AN artist is to receive a unique tribute in Edinburgh this weekend.
Famous internationally for her stunning artworks, Glasgow School Of Art graduate Jenny Saville is currently enjoying her first major solo exhibition in Scotland.
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This Saturday, costumes and choreography inspired by her work will be part of a performance event at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One at 11am and 2pm.
Fragments & Gestures: Performing Jenny Saville will feature BA (Hons) Dance students from Edinburgh College wearing outfits designed by performance costume masters students at Edinburgh College of Art.
The students will perform original work – which explores ideas related to the body, performance, process and materials – alongside the inspirational artworks by Saville and several of her artistic peers.
Drawing on all of the artists’ work, original outfits and choreography were created after an initial two-day workshop between the student designers and dancers.
Students were asked to respond to the methods in NOW, a series of six exhibitions which bring together the best of contemporary art in Scotland, the UK and internationally, with Saville at the centre of the current exhibition in the National Gallery of Modern Art that runs until September.
Perhaps best known for her unflinching depictions of the naked female form,
Saville’s current exhibition is her first in the national museum and only her third in the UK.
The selection spans 26 years, from iconic early paintings such as Propped (1992) and Trace (1993-4), to recent charcoal and pastel drawings, demonstrating how Saville’s approach to depicting the human body has shifted over the course of her career.
Other highlights will include a series of large-scale head paintings, such as Rosetta II (2005-6), made while the artist was based in Italy, and the premier of a major new work, Aleppo (2017-18), which is at the Scottish National Gallery alongside historic works from the collection.
Saville draws upon a wide range of sources in her work, including medical and forensic text books, children’s drawings, graffiti and online images, as well as celebrated paintings and drawings of the past.
Fans of the Manic Street Preachers are familiar with Saville’s work – the Welsh band chose her 21-feet long triptych Strategy (South Face/Front Face/North Face) for the cover of their 1994 album The Holy Bible.
A spokesman for Edinburgh University said: “The event is part of an ongoing relationship between Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh College and the National Galleries of Scotland. Fragments & Gestures is supported by the Jenny Saville Foundation.”
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