PYCP mural to be unveiled

An exhibition of contemporary art responding to the themes evoked by Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters

Travelling Gallery has announced its Spring 2020 exhibition, Shapes of Water, which tours from 12 March to 19 June across Scotland.

Travelling Gallery, a key event supported by Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, has invited three thought-provoking and exciting young artists to produce new work reflecting their individual perspectives to our relationship with coasts and waters.

The bus – which drives contemporary art to all corners of the country – will feature an exhibition of drawings, riso prints, audio and film work from the three artists when it takes to the road next month.

Its Spring 2020 tour will begin in Edinburgh on 12 March before visiting venues and a range of coastal communities the length and breadth of Scotland until June, including the Borders Art Fair, the Orkney Isles and Aberdeenshire.

Suzie Eggins works across drawing, printmaking and sculpture and uses her imagination as a microscope to examine the cells and structures of our natural environment to create beautiful geometric drawings and installations. For Shapes of Water, Eggins turns her attention to Scotland’s water and explores the idea that our thoughts and emotions can affect our environment.

Amy Gear is a mixed media artist based in Shetland and characteristically uses her Shetland dialect to outline her artistic practice, using local words to describe the coast and landscape. Her drawings and paintings go beyond the traditional ideals of a beautiful landscape and instead explore the connections between body and land.

For Shapes of Water, Amy departs from a piece of writing inspired by her Shetland Grandparents describing the comfort in witnessing steely storms and angry waves; knowing that the unrest will benefit the buoyant sea life. The resulting artwork is a playful and cherished tribute to family and the sea.

Rhona Mühlebach is a Swiss filmmaker based in Glasgow and her films capture the atmospheric Scottish landscape placing intriguing narratives into the natural environment. For Shapes of Water, Mühlebach is making a stylish crime thriller set in Galloway Forest Park and investigating Sudden Oak Death which can be transmitted by rainwater and carried via rivers and streams.

Claire Craig, Curator at the Travelling Gallery, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to commission new work by three exciting young artists, all based in Scotland.

“We can’t wait to go on tour and discuss their artwork with audiences across Scotland as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters.”

Convener of Culture and Communities at the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Donald Wilson, added: “Once again, the Travelling Gallery has devised a fascinating and varied exhibition which I’m sure will appeal across the country.

“As a Council we are committed to making art and culture as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. This is the ethos of the gallery itself and through supporting this mobile gallery, art is brought straight into the hearts of town centres. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to pay the spring exhibition a visit.”

Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The Travelling Gallery works to make art more accessible by taking it directly into the heart of communities across Scotland.

“I’m pleased to see this special commission of three artists coming together to produce an exhibition celebrating Scotland’s natural beauty, and I hope it inspires both locals and visitors to join in with the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020.”

Tour dates

Exhibition Launch – Thursday 12^th March – Edinburgh

Friday 13^th – Saturday 14^th March – Borders Art Fair

Tuesday 17^th March – Friday 20^th March – Scottish Borders with Historic Environment Scotland

Saturday 21^st March – Lochwinnoch Festival

Thursday 26^th March – Stirling University

Tuesday 31^st March – Saturday 4^th April – North Lanarkshire

Tuesday 14^th April – Thursday 16^th April – East Renfrewshire

Tuesday 21^st March – Saturday 25^th March – Orkney

Wednesday 6^th May – Saturday 9^th May – Aberdeenshire

Tuesday 12^th May – Friday 15^th May – Renfrewshire

Saturday 23^rd May – Sanquhar

Tuesday 26^th May – Friday 29^th May – North Ayrshire

Tuesday 16^th June – Friday 19^th June – South Ayrshire

Year of Coasts and Waters

Scotland’s Coasts and Waters will be showcased throughout 2020 and celebrated with a programme of activity designed to support the nation’s tourism and events sectors. The year, led by VisitScotland will sustain and build upon the momentum of Scotland’s preceding Themed Years to spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy Scotland’s unrivalled Coasts and Waters, encouraging responsible engagement and participation from the people of Scotland and our visitors.

A year-long programme of events, activities and ideas will shine a spotlight on the impact our waters have had on Scotland, from the formation of beautiful natural features to the creation of our national drink – whisky.

Join the conversation using #YCW2020

Travelling Gallery

Travelling Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in a bus, it is a national service with the exceptional ability to reach communities and people across Scotland. We recognise that art can change lives and we create fair conditions and remove barriers to allow access and engagement to audiences in their own familiar surroundings. The gallery space offers an open and welcoming environment for people of all ages, gender, ethnicity, background, and abilities to discover and enjoy contemporary art.

“If art is for everyone then surely Travelling Gallery is the best example of that.”
Andrew Menzies, driver/guide

Travelling Gallery is a much loved and respected visual arts organisation. 2018 marked its 40^th anniversary and we take pride in the fact that Scotland is committed to taking art into its communities. Over the past forty years Travelling Gallery has brought innovative exhibitions to every local authority across Scotland reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors and school pupils. Travelling Gallery is a ‘not for profit’ organisation, regularly funded by Creative Scotland and supported by the City of Edinburgh Council.

To find out more please visit www.travellinggallery.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @travgallery ‏or Instagram @travellinggallery

Artist Biographies

Suzie Eggins lives and works in Edinburgh. She graduated from Moray School of Art in 2018. Recent exhibitions include SSA & VAS Open, Royal Scottish Academy; rock-paper-scissors, Circus Artspace, Inverness; Solo Show at Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh; RSA New Contemporaries, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (all 2019); Print Exchange, Highland Print Studio, Inverness; Many Ways to Be an Ecologist, solo show at Moray Art Centre, Findhorn (all 2018). Residencies include Graduate Residency, Hospitalfield, Arbroath and Artist in Residence, Moray Art Centre (both 2018).

Amy Gear lives and works in Shetland. She graduated with an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 2015. Recent solo exhibitions include CLIFF FACE, Shetland Museum; Pebble Problems, Market Gallery (both 2018). Recent group exhibitions include Mooth o da Cave, Look Again Festival, Aberdeen (2018); Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2017); Postgraduate Printmaking, Clifford Chance, London (2016).

Rhona Mühlebach lives and works in Glasgow. Recent exhibitions and screenings include Intermedia Gallery, CCA, Glasgow; The River, the Horse & the Woman, Alchemy Film & Arts, Hawick; Werkschau Thurgau, Kunstraum Kreuzlingen, Switzerland (all 2019); Swiss Art Awards, Kiefer Hablitzel, Art Basel, Switzerland; Bloomberg New Contemporaries, BALTIC, Gateshead; Annuale, Embassy, Edinburgh (all 2017). In 2019 she was commissioned by LUX Scotland and BBC Scotland for BBC’s Now & Next.