EDINBURGH.- The Fruitmarket Gallery presents a solo exhibition of the work of Jim Lambie, one of Scotland’s most internationally significant artists. Known for visually compelling, generous and beguiling work which attracts both popular and critical acclaim, Lambie came to prominence with Zobop (1999), a floor-based sculptural intervention that consists of continuous lines of multi-coloured vinyl tape laid in concentric circuits of a room from its outside edges to its centre. First shown at Transmission, Glasgow, it is now in several major international collections.
Lambie’s work makes its magic from relatively humble materials – tinfoil and coat hangers, jackets, mirrors, records, turntables, potato sacks, plastic bags and household paint. Bringing together early sculptures including The Kid with the Replaceable Head (1996) , Ultra-Low (1998/2007), Stakka (1999), Roadie (1999) and Zobop (1999), with more recent work including a spectacular new version of Shaved Ice (2012/14) that fills the ground floor of the Gallery with a forest of floor to ceiling, brightly coloured mirrored ladders; this exhibition offers the opportunity to trace the development of Lambie’s exuberantly intelligent and visually arresting sculptural language.
Bringing together two decades of sculpture and installation, the exhibition is part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2014 and GENERATION, a nationwide series of exhibitions celebrating 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland, with over 100 artists exhibiting in more than 60 venues.
The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication celebrating one of Jim Lambie’s most generous sculptures: The Poetry Club, established by Lambie in Glasgow in 2012. With music and poetry from a range of performers including John Giorno, Richard Hell, Liz Lochhead and Patti Smith, over the last 2 years The Poetry Club has hosted a rich assemblage of people who, in Lambie’s words, ‘give us our dreams’.
Jim Lambie (1964), Glasgow, lives and works in Glasgow as a visual artist, musician and DJ. Lambie studied at Glasgow School of Art (1994). In 2003, he represented Scotland in the 50th Venice Biennale, and was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2005.
Selected shows include: 19th Sydney Biennale (2014); T h e Flo w e r s o f R o m a n c e , Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong (2013); S h a v e d Ic e , The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2012); S pirit u aliz e d , Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2011); Dir e c tio n s – Jim L a m bi e , Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (2006); B y r ds , The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2005); S h o uld e r P a d , Sadie Coles HQ, London (2005); M ale S t rip p e r , Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (2003); S alo n U nis e x , Sadie Coles HQ, London, and The Breeder, Athens (both 2002).
