer' to Neat's retrospective exhibition, Stands Scotland Where She Did? (Aberdeen 2013), Summerhall is proud to exhibit photographs, drawings and archive material documenting Berger's seminal contribution to the culture of Scotland. The Neat/Berger film Play Me Something (featuring Tilda Swinton, Hamish Henderson and Liz Lochhead) will be shown. Public seminars, led by Neat and Anne Michaels with an outstanding array of platform of speakers, will explore Berger's contribution to art, politics, literature and philosophy in the 20th century.
Exhibition in the Ground Floor Corridor and Cafe.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Marius Alexander: The Performing Eye - 30 years of festival & performing arts
2 August – 27 September 2013
Marius Alexander has photographed every one of Edinburgh's many Festivals for 30 years. His work has been published in numerous books, magazines and newspapers all over the World, and widely exhibited.
Here a selection of his striking images will be shown in Summerhall's technology incubator, TechCube.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Paul Robertson: Exhibition In A Pocket
2 – 31 August 2013
Paul Robertson, in the Phenotype Genotype (PhG) installation
Paul Robertson, artist and curator at Summerhall, will be offering a fully curated exhibition at bar and coffee tables during the festival. Entirely based on small avant-garde artworks kept in his jacket pockets, interested visitors will be shown the works and invited to discuss them over a pint or a glass of wine or even a coffee. This exhibition is entirely offered on a chance encounter basis at irregular times during the Festival.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
Free admission
Summerhall
A Selection from The Richard Demarco Archive
2 August – 27 September 2013
Demarco European Art Foundation exhibition at Summerhall will replay its exhibition at our Italo-Scottish Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale in June only, entitled ‘Italo-Scotland in Europe, Europe in Italo-Scotland’ following on from the exhibition “Scotland in Europe” at Scotland House, Brussels in 2011. We also mark our plans for next year’s anniversaries including outbreak of WW1 and the battle of Monte Cassino.
Exhibition in the Richard Demarco Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Jane Frere: Return of the Soul - the Wall - the Void
2 August – 27 September 2013
Painting, drawing, print making, and models following from a journey in three parts beginning with Palestine 2007 to 2013.
Exhibition in the Richard Demarco Gallery.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Robert McDowell: Troubles in Europe - Paintings and Installations
2 August – 27 September 2013
Works exploring how a visual artist may respond to political-economy questions?
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Robert Kuśmirowski: Pain Thing
2 August – 27 September 2013
Polish artist Robert Kuśmirowski created a major installation in Summerhall's former stables for last year's Edinburgh Art Festival. This year is another chance to see this permanently sited work in which an animal experiment appears to have gone wrong and an unwitting sacrifice has been made to bring a robot to life. Not for the squeamish.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission
Summerhall
Phenotype Genotype (Phg)
2 August – 27 September 2013
Installation view of Phenotype Genotype (PhG)
Summerhall’s permanent exhibition of avant garde works set in an original laboratory setting, Phenotype Genotype (PhG) will show over 400 small, medium and large works by a wide range of diverse artists amidst items rescued from Summerhall’s scientific past. The artworks (all from the Heart Fine Art collection at Summerhall) will illustrate the historical and motive forces that fuelled the international avant garde since 1900 to the present day. For this festival the exhibition has been overhauled and over 30% of the exhibits replaced with newly arrived items. The space also contains Robertson’s PERIODIC TABLE OF ART – a massive wall vinyl.
Mon—Sun, 11am—9pm
September: 11am-6pm
Free admission