Welcome to the Toll Cross Exhibition Blog page!

by Louise Ellen Gibson, 12 Nov 2008

Welcome to the Toll Cross Exhibition Blog!

First of all I just thought id give you a wee bit of information about who I am and what I spend my days doing!

So…

I was born in Edinburgh, I am 23 yrs of age, and I am unmarried and currently live with my partner in Toll Cross in Edinburgh.

My name is Louise Gibson, I was born in Glasgow, I am 23 years of age, and currently live in Toll Cross in Edinburgh. I am a sculptor currently in my final year at Edinburgh College of Art.
Over the last few years I have been creating work directly out with the restricting confines of your typical white spaced gallery. I have done 3D non-commissioned public art in Berlin (Summer 2007) and also organized and exhibited in an exhibition whilst living in the country for 4 months last year. I have also done public art on the streets of my hometown Edinburgh. My public art is aimed at involving a un expectant audience and allowing them to experience my contemporary sculpture within their everyday life. I love to collage using mixed media in both 2D and 3D forms. At this point in my practice I am creating mainly figurative based work using various mediums, one of the most exciting ways of making sculpture at the moment for me is working unconventionally and imaginatively with resin fibreglass-ideal for durable pubic art. I have done a lot of ‘out of the gallery work’, but I also love the feeling of a large clean white exhibition space and have been involved in many exhibitions over the last few years. I have notably exhibited in The Royal Scottish Academy Scottish Society of Contempery Art Show for the last two years whilst also winning an award for my work in sculpture at college.

Anyway enough about the past, lets talk about something far more interesting, the future….

The Toll cross project;

Toll cross Public Art Exhibition and project 2008/2009

I am organizing an exhibition of my own artwork on the streets of Toll cross in Edinburgh. The show will be held in the open space outside the bank of Scotland in the heart of the area! The exhibition will directly involve 6 businesses, with each business being the inspiration for a particular sculpture.

The 6 businesses directly involved with the project are;

John Sanderson’s High-class family Butcher- 40 Leven Street
Lupe Pintos Mexican Deli- 24 Leven Street
Statement Barbers- 36 Home Street
The Tree House Cafe- Leven Street
James Morrow Home entertainment- 1 Home Street
Joolz Clothing and jewelry-29-31 Leven Street

• It will be held throughout the day over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of May 2009.

• After the Exhibition the work will be exhibited further on the streets of Toll Cross, outside or on top of the appropriate shop or businesses involved, or in another appropriate semi-permanent location in the area.

• The Sculptures; The show will consist of 6 Sculptures made from mixed media and fibreglass. Each sculpture is a ‘character’ and a combined product of my artistic vision derived from my observation and interaction with each one of the chosen businesses in the area.

I have been, over the last couple of months regularly visiting the shops involved, and recently arranged a specific date with each, when I can take some photos of their businesses and the owners themselves, and have a more focused chat about their business and what it means to them/the intentions/aspirations etc for their shops. This is a very important part of my research, as it will inevitably feed my imagination for the collection of sculptures I am going to make for the show!

Aims and intentions (very brief);

• I believe there is a lack of un commissioned contemporary street artwork in Edinburgh, despite this; there is undoubtedly some fantastic permanent bronze works, which most defiantly have a valuable role in the aesthetics of our city. However it seems a lot of them these days do go unnoticed, and many people, including myself, are confused by the relevance of these figures in certain locations. My intention for my Contempery project is to create approachable, endearing and exciting semi permanent sculpture that is relevant and recognizable in its location. I want to invite as many people of all ages from all walks of life to see the work. My work is often very colourful and playful but also has quite dark undercurrents; it depicts strong figures and has elements of street performance. I believe it will stand out against the backdrop of the grey city in a fresh new and unexpected way. I like to think that it will fit compositionally into the space and people will experience the exhibition by chance and through community advertisement. I strongly believe that to enjoy and experience art you shouldn’t have to be familiar with the art world and you don’t have to take yourself into a gallery to see it.

• I am also hoping that the exhibition and project will ripple out with the initial involvement of a handful of key traders and open up further possibilities for me and other artists to make our work more accessible to the public.

Funding and Advertising;

I am working alongside the Toll cross Traders Association and they are helping me with flyers/posters and other possible forms of advertisement, if you want to be involved also in promoting the show then your ideas and input for the event is very much welcome!

I am also going to arrange a night at one of the local pubs where all those who are/want to be involved can to get together and discuss the exhibition and throw a couple of ideas around can, and over a relaxing local pint!

My Details; Louise Gibson
lovelylou2007@yahoo.co.uk
Feel free to contact me or leave a wee message on this page!

I will be regularly updating images of my working drawings/interaction with the businesses involved and chatting about the project in general! So far I have uploaded some images of my previous show in Toll cross and some working sketches and images of the shops involved and the location of the show!

Enjoy! And al be back with more updated information soon!

All the best!
Louise