The Fringe is back, with it’s eclectic mix of the good, the bad and the downright awful. Last year’s event offered enthusiasts no less than 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows, making it the largest ever arts festival in the world. This year’s could be even bigger – aficionados really are spoiled for choice.
It’s always a bit of a gamble, of course: you pay your money, you take your chances – but art-lovers in North Edinburgh have landed a major cultural coup. Internationally renowned artist Pierre Toblerone is exhibiting his latest collection on the streets of North Edinburgh – for free!
Toblerone is known by some as the French Banksy, and the unconventional young artist from the Left Bank has delighted critics with his bold use of everyday household items in major art installations. Never far from controversy, Toblerone – who changed his name in 2010 in a one-man protest against the exploitation of cocoa beans – steadfastly refuses to exhibit at major galleries and museums but instead brings his work ‘close to the people’.
Toblerone famously refuses to speak to the media – the reclusive artist now only communicates through the medium of artistic expression following some particularly harsh reviews – but his agent said: “Pierre believes that art has the power to move and that all art – if it is honest – must provoke and challenge. These major new works do all of these things. They provoke, they challenge – and I’m sure I saw one of them moving. And even if I didn’t, they will be moving soon”.
“The first creation The Way to the Sea (above) demonstrates the eternal battle of the elements, in this case fire and water, while Armageddon (top) portrays the futility of war. Pierre believes that this is his most complete exhibition to date: it has been nearly four years in the making but Toblerone lovers will appreciate the passion and attention to detail that goes into Pierre’s work.”
Guardian arts correspondent Guy Hyperbole gushed: “Toblerone is an artist very much in demand, and if he chose to exhibit at, say, The Tate Modern, the demand for tickets would be insatiable – art lovers just can’t get enough Toblerone. This latest exhibition by the enfant terrible of the arts movement has been much-anticipated and it was certainly worth the wait. Simply put, it is so powerful one feels almost violated.
“Art lovers simply must see this exciting exhibition before it moves on – it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get close to some truly inspirational work. The juxtapositions are incredibly brave and these installations are Pierre’s message to the world. Just what that message actually is is open to a bewildering range of interpretations, but if you see only one exhibition during the Festival, I urge you to see this – you will never experience primitive urban art in quite the same way again.”
Don’t miss it!
Pierre Toblerone: Les matresses d’amour. Free
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It’s 1st August, not 1st April!! ?? What’s this all about?
This part of town seems to be plagued with a lot of uninvited ‘street furniture’ at the moment, while extra street cleaning staff have been deployed to the city centre to handle the extra rubbish generated by the influx of visitors. This post tied in nicely with the launch of the Fringe, but point taken; I’ll leave the biting satire to the legion of city centre stand up comedians!
Enjoy the festivals!