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Thu 19 Jul 2007

PRESS RELEASE

Jardins Publics

This summer the Edinburgh International Festival goes green as specially commissioned art by three internationally acclaimed visual artists is shown throughout the Scottish capital in a major new exhibition from Friday 10 August to Sunday 2 September.

Jardins Publics, which marks the return of visual art to the EIF, presents large-scale and intimate works in diverse and specially selected locations including East Princes Street Gardens, the New Town, Water of Leith walkway, and an Old Town courtyard.

Curator Katrina Brown has invited artists Richard Wright, Michael Lin, and Apolonija Sustersic to make new work for the exhibition, which asks us to consider gardens as social places – made by and for people: cultivated, man-made environments rather than natural places.

Jardins Publics draws inspiration from the city of Edinburgh itself; the work of Patrick Geddes – former resident of the Royal Mile now regarded as the father of modern town planning and champion of the importance of gardens; and renowned Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay, and particularly his words: ‘Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks’.

The exhibition is free and unticketed and opens daily throughout the Festival from 11.00am to 7.00pm.

Michael Lin - East Princes Street Gardens

Tokyo-born artist Michael Lin is internationally known for his spectacular site-specific painted walls and floors that reproduce the vivid floral motifs of Taiwanese textiles on a vast scale. For Jardins Publics, he is creating a large, specially-designed structure for East Princes Street Gardens.

Enveloped in his trademark, lusciously coloured, floral designs, the structure will inject colour into the heart of the city, making a stunning backdrop for meeting, talking or just hanging out.

Students from Edinburgh College of Art will assist in constructing and painting the structure.

Apolonija Sustersic - Chessel’s Court, off Canongate, Royal Mile

Working with architect Meike Schalk and the residents of one of Edinburgh’s historic closes, Apolonija Sustersic has designed garden furniture and equipment to breathe new life into a communal space.

Sustersic, who originally trained as an architect, specialises in the creation of places in which people can come together and exchange ideas. In Edinburgh she will be following in the footsteps of Patrick Geddes, who passionately believed in the positive effect of gardens on people’s lives.

Richard Wright - 26 London Street & St. George’s Well, Water of Leith

Glasgow based artist Richard Wright, one the UK’s most respected and sought-after artists, often paints directly onto the walls, ceilings or windows of the spaces in which he is invited to exhibit with his work only lasting as long as the exhibition.

For Jardins Publics Wright, who studied at Edinburgh College of Art, will work in a tiny structure on the banks of the Water of Leith and a grand private apartment in the heart of the New Town.

In each, Wright will work specifically in response to these diverse locations, creating unique new spaces for the viewer to linger in in the heart of Edinburgh.

In addition to the main exhibition there is the rare opportunity for the public to see the mosaic-covered interior of St Bernard’s Well, a beautiful little temple-like building on the Water of Leith, designed by Alexander Nasmyth in 1789. St Bernard’s Well opens on Saturdays and Sundays from 11.00am – 3.00pm during Jardins Publics.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Jardins Publics

Friday 10 August to Sunday 2 September

Open daily between 11 am and 7 pm

Free

Michael Lin: East Princes Street Gardens

Apolonija Sustersic: Chessel’s Court, off Canongate, Royal Mile

Richard Wright: 26 London Street and St. George’s Well, Water of Leith

Curated by Katrina M Brown, Director of The Common Guild

Produced by Katie Nicoll, independent producer

Exhibition supported by Visiting Arts

Apolonija Sustersic’s participation in Jardins Publics is supported by the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam.

Michael Lin’s participation in Jardins Publics is supported by Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan. Taipei Representative Office in the U.K.

All sites are easily accessible, with the exception of 26 London Street which involves some steps at the entrance. Assistance is available.

For more information phone 0131 473 2000 or visit www.eif.co.uk

Michael Lin (b. 1964, Tokyo, lives in Shanghai and Paris) has participated in several major international exhibitions including the 2005 Biennale de Lyon. His Taiwanese patterns have enlivened everything from the exterior of a vast industrial building in Lyon, to a tennis court in Hawaii and a skateboard ramp in Shanghai. He has made bold, large-scale works for major public buildings such as the Atrium of The Hague’s City Hall and the bar at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris. He is represented by GalerÌa Nogueras-Blanchard, Barcelona and Galerie Tanit, Munich.

Apolonija Sustersic (b. 1965, Ljubljana; lives in Stockholm and Amsterdam) trained as an architect and has worked as an artist for several years developing a broad-ranging interest in how people and society are related to public space. Her work has been seen in a number of major international exhibitions and museums, including the 2005 Tirana Biennial, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Manifesta 2, Luxembourg , the Kunstverein Hamburg, and the 2001 Berlin Biennale. She is Professor at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

Richard Wright (b. 1960, London; lives in Glasgow) is one of the UK’s most respected and sought after artists. A highly accomplished painter, Wright is known for his ephemeral works, often densely labour-intensive, painted directly onto the exhibition place’s walls – or other surfaces. His works articulate an optical experience, the space between the viewer and the place. Solo exhibitions include Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Kunsthalle Bern, Milton Keynes Gallery and Tate Liverpool. He is represented by Gagosian Gallery, London and New York, BQ, Cologne and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow.

Curator Katrina Brown is founding Director of The Common Guild, based in Glasgow. From 1997 - 2007, Katrina was Curator / Deputy Director of the highly successful Dundee Contemporary Arts, opened in 1999 and responsible for its widely acclaimed programme of exhibitions. Prior to this, she worked at Tate Liverpool and Tramway, Glasgow and was a committee member of Transmission Gallery in the early 1990s. In addition to her exhibition work, she writes regularly about contemporary art and publications include a Tate monograph on Douglas Gordon.

“We must cultivate our garden.” Closing words of Voltaire’s Candide

A performance of Leonard Bernstein’s setting of Voltaire’s Candide opens the Edinburgh International Festival on Friday 10 August, 8pm, Usher Hall.

The Edinburgh International Festival is supported by The City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Arts Council, and the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council.

For further information, interviews or images please contact Brian Maycock, Sophie Hodges or George Anderson at the Edinburgh International Festival press office on press@eif.co.uk or 0131 473 2020