Strachan House care home in Blackhall have recently enjoyed a day out to the Modern One art gallery following the request of some art savvy residents.
Residents on the Ground Floor community were desperate to flex their creative muscles and attend an art gallery before returning to the home to create their own contemporary art.
Art is something that the residents feel crosses divides, it allows everyone to be creative and really gives everyone something to talk about. Favourite exhibitions from the day included the Rhythm display and Connection which the residents really loved especially with the links this display had to their own lives.
Zoe our activities coordinator said: “Art is very popular with everyone who lives here at Strachan House values it very much, we love an outing and this one was a real highlight, we can’t wait to visit Modern 2!”
Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 83 residents from respite care to long term stays.
Having lived at National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two since the early 2000’s, a triumphant effort has seen the sculpture travel through the city to its new location at the National.
Dr Patricia Allerston, Deputy Director & Chief Curator of European & Scottish Art, National Galleries of Scotland said: ‘We wanted to bring the art outdoors and into the gardens at the National to spotlight that we are a gallery from the moment people arrive in the gardens.
“We wanted it to welcome people in and to show a snapshot of the incredible Scottish art on offer inside. Paolozzi seemed like a perfect choice for this spot, he was very much an artist who looked to the past as well as to the future, which is very much what we are about at the National Galleries of Scotland.
“He was also from Edinburgh, which seemed very fitting as he will now be looking out over the city and facing towards his hometown of Leith.’
Taking two days and extensive pre-planning to move the impressive one tonne sculpture, it called on expertise inside and outside the gallery to make it possible. Requiring the skills of curators, conservators, collections management, specialist movers with specialist kit including a crane and gimble to get the statue in position.
Master of the Universe is based on a famous drawing by William Blake, which shows the scientist Isaac Newton. Paolozzi used the same pose as in the Blake drawing but has mechanised the figure.
The artist also fashioned it to put himself in the picture, creating himself as the sculpture. Interested in the relationship between nature, science and the man made, Paolozzi brought all of this together to create Master of the Universe.
Visit National Galleries Scotland: National to see Master of the Universe and lots of other free art, including the greatest collection of Scottish art in the world.
Discover a giant 3ft spider and works by the biggest names in modern and contemporary art at National Galleries Scotland Modern: One
National Galleries Scotland: Modern One
Free to visit
Opens 12 July 2025
Discover some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art at Modern One this Summer with a series of free ARTIST ROOMS displays in Edinburgh, opening this weekend, 12 July 2025.
The national touring collection, cared for jointly by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate, offers the opportunity to see compelling works by pioneering artists of our time. Experience impactful new displays by Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Robert Mapplethorpe, each offering distinctive and diverse approaches to the ideas of self-expression, identity, and the complexity of our inner life.
Visitors will encounter Louise Bourgeois’s giant Spider (1994), standing at an impressive three metres high, innovative works by Helen Chadwick, and Robert Mapplethorpe’s striking self-portraits.
Themes in these three exciting ARTIST ROOMS presentations have provided the starting point for a series of new displays across Modern One, showcasing further works from the nation’s magnificent collection.
Explore paintings, drawings, prints and photography by artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Sarah Lucas, Jasleen Kaur, Edvard Munch, Lee Miller and many more! Offering something for everyone, these displays provide a place to think, dream, and reflect.
Explore the works of French-American Louise Bourgeois, one of the most influential artists of her generation whose career spanned eight decades, from the 1930s until 2010.
Her endlessly inventive work, inspired by her own experiences, included paintings and drawings, sculptures using fabric and rubber, and monumental installations.
The display will draw out the ways Bourgeois used art as an act of catharsis, with works exploring selfhood, family connections, motherhood and memory.
Visitors will discover two important works on paper – 10 am is When You Come to Me (2005) and Spirals (2005) – and a rare early painting, made by Bourgeois in 1946-7. Discover her late sculpture Untitled (1996) made when Bourgeois was eighty-five, representing a portrait of the artist’s aging body using clothes and undergarments she had worn during her lifetime.
Be inspired by the radical, sensuous, and often playful works of British artist Helen Chadwick. One of the first women artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize in 1987, her innovative and unconventional use of materials was hugely influential on a younger generation of British artists.
Her death in 1996 at 42 curtailed a career marked by inventive transgression, questioning gender representation and the nature of desire. Early photographic works in this display will explore how she used her own body to consider autobiography, self-knowledge, the cycles of life and familial relationships.
Discover how Chadwick developed her practice to incorporate other matter as stand ins for the body, as found in Self Portrait (1991) and Meat Abstract (1989), both held in Scotland’s collection.
The display will feature Chadwick’s major sculptural installation, Piss Flowers (1991-2), lent by Tate having recently been donated as part of the D.Daskalopoulos Collection Gift.
Throughout all her work Chadwick addressed deeply philosophical questions about the interconnectedness of physical and emotional states, life and death, beauty and decay, and attraction and repulsion.
ARTIST ROOMS features one of the largest and best collections of photographic works by the American Robert Mapplethorpe in existence.
A pioneer of black-and-white photography, within his relatively short career, Mapplethorpe was recognised as one of the most significant fine art photographers of the late 20th century, making images that both challenge and engage with classical notions of beauty.
The display will focus on a selection of the artist’s iconic self-portraits, demonstrating how Mapplethorpe examined his own persona. Made over a period of more than 10 years, they show the powerful ways Mapplethorpe captured the many facets of his own evolving identity.
Delve into displays showcasing the breadth of Scotland’s modern and contemporary collection as you wander through the rest of Modern One. Come face to face with compelling self-portraits by some of the most well-known international artists of the 20th and 21st century.
Be moved by striking works exploring connection and care, including two works by Turner Prize winning artist Jasleen Kaur acquired in 2024 for the nation. Explore how artists such as Bill Viola, Pablo Picasso, Everlyn Nicodemus, Pat Douthwaite and Don McCullin have addressed personal and collective grief.
Find your moment of pause and reflection in a room pairing contemplative paintings by acclaimed American abstract artist, Agnes Martin (from the ARTIST ROOMS collection) with Shirazeh Houshiary’s 1992 Round Dance series, offering a place of calm.
Dive into Summer with captivating experiences at Modern One. Families can pack a picnic and relax in the stunning grounds surrounding the gallery. On arrival you will be in awe of the spiralling Landform in front of the gallery, designed by landscape architect Charles Jencks.
Pick up a free copy of the sculpture trail for kids or download it before you arrive and enjoy it on your device as you set off to discover sculptural works by major artists including Barbara Hepworth, Joan Miró and Tracey Emin.
A Family Art Basket can be collected for free, packed with everything you need to find, chat and make together – be inspired by the fascinating art both inside and outside the gallery and allow your own creativity to flow.
Lucy Askew, Chief Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art said, ‘We’re delighted that from this July, visitors to Modern One can explore new, free displays from the nation’s collection.
“Art can be a source of insight and delight, helping us make sense of our place in the world. At the heart of these displays will be presentations of works by Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Robert Mapplethorpe, featured as part of our ARTIST ROOMS collection.
“All three artists considered deeply what it is to be human, expressing this in dynamic, intriguing and often playful ways. Their art not only reflects shared experiences, bringing attention to the things that connect us, but also offers a window onto different perspectives.
“We hope visitors will be inspired by their vision and creativity, and by the work of the many other impressive and engaging artists featured. There is truly something for all to discover.’
The National Galleries of Scotland’s unmissable summer exhibition, Resistance, opens this weekend, Saturday 21 June.
Conceived by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen the exhibition takes over the whole of Modern Two. Explore how acts of resistance have shaped life in the UK, and the powerful role of photography in documenting and driving change. Tickets are on sale now.
Plus, on the first Monday of every month during the exhibition, visitors will be able to pay what they wish, starting from just £2.
Presenting around 200 photographs from a century of activism, Resistance gives a voice to the stories and images from history which have been buried in UK archives until now.
Throughout the exhibition McQueen amplifies underrepresented voices to present a compelling exploration of overlooked histories, shedding light on the forgotten stories that have helped define the course of Britain’s history.
Resistance tours to Modern Two from Turner Contemporary, Margate.
This exhibition will bring together works by renowned photographers such as Vanley Burke, John Deakin, Fay Godwin, Edith Tudor-Hart, David Hurn, Tish Murtha, Humphrey Spender, and Paul Trevor, alongside lesser-known photographers who documented these powerful stories.
Drawing photographs from various archives, collections and image libraries, McQueen has deliberately focused on moments captured before digital cameras became commonplace.
Spanning both floors of Modern Two, Resistance spans from the radical suffrage movement in 1903 to the largest-ever protest in Britain’s history—the Anti-Iraq War Protest in 2003.
The exhibition will also highlight lesser-known events including the hunger marches of the 1930s where thousands of protesters from Scotland and across Britain marched to London, protesting unemployment and poverty. As well as the Blind March of 1920, a pivotal moment in the fight for disability rights.
Visitors will encounter poignant images from demonstrations against environmental destruction, anti-nuclear campaigns and actions advocating for peace.
The exhibition will trace the evolution of environmental movements and highlight a shift from single-issue demonstrations to broader anti-capitalist efforts that paved the way for today’s climate change action.
Including powerful photographs from the 1000-mile march from Faslane Naval Base to Greenham Common in protest against American nuclear weapons being stationed in the UK in 1983.
From Janine Wiedel’s photographs capturing life at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp to Andrew Testa’s striking depictions of the 1996 protests against the proposed Newbury Bypass in Berkshire, England, Resistance will serve as a testament to the empowering impact of collective action.
It will explore the intersections between movements such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Women’s Liberation Movement, where protests against Section 28 of the Local Government Act brought the LGBTQ+ community together. Connecting historic struggles, the exhibition will also examine the fight against fascism in the 1930s and 1940s.
The exhibition will underscore the ongoing struggle against racism, showing how grassroots movements have consistently confronted oppression throughout history.
A pivotal moment was the Black People’s Day of Action on 2 March 1981, following the house fire at 439 New Cross Road in South East London, that claimed 13 lives.
The photographs that captured the protest powerfully depict this landmark for Britain’s civil rights movement.
Paul Trevor’s series on the Bengali community will further illustrate how the emerging concept of community photography became a form of activism, amplifying the voices of marginalised groups.
Steve McQueen said: “Within the 5 years of developing the exhibition and book with the Turner Contemporary team, it has been an ambition for Resistance to travel to Scotland to be shared with audiences there.
“Resistance explores how people have challenged the status quo—a mission that feels especially urgent in today’s political climate.”
Leila Riszko, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at National Galleries of Scotland said: “We’re enormously proud to platform this compelling selection of works curated by Steve McQueen.
“This is an exciting opportunity to explore the power of photography in documenting the significant yet underrepresented stories of people who’ve helped shape the world we live in today.
“In these divisive times, many of the themes, moments and narratives highlighted in the exhibition continue to have resonance now.
“As a show about resilience, collective power, galvanising for positive change, and inspiring reaction, we hope that Resistance will stimulate discussion with our visitors and invite deeper reflection on those contemporary issues.”
Resistance is curated by Steve McQueen and Clarrie Wallis, with Emma Lewis. Political research is by Sarah Harrison. The exhibition is produced by Tessa Pierce, with assistance from Brittany Crombie. Organised by and originated at Turner Contemporary, Margate, and adapted for presentation at National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two.
A major new publication by Steve McQueen was also recently released to coincide with the exhibition. The book was compiled by Steve McQueen and edited by Clarrie Wallis and Sarah Harrison. It is published by Monument Books, a new imprint from Harper Collins.
The centenary of the remarkable Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) will be marked in a new free display of his work on the ground floor of Modern Two in Edinburgh from 8 March to 26 May 2025.
This exhibition will showcase key highlights from Ian Hamilton Finlay’s artistic career, starting in the early 1960s until his death in 2006. Hailed as a unique combination of poet, sculptor, printmaker, gardener and provocateur, Finlay’s practice covered a wide range of media which will be reflected in this display of sculptures and prints as well as never-before-seen archival materials and a room-sized installation, all from Scotland’s national collection.
From the Classical world to the French Revolution, the Enlightenment to World War Two, Finlay, a self-proclaimed ‘anti-modernist’, often looked to history for inspiration. Recurring motifs including boats, tanks, wallflowers and ships can be spotted throughout the range of artwork that will be on display. Although simple by design, they often draw on more complex references to history, literature and art – with subtle humorous nods.
Ian Hamilton Finlay; with John Andrew
Born in the Bahamas in 1925 to Scottish parents, Finlay moved to Scotland in his early childhood, taking up a brief stint at Glasgow School of Art and eventually settling in Edinburgh in the late 1950s. His love of the written word influenced the start of his career as a playwright and poet. He became a key figure in the concrete poetry movement – a type of visual poetry where words are arranged to create patterns and images on the page.
Visitors will see early examples of Finlay’s concrete poetry, including the screenprint Star/Steer (1966), which tells the visual tale of a ship navigating stormy seas under the silvery light of the stars, presented through cascading words.
The artist’s first steps into the world of sculpture will also be explored through his days as a hobbyist toy-maker in 1960s Edinburgh. The exhibition will feature the wooden Toy Cow (1962-63), one of the earliest examples of Finlay’s sculptural work, alongside photographs of the artist amongst his toy creations.
A visionary artist, Finlay harnessed the power of collaboration throughout much of his work, drawing on the expertise of fellow makers and creators to bring his artistic visions to life. From stone-carvers to typographers, ceramicists to calligraphers, he employed a wide range of specialist technicians to realise his work.
In 1966, Finlay and his wife Sue moved into a semi-derelict farmland called Stonypath, south-west of Edinburgh, sheltered within the Pentland Hills. Here, he would go on to create what is often considered his greatest work: an ambitious, expansive garden filled with sculptures.
Renamed ‘Little Sparta’, in reference to the Spartan wars in Ancient Greece, and a humorous nod to his own personal battles with organisations such as the Scottish Arts Council, Finlay grew his creative practice in its grounds over the course of 40 years.
Rarely leaving its confines for decades due to agoraphobia (a fear of open, crowded spaces), Finlay created over 260 sculptures and artworks at Little Sparta, distributed across its four acres of curated gardens. The site remains an integral part of Finlay’s artistic legacy and is open to the public to enjoy each summer.
Visitors to the exhibition can take a glimpse into the lush grounds of Little Sparta for themselves through Finlay’s installation Nature over again after Poussin (1979). Filling a whole room, the work comprises 11 photographs set on plinths, each offering different viewpoints of Little Sparta.
A carved stone can be found within each image, ‘signed’ with the initials of artists who embraced a more classical approach to painting landscapes. The work encourages a moment of escapism, embracing time to get lost within the serenity of each photo.
The exhibition will also take over the Keiller library, where visitors can uncover more about the man behind the artwork through a selection of rare archival materials. Objects including letters, personal photographs and notebooks, many of which have never been on display before, will give a unique insight into Finlay’s inspirations, artwork and life.
Patrick Elliot, Chief Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: ‘Ian Hamilton Finlay was a completely unique figure in British art.
“Severe agoraphobia meant that he seldom left his house and garden in the Pentland Hills. Collectors, museum curators and art lovers from all over the world came to see him and his garden over a period of 40 years.
“He was a complete maverick, a wonderful, complicated, fascinating man and artist. Totally uncompromising and at times difficult, he created what is, in many people’s eyes, the greatest artwork created in Scotland in the second half of the twentieth century: his garden at Little Sparta.’
Ian Hamilton Finlay is free to visit and yours to discover at Modern Two from Saturday 8 March 2025.
Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980 Opening Saturday 29 April 2023
Free
National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two
Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980, is an exploration of the modern art scene, from 1900 through to the 1970s. See how artists have captured changes in society as you move through the free exhibition, opening at Modern Two this Saturday (29 April).
You will discover how the mood and atmosphere of the work reflects and embodies each changing decade with works that have been carefully selected to best represent the period.
Filling all of Modern Two and spread across six rooms, the journey begins at the turn of the last century, in 1900. Meet the French artists who painted with electrifying colour in the first room, with work by Henri Matisse and André Derain.
Their brightly coloured landscape paintings were so radically different that the artists were given the derogatory label ‘Fauves’ – meaning ‘wild beasts’. The term stuck and Fauvism had a major impact on British and particularly Scottish art.
Two new acquisitions, by Scottish Colourists FCB Cadell and JD Fergusson, feature in this room. JD Fergusson, who was born in Leith but lived in Paris before the First World War, was one of the key Scottish artists of the twentieth century.
Painted in 1911, Flowers and Pink Box, has bright bold colour and confident, energetic brushwork. Fergusson’s work of this time often had sexual overtones and covert erotic references. In this painting, the pink box depicted is believed to have been used to store his condoms.
This is the first still life by Fergusson to enter the national collection. The Rose and the Lacquer Screen, by FCB Cadell, combines several of his favourite still-life props: a rose in a transparent vase, a black fan and its trailing ribbon and a detail of the lacquered screen that dominated the drawing room of his house in Edinburgh’s New Town.
Moving into the 1930s, artists such as Piet Mondrian believed that abstract art could change society. This room features work by Alexander Calder, Paule Vézelay and Ben Nicholson.
Entering the 1940s, abstraction and idealism were replaced by grim realism. Paintings and sculptures by Francis Bacon, Joan Eardley and Bet Low, created during and immediately after the Second World War, speak of a new reality, reflecting the harsh times. Benno Schotz’s sculpture Lament (1943) speaks of the Holocaust while William McCance’s Atom Horizon refers to the bombing of Hiroshima.
The 1950s saw a battle between Abstraction and Realism, played out in the shadow of the Cold War and the nuclear age. This is illustrated in Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980 by two mural projects created for the great Festival of Britain exhibition of 1951, which are shown together here for the first time.
Josef Hermann’s project shows a row of miners - builders of a new social order; Victor Pasmore’s mural project is instead a daring essay glimpse of spiralling abstract forms. The art of the 1950s reaches into the future yet seems steeped in anxiety.
The display from the 1950s also features exceptional works by Alan Davie, Louise Nevelson, Fernand Léger, Eduardo Paolozzi and Elisabeth Frink.
Art became celebratory, playful and experimental in the 1960s. Sculptors abandoned traditional materials such as bronze and marble for ‘soft sculpture’, exemplified in the work of Jann Haworth, Yayoi Kusama and Duane Hanson’s iconic Tourists.
A firm favourite with visitors to the Modern, Tourists, captures the banality of post-war, consumer society with humour and warmth. Although these two figures are presented as a couple, they were cast from life but never even met. David Hockney’s etching of two gay men in bed dates from 1967, the year in which homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales.
Throughout the 1970s, artists took Abstraction and Minimalism to extremes. Fred Sandback’s Untitled, 1971 – two coloured cords which cut across the corner of the room – questions the very notion of art as something with three-dimensional form or narrative meaning.
The Keiller Library presents a witty and original focus on the motif of the hand in Surrealist art and writing. Drawing on works by artists like Man Ray, Edith Rimmington and Salvador Dali, from the national collection’s world- class holding of Surrealist books and archive material.
From a time when the motor car was just beginning to populate the roads to the dawn of the space race, the world changed significantly in the 80-year timespan that the exhibition covers. This selection of one hundred works from the national collection shows ways in which artists have continually pushed the boundaries and created art which defines its time. These pieces still have the power to shock and make us think about our world today and the changes and innovations to come.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 1 & 2, Dean Road, Edinburgh. National Galleries of Scotland.
Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir John Leighton, said: ‘National Galleries of Scotland is delighted to reopen Modern Two with an exhibition that celebrates the strength of the national collection.
“Featuring a fascinating range of works by many of Scotland and the world’s greatest artists, Decades: The Art of Change 1900-1980 encourages visitors to think about how art can both reflect and change the way we see the world around us. We welcome you to join us on a voyage of discovery through 80 years of bold artistic achievement.’
Neil Hanna Photography
www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk
07702 246823
Simon Groom, Director of Modern & Contemporary Art, said: ‘Decades is an amazing opportunity to discover the rich range and depth of art from the national collection in the 20th century.
“Arranged by decades – starting with the beautiful paintings of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and the Scottish Colourists, the show takes us on fascinating journey to see how artists as diverse as Francis Bacon, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Yayoi Kusama, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, and Joseph Beuys reflected and gave shape to our experience of the 20th century.’
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COLLECTION 28 September 2022 – 2025 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR 0131 624 6200 Admission free #ScotModernConversations
New discoveries await in major refresh at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
A major exhibition of rarely seen artworks from ScotlandÕs national collection brings an abundance of new discoveries for visitors to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One).
The exhibition, titled Conversations with the Collection, takes over almost the whole of the top floor of the gallery.
Pic caption: Rachel Ashenden of the NGS
Pic Neil Hanna
A major exhibition of rarely seen artworks from Scotland’s national collection brings an abundance of new discoveries for visitors to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One).
The exhibition, titled Conversations with the Collection, takes over almost the whole of the top floor of the gallery. Curators have been busy delving into the riches of the nation’s collection of the modern and contemporary art to bring to light rarely displayed yet fascinating artworks and stories.
They have been inspired to find bold juxtapositions and visual similarities between artworks, styles and movements to offer a fresh take on how works of art can be presented and share the stories they tell. These can be enjoyed by all for free from 28 September 2022 with the art on the walls refreshed throughout the exhibition’s run.
Talking points have been encouraged and explored by covering a wide mix of techniques, processes and approaches, demonstrated across sculpture, painting, photography and more
. Iconic works by famous artists such as Anish Kapoor, Sarah Lucas, Jackson Pollock, Tracey Emin and Cindy Sherman are on display alongside those by brilliant but lesser-known figures including Carole Gibbons and Catherine Yarrow.
• A stunning ‘Madonna’ lithograph by Edvard Munch, on long loan from a private collection. • From ARTIST ROOMS, striking photographic portraits by Robert Mapplethorpe of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his underwear and a topless shot of punk rock musician Smutty Smith. • A vibrant still life by celebrated Scottish artist Anne Redpath. • A series of colour woodcuts of vivid flower prints by the much-loved British artist Mabel Royds. • Saturn by Helen Frankenthaler, the only major Abstract Expressionist painting by a female artist in the collection, on display for the first time in ten years.
Curated by Emma Gillespie, Leila Riszko and Stephanie Straine, Conversations with the Collection shares accessible and alternative perspectives on art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, without using jargon or art-historical terminology. With more than 100 fascinating artworks waiting to be discovered, the curators hope that this approach will offer visitors a new way of seeing and understanding modern and contemporary art through key ideas and issues of our times.
Conversations with the Collection presents artworks in unexpected arrangements; for example, a gouache made by the Indian artist Jamini Roy in 1930s Kolkata will be placed alongside a lithograph by Edvard Munch printed in 1890s Berlin and a pastel drawing made by Carole Gibbons in 1960s Glasgow, to encourage discussion about shared affinities between artists from different time periods and geographical locations.
Each room explores a unique theme or topic, taking on issues such as sexuality, gender roles, and racial stereotypes; the evolution of the traditionally feminine domestic sphere in the modern and contemporary art world, and creative approaches to working sustainably as reframed by the climate emergency.
Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Stephanie Straine, said: “Conversations with the Collection brings together Scottish and international modern and contemporary art in celebration of the ideas and inspirations that drive artists to make work.
“With open-ended creativity at the heart of this big exhibition, we hope our visitors will feel inspired to rediscover their collection.”
A fascinating new art installation is being constructed in the middle of an Edinburgh neighbourhood. Internationally acclaimed Finnish artist Flei Tippynge chose Drylaw for his latest work because he wants his work to be appreciated by ‘ordinary people – the only true art critics’.
Flei uses ordinary household items in his work, which he often undertakes after dark. “As I work in the open air it is easier for me to be creative without constant interruptions. Just me, the night and my materials and my imagination can run wild!” Flei’s ‘materials’ often include washing machines, tables and old tyres.
The controversial artist added: “My Drylaw work is called simply ‘Home’. Over the next few weeks I shall bring more and more recyclable items to my open air studio in the hope that I can create a new ‘Drylaw House’ on the roundabout in Easter Drylaw Drive. It could take some weeks, and will involve tons of recyclable materials – this shall be a mighty mansion – but I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Typpynge’s evolving ‘installation’ can be seen in Drylaw until the Environmental Wardens take it away.
Taking shape: ‘Home’
STOP PRESS A team of city council environmental wardens removed the ‘installation’ at 1.50pm.
Artist Flei Tippynghe is distraught. “Philistines”, he sobbed. Creative Scotland were unavailable for comment,
