Your chance to bathe in a stunning new artwork

July 29, 2019 | Uncategorized

A stunning art installation has opened at Jupiter Artland, near Edinburgh.

Jupiter Artland’s latest permanent commission, Gateway, by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, is part of the Edinburgh Art Festival and takes the form of a vibrant swimming pool pressed into the landscape.

The Scottish sculpture park also presents the first solo UK exhibition of pioneering choreographer and artist, Trisha Brown with Time, Space, Gravity, and performances of her most striking dances with In Plain Site (9-11 August), a collaboration with Edinburgh International Festival.

Gateway is an artwork integrated in a whimsical pool garden and is the result of a three-year collaboration between Jupiter Artland and the artist. The nine-metre, fully functioning swimming pool is surrounded by a yew hedge that frames the whole composition and is a natural limit to the artist´s intervention which draws inspiration from the leylines that are said to intersect at the 100 acres sculpture park.

These leylines are believed by some to channel earthly energy, connecting sacred and spiritual sites across the world.

Joana said: ‘Gateway is a big splash that invites the public to immerse in a joyful and spirited dimension, leading to a connection with the energy of the Earth. It’s like a threshold to another universe that we’re not conscious of but through which we can flow.’

Vasconcelos has incorporated patterns from her own astrological chart into the design of the artwork, which is made of 11,366 hand-painted and glazed tiles crafted using traditional methods at a 100-year-old factory in Vasconcelos’ native Portugal. Each tile is one of a kind and was developed by Viúva Lamego and Atelier Joana Vasconcelos and has no duplicates throughout the entire artwork.

Founding director of Jupiter Artland Foundation, Nicky Wilson added: ‘Gateway has been one of the most interactive installations we have had at Jupiter Artland and has certainly had one of the biggest impacts on the gardens. It has transformed what was a disused livestock space into a sublime and spiritual place.’

Drawing upon the performance of bathing and art’s historical fascination with the subject, Gateway will play host to public bathing sessions throughout August as part of Edinburgh Art Festival which can be booked at www.jupiterartland.org.

Bathing sessions are available this summer in Gateway by Joana Vasconcelos (Photo: Allan Pollok-Morris, courtesy Jupiter Artland)

Jupiter Artland’s summer exhibition – Time, Space, Gravity – is dedicated to the work of choreographer and artist Trisha Brown (1936 – 2017), whose legacy continues to be a source of joy and fascination for the generation of artists who follow in her footsteps.

Combining physical virtuosity with the inquiring mind of a scientist, her early works evolved outside of formal dance settings, taking place in downtown New York across rooftops, streets and parklands. The city and landscape became Brown’s laboratory as she engineered ideas that expanded the possibilities of movement for both dancers and audiences alike.

Born in Aberdeen, Washington, Trisha Brown moved to New York in 1961 where she went on to create over 100 choreographies and six operas in addition to numerous texts and an extensive body of works on paper. This exhibition focuses on her film archive and drawings, charting the development of her movement language from early site-specific pieces through to her large-scale works for the proscenium stage.

Accompanying the exhibition is Trisha Brown: In Plain Site, a series of Brown’s short dance pieces interpreted for the landscape of Jupiter Artland, performed by Trisha Brown Dance Company as part of Edinburgh International Festival.

Head of exhibitions and audience engagement, Claire Feeley said: ‘Trisha Brown believed passionately in bringing art outside of traditional formal settings, which is why it is such a great honour to restage her most significant site-specific choreography across Jupiter’s special landscape as our first collaboration with Edinburgh International Festival.

‘An artist of visionary power, Brown fearlessly transgressed artistic categories and Jupiter’s programme for 2019 flows from a celebration of experimentation.’

Associate artistic director of Trisha Brown Dance Company Carolyn Lucas added: ‘From the start, Trisha Brown viewed dance as a form of kinetic art, innately connected to – and really part of – the world of visual art.

‘So, we are thrilled to return to the Edinburgh International Festival with a programme at Jupiter Artland that explores and celebrates this driving impulse in her work. Trisha Brown: In Plain Site will showcase Trisha’s original distinctive movement in dialogue with the amazing collection of contemporary sculpture installed across Jupiter Artland.’

Jupiter Artland: 28 July to 29 September, 10am–5pm every day. Public bathing dates: 29 July to 9 August, Monday to Friday, 10am–1.30pm.