Summerhall Arts announce first exhibitions of 2025

Summerhall Arts are proud to announce their first exhibitions of 2025 this March, with a major retrospective exhibition dedicated to the sculptural practice of Edinburgh based Gareth Fisher.

Article Source: Summerhall Arts
Last Updated: 28 February 2025 11:40

Summerhall Arts presents a major retrospective exhibition dedicated to the sculptural practice of Edinburgh based Gareth Fisher, tracing a career that spans over five decades. Born in Cumbria in 1951, Fisher studied at Edinburgh College of Art, earning a Diploma in Sculpture in 1976, followed by postgraduate study. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, he worked in Edinburgh, serving as Chairperson of the New 57 Gallery, before transitioning into academia at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, where he was appointed Professor of Sculpture in 2006. In recognition of his contributions to the field, Fisher was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 2022.

This exhibition offers a focused exploration of Fisher’s enduring engagement with plaster—a material that has remained a constant throughout his practice. While his oeuvre encompasses wood, bronze, aluminium, and stone, plaster holds a particular resonance, capturing a sense of immediacy and fragility that defines much of his work. Given the ephemeral nature of the medium, some pieces have been lost over time due to storage constraints, and others remain in private and institutional collections unavailable for loan. Nonetheless, the selection presented here offers a compelling insight into Fisher’s mastery of form, texture, and spatial composition.

Previously exhibited works were often housed in cases to protect their delicate surfaces. In the setting of the Lab Gallery, this approach has been thoughtfully retained, allowing visitors to engage with the sculptures in a manner that respects both their material vulnerability and their historical exhibition contexts. The result is an immersive experience that highlights the quiet yet powerful presence of Fisher’s work, reaffirming his legacy within contemporary sculpture.

Gorge! by Hattie Quigley
In Vitro Gallery from 5th – 9th of March 2025, 10am – 5pm
Launch Event Saturday 8th of March 11am – 1pm.
ECA x Summerhall Arts

Hattie Quigley’s Gorge! exhibition aims to immerse the viewer into a liberated land of hedonistic chaos. Exploring the relationship between femininity, food and female desire, her work not only poses the question of what it means to be a hungry woman in contemporary society; but highlights and critiques the gluttony of the world we live in. Large scale, deliciously saturated paintings and sculpture depict the aftermath of a mythical feast of excess, loosely inspired by the first versions of classical bacchanalia (wild drunken roman parties which originated as women only!). For the ancients, these bacchanals symbolised the perceived dangers of women unrestrained by male authority— offering a glimpse into the freedom and liberation of life as an unbound maened in a patriarchal world. Engaging with the current rise in right wing politics and weight loss jabs, it is even more political to talk about women who are unashamedly insatiable. Gluttony is a theme used to explore expectations put on our bodies (specifically in an age of digital media ‘clean’ eating and youth binge drinking rituals). Our overindulgent society’s tummy rumbles, and continues to be hell bent on wanting women to be as small as possible.

The in Vitro gallery space is turned into an extravagant exploration of bodies, class, gender, power, obsession, and desire, dealing with capitalism and consumerism, dancing around the deliciousness of what painting is in it’s very essence.

This exhibition marks the second annual collaboration between Summerhall Arts and Edinburgh College of Art (BA Painting). Proposals were invited from Final Year painting students at ECA in response to the In Vitro gallery space & the winner selected by Sam Chapman at Summerhall Arts. The process gave all those participating valuable insight into real life scenarios in regard to the dissemination of their practice, and signifies further partnership between two of Edinburgh’s key artistic generators.

Visual Arts Programmer Samantha Chapman said:
"These three exhibitions are emblems of the diverse opportunities Summerhall Arts brings to the cultural sector. From celebrating the work of one of Scotland’s most important artists working in sculpture, with a 40-year retrospective, to supporting a graduate painter at the very beginning of their career. We are delighted to open the doors to Summerhall Arts and look forward to a bright 2025."

Also Summerhall Arts first Associate Exhibition of 2025 is Strange Times Pandemic Art Exhibition from March 21- 23, 2025 in the Meadows Gallery.
Commemorating five years since the beginning of UK lockdown this is a showcase of up-and-coming artists and creatives reflecting on their COVID-19 pandemic experiences, with presentations from local mental health charities.
Let’s face what we went through.

LISTINGS INFORMATION
Sculpture in Plaster
Gareth Fisher
1980 to 2024
Mar 8, 2025 - Apr 9, 2025
Lab Gallery

Gorge!
Hattie Quigley
Mar 5, 2025 - Mar 9, 2025
In Vitro Gallery

Strange Times
Summerhall Arts Associate Exhibition
Mar 21, 2025 - Mar 23, 2025
Meadows Gallery

Exhibitions are open Wed – Sun (10am-5pm)
1 Summerhall
Edinburgh,EH9 1PL, United Kingdom

Image: Gareth Fisher-Sculpture in Plaster, 1980 – 2024

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Summerhall Arts announce first exhibitions of 2025

Summerhall Arts are proud to announce their first exhibitions of 2025 this March, with a major retrospective exhibition dedicated to the sculptural practice of Edinburgh based Gareth Fisher.

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