Bill Bollinger

Bill Bollinger

Fruitmarket

Bill Bollinger Cyclone Fence, 1968 at Nine at Leo Castelli (Giovanni Anselmo, Bill Bollinger, Eva Hesse, Stephen Kaltenbach, Bruce Nauman, Alan Saret, Richard Serra, Keith Sonnier, Gilberto Zorio. Organised by Robert Morris), Castelli Warehouse, New York, 1968.*

October 27, 2011

Bill Bollinger

The Fruitmarket Gallery
45 Market Street
Edinburgh, EH1 1DF

Open seven days. Always free

www.fruitmarket.co.uk
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Opening Hours
Mon–Sat 11am–6pm, Sun 12–5pm
Festive Closure closed 24 Dec–1 Jan (inclusive)
Normal hours resume 2 Jan

The Fruitmarket Gallery is proud to present this major exhibition of the work of American artist Bill Bollinger (1939–1988), one of the most important artists of the 1960s. A work of art historical rediscovery as well as an exhibition of great power and beauty, it brings an artist once mentioned in the same breath as Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson, Eva Hesse and Fred Sandback back for serious reconsideration.

Bollinger’s work is characterised by his sensitive use of the idiosyncrasies and possibilities offered by technical and industrial materials. His use of aluminium pipes, rope, rubber hoses, chain-link fencing, lightbulbs and wheelbarrows is as radical and direct as it is elegant, exploiting physical laws such as gravity, balance, and the intrinsic properties of water. His sculpture, created in the 1960s at the height of the space race, has an astonishing energy and power, even today.

The exhibition brings together major sculptures and drawings by Bollinger, including most of his existing works from collections in Europe and America, and careful reconstructions of lost works from his celebrated solo exhibitions, and from his participation in iconic group exhibitions from the late 1960s in New York. It provides the first ever overview of Bollinger’s brief, but extremely intense, artistic career, and provides an opportunity to rediscover the radical practice of this exceptional artist who, in his own words, was ‘not interested in the aesthetics of form but the fact of form’; who considered his work ‘not as primarily expressive through form but declarative through state’.

Organised by Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in collaboration with The Fruitmarket Gallery. Exhibition supported by The Henry Moore Foundation

Talks

Curator’s Talk
Fri 28 Oct, 3pm. Free.
Guest curator Christiane Meyer-Stoll (Curator, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein) in conversation with Fiona Bradley, Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery

Enough Discipline: Bill Bollinger’s Drawings
Wed 16 Nov, 6.30pm. Free.
Stephanie Straine (University College London /Tate) discusses Bollinger’s works on paper and his use of graphite powder as installation material through a consideration of the discipline, tension and industrial experimentation that underpin his practice.

The Ground Plane and the Water Level
Wed 23 Nov, 6.30pm. Free.
Alistair Rider (University of St Andrews) explores how we might position Bollinger’s artistic interests in relation to Minimalism, Post-Minimalism and Earth Art.

Booking is recommended for all talks. To book your place call 0131 226 8181 or email bookshop@fruitmarket.co.uk

Notes to Editors
Bill Bollinger was born in Brooklyn, New York on 15 July 1939 and died 26 May 1988 (aged 48).

This is the first retrospective exhibition of Bill Bollinger’s work. It is curated by Christiane Meyer-Stoll (Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein) in conceptual collaboration with Rolf Ricke, in a joint production with the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, the ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe and The Fruitmarket Gallery.

A publication has been produced which provides a detailed and lavishly illustrated history of Bollinger’s exhibitions, including many photographs published for the first time. Essays by Christiane Meyer-Stoll, Saul Ostrow, Harris Rosenstein and Peter Schjeldahl complement the artist’s own writings, as well as thoughts and recollections of him by Deedee Agee, Carl Andre, Siah Armajani, David Chittick, Fran Cohen, Dale Culleton, Elle Ellison, Rafael Ferrer, Robert Grosvenor, Robert Huot, Klaus Kertess, Gary Kuehn, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Egidio Marzona, Robert Mattson, Olaf Metzel, Paul Morgensen, Rolf Ricke, Dorothea Rockburne, Wade Saunders, Roman Signer, Keith Sonnier, Barbra Toll, Marcia Tucker and George Knight Wilson.

The Fruitmarket Gallery is a publicly-funded art gallery of national and international significance, which aims to make contemporary art accessible without compromising art or underestimating audiences. The Gallery is Foundation Funded by Creative Scotland for around 50% of its running costs and must fundraise to support its exhibitions, education and publishing programmes.

*Image above:
© Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Photo: Shunk-Kender.

Bill Bollinger
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