ATLAS is delighted to present an exciting new series of seven artist’s talks which will take place in Skye. On the first Saturday of the month from May to November 2012 come and hear directly from artists about their work and ideas.

The first talk in the series is by artist Craig Coulthard who will discuss his work Forest Pitch a major commission for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. His current work forms the Scottish commission of Artists Taking the Lead. Forest Pitch culminates in July 2012, is sited near Selkirk, and this is a unique opportunity to hear directly from Craig about the intentions behind the project.

“… Forest Pitch is an intricate mix of landscape and sport, diverse communities and generations. Everyone involved will be able to return to the site time and time again, re-living one unique day and watching the power of nature slowly envelop the site. Craig’s work has layers of texture, blending together the natural environment and human experience with a snapshot of a moment in time.” Leonie Bell, Creative Programmer London 2012 & Glasgow 2014, Creative Scotland.

Craig Coulthard (Photo - Angela Catlin)

ATLAS’s Talking Art series brings seven leading artists to Skye over seven months the dynamic line-up includes: Harris based sculptor Steve Dilworth, Alex Frost who works in a variety of media including; sculpture, drawing and mosaic, Neville Gabie, whose previous projects include spending four months in Antarctica with British Antarctic survey, three years as artist in residence on a building site in Bristol – Cabot Circus ‘bs1’, residencies as far afield as Guangzhou in China, Australia and Pakistan, Chris Dooks and Graham Fagan who have recently completed successful residencies at Timespan in Helmsdale and finally Nicky Bird brings the series to a close with her work and experience of new hose practice combines photography and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her work often investigates the theme of photography and hidden history, portraiture and genealogy.

Emma Nicolson, ATLAS, director commented: ‘We are really proud to bring Skye audiences this series of talks by such a diverse range of artists. We look forward to welcoming them to Skye and to hearing about their provoking and inspiring ideas. This is great opportunity to engage with some of the most exciting visual artists working in Scotland today, as an organisation working ‘without walls’ we are keen to present new understandings for our audiences about the role of creative practitioners currently working in the public realm today’.

TALKING ART – CRAIG COULTHARD
Saturday 5 May 2012
2.00 – 3.00 PM
Tigh-na-Sgire, Park Lane, Portree
Booking: Advisable, please book through admin@atlasarts.org.uk tel: 01463 720886
Admission: Free
Duration: 60 minutes

Everyone is welcome to this event, but spaces are limited.

Web: www.craigcoulthard.com and http://www.forestpitch.org/

Facebook: @Forest Pitch

ATLAS, Talking Art Series: Future Events

• Saturday 2 June 2012 (14.00-15.00)
  Alex Frost talks about his work in sculpture and installation.
• Wednesday 11 July 2012 (19.00-20.00)
  Steve Dilworth, Harris based sculptor presents his latest work (NB this is not a Saturday talk).
• Saturday 4 August 2012 (14.00-15.00)
  Neville Gabie talks about his project for the 2012 Olympics.
• Saturday 1 September 2012 (14.00-15.00)
  Chris Dooks discusses his current artwork and recent residencies.
• Saturday 6 October 2012 (14.00-15.00)
  Graham Fagan internationally acclaimed artist presents his work.
• Saturday 10 November 2012 (14.00-15.00)
  Nicky Bird talks about her work in photography and new media.

Forest Pitch
Craig Coulthard’s Forest Pitch will create a full size football pitch hidden within a forest. Commercial trees felled to make space for the pitch will be used to create goalposts, a shelter and other infrastructure on site.

Forest Pitch is part of Artists taking the lead, a series of 12 public art commissions across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Arts Council England is delivering the project in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Wales.

The pitch will host two football matches in 2012, made up of amateurs from around Scotland who have taken up British citizenship since 2000. Spectators will be invited to represent the players’ families and the local community, and the intervals between matches will be filled with performances and music forming a unique sporting and artistic event.

After the games, the site will be left to grow back naturally, with some native species replanted to encourage a more diverse environment. The shelter will remain as a simple documentation space and observation point, to witness the gradual reclamation of the pitch by the natural world.

To find out more about the project and how you could take part in the matches, visit the website, http://www.forestpitch.org/about.html

Forest Pitch is funded by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Forest Pitch is the Scottish commission of Artists Taking the Lead – for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/our-priorities-2011-15/london-2012/artists-taking-the-lead/

About the artist
Craig Coulthard was born in West Germany in 1981. He studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), graduating in 2002l. In 2003 he was a founder member of the Embassy Gallery and in 2005 won the Sir William Gillies Bequest Award and was chosen to exhibit in Bloomberg New Contemporaries. After graduating with a Masters from ECA in 2006, his graduate work was sold to Paisley Museum.

He has exhibited at the Collective, Camden Arts Centre, the Athens Biennale, Loughborough University, the Barbican and the Royal Society of Arts. He also writes and performs music as Randan Discotheque. He currently lives and works in Edinburgh.

About ATLAS
ATLAS is a platform for the creation of projects, which are not fixed by, or to, a permanent gallery space. It is based in the island of Skye in the north west of Scotland. We aim to commission works with a focus on breaking new ground and developing new understandings about the role of creative practitioners working in remote rural communities. The emphasis is on high quality, contemporary art projects, incorporating educational work and involvement from the community in variety of forms, placing work within a local, national and international context.

ATLAS Arts Skye & Lochalsh is funded by Creative Scotland, with support from HI-Arts and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

ATLAS website: www.atlasarts.org.uk

Source: ATLAS