Works by Alberta Whittle to be exhibited across Edinburgh on a series of large scale billboards
From 11th – 17th December 2023 artworks by Scottish Barbadian artist Alberta Whittle are to be exhibited across Edinburgh on a series of large scale billboards and advertising spaces as part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s UK-wide ‘All About Love’ commission curated by Zarina Rossheart.
The public art project celebrates the legacy of All About Love, the seminal text by cultural critic, feminist theorist and author bell hooks. The iteration in Edinburgh with Alberta Whittle is realised in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland.
Against the backdrop of political and social turbulence, Alberta invites us to come together to confront difficult truths from both the past and our present times, in order to find collective healing. Often drawing on profoundly personal materials, poetic imagery, and intimate stories, Alberta’s message is ultimately one of hope; hope for a different future, and a call for us to ‘invest in love’.
The works in this outdoor exhibition, taking place in 12 locations across Edinburgh including Market Street, Newhaven, Haymarket and Leith, are drawn from original watercolours featured in Alberta Whittle’s largest solo exhibition to date at the National Galleries of Scotland. Free to visit, Alberta Whittle: create dangerously is open at Modern One until 7th January 2024.
The central work of the city takeover titled Invest in Love comes from a series of new watercolours by Alberta currently on display in the National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One.
Inscribed in hand-painted script, the work acts both as a direct call to action and as a reminder to audiences (and herself) to bring love into the everyday – love for the self and love for others.
Alberta has used this phrase on a number of occasions throughout her career including in her solo presentation at La Biennale di Venezia in 2022 where she represented Scotland.
Other messages in the billboard series include Fill your heart with hope and Step lightly, tender encouragements by the artist that come in the spirit of love, care and hope.
These are situated alongside more defiant and rebellious calls such as Raise the alarm, as well as Create Dangerously, a reference to Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat and their meditation on the lived experience of an immigrant artist, telling stories of those that have managed to thrive and create in spite of the harrowing events they have gone through.
Alberta Whittle says: ‘I return to bell hooks time and time again. She reminds us to centre love in how we move through the world and to replenish ourselves in our active learning with others.
“Living in the catastrophe of racial and cultural violence, we need to hold onto love with all our hearts. Invest in love.”
The works, which are shown as small watercolours in the NGS exhibition, will be presented as large-scale billboards for the first time. The block colour used in the works displayed for this new project is the ultramarine blue drawn from the wall colour used at NGS where Invest in Love is hanging.
Alberta Whittle’s billboard takeover is the final in a series of BUILDHOLLYWOOD’s UK-wide ‘All About Love’ commissions that have taken place across 2023 featuring works of artists: Grace Ndiritu in Birmingham; Jasleen Kaur in Glasgow; Eve Stainton in Manchester; Helen Cammock in Brighton and Asmaa Jama in Bristol.
Zarina Rossheart, the project’s curator explains: “‘All About Love project was conceived as an invitation for artists and audiences to come together in communion and to look at love as a radical tool for resistance while living in the violent world and society collectively overtaken by pain and grief.
“Alberta Whittle has consistently encouraged us to ‘Invest in Love’, one of the tender and inspiring messages that will appear on the billboards across Edinburgh this December. I am excited to work with Alberta and the National Galleries of Scotland to present these works in the city large-scale for the first time.’
BUILDHOLLYWOOD Founder Tim Horrox says: ‘The journey of our first major UK wide curatorial and artist commission has enabled us to explore the concept of Love, through artists celebrating cities including Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton and Bristol.
“We are now delighted to be presenting such important works by Alberta Whittle in Edinburgh – we are honoured to work with Alberta and look forward to audiences engaging with her work this December.’
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