It can be a bit difficult to see beyond the megalith of London when it comes to pioneering art institutions in the UK. A small gallery in Edinburgh however has been quietly taking the art world by storm and this year Ingleby Gallery is celebrating its 10th anniversary by upsizing dramatically.
Click here to see more of the gallery’s current exhibitions.
The new premises at number 15 Calton Road comprises 3 floors totalling 6000 square feet, making Ingleby the UK’s largest private contemporary art gallery outside London. The gallery has divided it’s space wisely incorporating six exhibitions a year on the first floor and six smaller shows of emerging artists at street level.
Add to this a space dedicated to prints and a project where international artists are commissioned to design an advertising hoarding on the outside of the building and Ingleby is certainly more institution than gallery. Of this latter project the first to step up is man of the moment, Mark Wallinger whose simple slogan is characteristic in its allusion to a sinister comment on modern life.
Elsewhere the bold work of American artist Kay Rosen explores the visual possibility of words, using colour and subtle positioning to change to alter the way we interpret familiar words or phrases.
The third exhibition is slightly harder to spot. Courtesy of British artist Susan Collis, the broom resting against the wall, the splatter of paint and the screw in the wall are in fact all crafted from precious and semi precious materials. Challenging perceived expectations of value in everyday objects, the level of craft is exquisite in each.
Open in its new location from today, Ingleby Gallery is a very welcome addition to the UK art scene – one that promises much and, if its opening clutch of exhibitions is anything to go by, certainly looks set to deliver.
