Curatorial Statement

With exhibitions and projects taking place across the city in our now distinctive array of spaces and places, GI 2012 is an extra-ordinary moment to experience contemporary visual art in Glasgow at its liveliest and best. Some of the most celebrated artists in Scotland appear alongside the most significant and remarkable international figures, while each of the Festival’s 18 days offers an array of talks, events, screenings and performances.

Our focus this year is more on the real, the physical and the very tangible, rather than the digital or virtual, with an emphasis on the live experience. From strong sculptural presentations by Karla Black and Nairy Baghramian, who each deploy distinctive materials to potent effect, to two ambitious ‘performed installations’ by Graham Fagen & Graham Eatough and Kelly Nipper at Tramway, and very ‘handleable’ new works by artists Corin Sworn, Mary Redmond, Camilla Løw and Chris Johanson for ‘Dialogue of Hands’, many of the exhibitions and projects offer direct and very immediate encounters. They are the opposite of remote.

Time spent in and with this work is real, not edited or accelerated. This sense of real time is reflected back at us through the very tangible sense of the time and labour involved in the remarkable works of Richard Wright, shown in the grand surroundings of Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. While the focus on our actual experience of an artwork is amplified in Transmission’s exhibition ‘Six Works of Art For your Interpretation’.

There are around 50 exhibitions and dozens of events, as well as a distinct strand of public or outdoor works, with new commissions including a permanent work by Alex Frost for Platform at Easterhouse.

As ever, GI is only possible with the commitment of the many organisations and artists based in the city year-round with whom we collaborate to make this programme: we all hope you enjoy it and look forward to seeing you in April 2012.

Katrina Brown