Monsters of Paradise. Thirty-three stunning works are part of the artist's first solo exhibition.
NEW YORK ARTIST'S HUGE DAZZLING COLLAGED PAINTINGS - MADE FROM THOUSANDS OF EVERYDAY MATERIALS - UNVEILED FOR INAUGURAL EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL
The paintings of New York artist Fred Tomaselli – some over two metres high and some featuring thousands of individual elements ranging from paint, pills, insects, photocollage, leaves and flowers – are hung in final gallery position today in preparation for the opening of the exhibition Monsters of Paradise on Saturday 31 July at Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery.
Thirty-three stunning works are part of the artist's first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom.
The exhibition consists of new and major works completed by the artist in the past two years and which employ his painstaking technique of embedding a vast catalogue of materials compiled in his studio including pressed flowers and leaves, photo cut-outs from popular magazines, field guides and seed packets, and pharmaceutical pills into layers of translucent resin.
Tomaselli, 48, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is inspired by the artifice of modern utopias such as Disneyland, having grown up close to the Californian theme park in the 1960s.
Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery Fiona Bradley, says: 'the Gallery is delighted to offer visitors a major opportunity to see the exquisitely beautiful and intricate works of one of the most important American contemporary artists working today.
'His innovative technique of 'painting' with unorthodox materials is intriguing yet beyond this, global preoccupations of our age are played out in the overall landscapes in which Tomaselli's multitude of elements are brought together – such as virtual reality, computers, the Internet, movies, drugs, theme parks, gene-splicing and plastic surgery'.
Fred Tomaselli will be conducting an Artist's Talk in conversation with BBC2 broadcaster Tim Marlow on Saturday 31 July at 2pm in the Gallery. Admission is free.
Monsters of Paradise, the exhibition of work by Fred Tomaselli, opens Saturday 31 July and runs until Sunday 3 October 2004 at The Fruitmarket Gallery. The exhibition will tour to Spain, Dublin and Massachusetts throughout 2004 and 2005.
The Fruitmarket Gallery is a public-funded, not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity
(Charity No. SC 005576) supported by the Scottish Arts Council
In the image: Doppler Effect in Blue, 2002
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DATE: THURSDAY 29 JULY 2004 FROM 10AM
LOCATION: The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street Edinburgh, Scotland