Acclaimed Artists Head North

by Sarah Grant, 1 Oct 2008

At the end of August I was fortunate to meet Glasgow based artist Alex Frost who was visiting the city to bid for the Ramada Jarvis Hotel Commission. Alex was in the city to meet the project co-ordinators and to gain further understanding of the commission and to gather some inspiration for his proposal.

Alex is among a collective group of artists in Glasgow making a name for themselves in the national arts scene; and with this increased recognition comes increased demand. Having recently completed exhibitions this year in Hampshire (England) and Berlin (Germany) he was working towards an October’s viewing at the acclaimed Sorcha Dallas Gallery in Glasgow and these pieces were also to be exhibited later at the Frieze Art Fair in London. With his evidently tight schedule it was fortunate to have met with him over coffee and to hear first-hand about his previous work which has included some spectacular sculptures and pixelated drawings. To see some of his work visit www.alexfrost.com. Alex was a pleasure to meet; extremely modest and evidently interested in the task at hand.

Alex, Susan and I looked up to the Ramada Jarvis Hotel as we sat in an opposite café and discussed the huge task at hand. I would assume that the hotels massive ‘canvas’ would be a sheer joy for any artist and Alex certainly seemed to be intrigued by its potential. Also it was fantastic to have Alex in the city showing an interest in this particular commission having never exhibited in the public realm before. The commission offers flexibility for the artist’s proposals, which must have been an appeal to Alex. This commission unusually does not dictate time frame, size of project as per the norm in the Public Art industry. I would assume that this freedom would allow for increased creativity and in turn some interesting proposals to be put forward from the bidding artists.

I met up with Alex and Susan later that day out-with the city centre at the fantastic new Centre of Health Science [CoHS] building situated beside the Raigmore Hospital, and inside we met with lead artist Jacqueline Donachie as one of her creations, the newly opened heated garden, was being photographed by the press. We were fortunate to be shown all the art instillations [by five differing artists] within this fantastic modern building and its new state-of-the-art Dental Surgery. The art featured in the CoHS is separate to the Inverness Old Town Project however I felt it was important to mention within this blog as it highlights yet another impressive public art commission that the city has seen of late; all of which were created by a selection of renowned Scottish and International artists. (www.centreforhealthscience.com)

For more information on all of the new public art within the city centre or featured in this blog, visit http://www.citypartnership.org.uk/Public-Art-g.asp

And as I complete this blog another new exciting project is put to my attention. The Inverness Old Town Art (IOTA) programme has just launched ‘THE WALL’ which is an exciting opportunity for artists, designers, makers, students, community groups and schools to put forward submissions to transform a large expanse of curving wall facing the cities shopping centre. More information is available on www.citypartnership.org.uk.