The work of acclaimed Scottish artists Dalziel & Scullion is to be viewed by thousands of New Yorkers when the duo show their first major work in the city at a major Madison Square Park exhibition.
The University of Dundee-based partners will install their latest work, Voyager, in the historic park for the finale of Target Art in the Park, a $1 million dollar art programme, which opens on July 12.
Voyager - three two-person expedition tents cast in aluminium - explores the link between city life and the natural world. The tents' luminous surfaces mimic the texture of a real tent, suggesting stretched fabric, arched framework and pulled tethers. Sited at the south end of Madison Square Park, next to the bustling 23rd Street, Voyager has been said by some critics to have sinister and dark overtones and serves as a reminder of lost wilderness, the spirit of adventure and of petrified dreams.
Working collaboratively since 1993 Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion have created multimedia and sculptural work that investigates the complex relationship between man and nature. UK commissions include The Horn, now a familiar sight on the M8 motorway, between Glasgow and Edinburgh, which broadcasts poignant sound pieces over the frenetic activity of the road, Modern Nature at Ellrick Hill in Aberdeenshire and Migrator at Heathrow Airport.
Dalziel and Scullion are in New York to assist in the installation of the work. On July 11 they will attend the opening of the exhibition, which also includes work by Dan Graham and Mark Dion - two of America's foremost installation artists. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also expected to be present at the opening.
Lousie Scullion said, " The tents will look very different in this kind of setting but we're used to adapting works to make the most of a context - so we are looking forward to seeing them in a New York park! This is the first major work we will have shown in America so it's a pretty exciting opportunity for us. We are also big fans of Mark and Dan's work so its great to be in a show with them, and it's proving in other ways to be a useful opportunity to make new contacts."
Notes for Editors
Dalziel & Scullion can be contacted at the Holiday Inn Martinique, New
York, on 001 212 736 3800. Alternatively, please contact the Press
Office.
Dalziel & Scullion are lecturers in the School of Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone Faculty of Art and Design, University of Dundee.
They can be contacted on 01382 345849.
Target Art in The Park is organised by the Public Art Fund (PAF), New York's leading presenter of artists' projects', new commissions, installations and exhibitions in public spaces. During its 25-year history the PAF has realised a diverse range of projects by both established and emerging artists and has created a unique interface between artists and NY's public by taking bringing art out of conventional museums and galleries.
Over the last three years, previous Target in the Park exhibitions have included work by Teresita Fernandez, Tony Oursler and Tobias Rehberger.
This final exhibition features American installation artist Dan Graham's Bisected Triangle, Interior Curve - a sleek two-room, walk-in pavilion of two-way reflective glass - and ecology-inspired artist Mark Dion's Urban Wildlife Conservation Unit, - a constructed urban ecological centre which invites park-goers to re-explore their natural environment.
Picture caption: DETAIL OF DALZIEL & SCULLION'S VOYAGER WHICH IS TO BE EXHIBITED IN NEW YORK'S MADISON SQUARE PARK FROM JULY 11