PREVIEW 2010
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Toby Paterson’s exhibition at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket charts his development as an artist over the past ten years, finds Neil Cooper
It’s amazing what you find when you’re clearing up old debris. While rummaging through materials for his forthcoming retrospective alongside new work at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery, former Beck’s Futures winner Toby Paterson discovered a Super 8 film that opened a window on his own development as an artist. The film, made for a project with fellow artist Scott Myles, had never been
seen, having been presumed lost in the post. Watching this undiscovered gem from his archive with the distance of time was an eye-opening experience for its creator.
‘It was film of a set of abandoned buildings,’ says Paterson, ‘but because
it was lost in the post it was never used. It was interesting, because at the time I don’t think I ever really understood what I was looking at. I didn’t get it. So if there’s any kind of thread running through my work in the Fruitmarket show, it’s about me getting better at looking at things. From a super objective point of view it’ll be interesting to see how my ways of looking have developed.’ Paterson’s Fruitmarket exhibition will reflect his long-standing fascination
for architectural spaces that has resulted in a smorgasbord of public artworks. The artist will house more than 50 works in an installation located in the Fruitmarket’s downstairs gallery, while the upstairs space will showcase the premier of a major new commission. Even as Paterson looks back on his career to date, then, something brand new emerges.
‘I was initially quite reluctant to show that much existing work,’ he says, ‘but that’s exactly what I’ve ended up doing, and it fits in both with how the Fruitmarket space works, and with where I’m at right now. It’s quite funny going back over the last six years’ work, because while there is an element of taking a backward glance, I’m generally repositioning where I’m at.’
Beyond the Fruitmarket, this year Paterson will be completing a public work in London’s east end for the extension of Docklands Light Railway as part of the 2012 Olympic Games. This will be followed by extended studio time that will allow him space to take stock.
‘I’m hoping there’s enough in terms of areas unexplored,’ he says, ‘and I’ll have more space to explore things that have no destination, or just to be able to take the time to read a book and not feel guilty about it. I’ve been at this hammer and tongs for ten years now, and it feels like a good time to step back from the pace things have been going at for the last ten years.’ ■ Toby Paterson, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 30 Jan–Sun 28 Mar.
7–21 Jan 2010 THE LIST 23
■ Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 11–13 February; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 17–19 February.
MUSIC Sharing a two-night stand with Hot Chip Following the hit 2008 album Made in the Dark, Hot Chip are back and ready for the floor with their fourth release, One Life Stand. Listen to it (over and over, if you must), then catch them at the start of their world tour as it kicks off in Glasgow. ■ O2 Academy, Glasgow, 12 Feb and HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, 13 Feb.
FILM Cary Grant in the Glasgow Film Festival The man voted second greatest male film star by the American Film Institute appeared in too many fantastic movies to count. Thanks to the Glasgow Film Festival, we can savour a hand-picked selection of the very best on the big screen. ■ Glasgow, 18–28 February.
BOOKS Louise Welsh gives us the creeps After lapping up The Cutting Room, Tamburlaine Must Die and The Bullet
Trick, we’re gearing ourselves up for Naming the Bones, a haunting novel about a literary researcher on the trail of a long dead writer. ■ Canongate, 4 March.
FILM Gauging the madness of Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter On the basis that Lewis Carroll was one of literature’s great surrealists and Tim Burton is one of cinema’s most fanciful mavericks, we can reasonably assume that Alice in Wonderland – with Matt Lucas as both Tweedledum and Tweedledee – will put a grin on your face wider than that of Stephen Fry’s Cheshire Cat. ■ 5 March.
COMEDY Courting controversy in the Glasgow Comedy Festival With a line-up that includes Frankie Boyle, rapped for a gag about Rebecca Adlington, and Jimmy Carr, hauled up for a wisecrack about disabled soldiers, the annual laughter fest is bound to have someone saying something that ruffles delicate tabloid feathers. Or maybe Chris Addison will treat us to some Thick of It-style swearing. We can’t wait. ■ Glasgow, 11–28 March.