Spin Events
Nathan Coley at Mount Stuart
'There Will Be No Miracles Here' 2006 by Nathan Coley at Mount Stuart (c) Photography by Keith Hunter. Courtesy of the artist
Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute
19 August 2006, 9am-6pm
Since May we have been promising you a Spin-Off trip to Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. We hope these details will entice you to join us on Saturday 19th August.
Mount Stuart is the spectacular 19th-century Gothic home of the Marquess of Bute, and was born out of the vision and passion of the 3rd Marquess of Bute. Over the years, Mount Stuart has expanded and developed according to the interests of successive family owners and today, it is a very special place for contemporary art in Scotland.
For the past 6 years, Sophie Crichton Stuart has curated an exciting programme of contemporary visual art, bringing exhibitions of an international standard to Bute and Argyll. Since its inception in 2001, the programme has welcomed top class international artists including Kate Whiteford, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Christine Boreland, Langlands and Bell and Anya Gallacio to create works in a range of media from photography, installation video and painting.
All the artists are encouraged to spend time on the island and make use of Mount Stuart archives, and new work is created in the context of the history and topography of the house.
This year, Dundee artist Nathan Coley has chosen to build an amazing illuminated sculpture within the 18th-century landscaped parkland and within view of the spectacular Victorian Gothic house, Mount Stuart. Reached by walking through the trees into a grass avenue, the emotive nature of the work has a magical and theatrical quality and takes ownership of the space in which it is located.
In 2001, the Mount Stuart Trust commissioned a new Visitor Centre designed by Alfred Munkenbeck, an unashamedly modern building containing a gallery and restaurant. In a development of his installation The Lamp of Sacrifice, 286 Places of Worship, Coley presents three new works relating to the main religions of the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Using the borrowed language of ‘Dazzle’ painting or wartime camouflage, these objects are trying to hide their visibility and disguise their form.
We will also be able to see an object chosen by Coley from the historical collection and previously unseen, and exhibited within the house. The story of this object is fascinating and is a final gesture in Coley’s exploration of visibility and invisibility.
In addition, to seeing this exciting new commission by Nathan Coley, that’s not all we have in store! We will be able to walk the grounds and plan to introduce you to some of the previous artworks such as Anya Gallacio’s silver leafed tree. There will be a special viewing of Langlands and Bell intervention of 2004, no longer open to the general public – we will see how the pair ingeniously transformed the tiny and exquisitely detailed family chapel.
Please note that there is a bus for Spin: Edinburgh members and tickets cost £10. Limited places.