Since 2003, Fiona Bradley has been the Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh. Before then, Bradley was a curator at Tate Liverpool and the Hayward Gallery. She was responsible for a variety of exhibitions, including the first British exhibitions of the work of Rachel Whiteread and Andreas Gursky. She emphasises the importance of new work in the context of a consistent and developing artistic practice.
The gallery aims to make contemporary art accessible; without underestimating audiences, what are the gallery鈥檚 overriding goals?
Everything we do here starts with the art. At the moment, we鈥檙e installing the Johan Grimonprez show. He鈥檚 an incredibly complex artist and it鈥檚 a show that is time-based with several long films included. We look at it from this angle; imagine you鈥檙e a person who doesn鈥檛 know who Johan Grimonprez is, what do you need to know in order to understand the art? Or imagine, you鈥檙e somebody who鈥檚 seen absolutely every work Johan Grimonprez has ever made and you鈥檙e excited to see it in your home city, what do you need there? And so we offer a layered approach to interpretation. I think sometimes people think that contemporary arts is aiming to pull the wool over their eyes, and what we want to do is rehumanize it.
Your programmes are engaging, you show a range of Scottish and international artists, can you give me an idea about the curatorial breakdown?
We show between four and five exhibitions per year. Usually there鈥檚 a group show and then another is historic. With the remaining slots, one will be for a Scottish artist and the other for an international artist. The international aspect of the gallery is very important, both in the sense of bringing international artists, on one hand we introduce international artists to the local audience but also to make the Fruitmarket itself an international platform, when we鈥檙e showing a Scottish artist here, they鈥檙e showing on the international scale. It鈥檚 not just that we make shows with Scottish artists and we send those abroad (although we do that as well), it鈥檚 important that when a Scottish artist is shown here they鈥檙e entered into an international context.
Your current show is Johan Grimonprez, how do you feel his films chart the rise of a culture of fear, essentially making that emotion a commodity?
Johan is a politically engaged artist and for me it鈥檚 very important that contemporary art analyses the culture in which we live. When Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y was first made, it was pre-9/11, but that film has grown in really interesting ways. It鈥檚 incredibly relevant now, it鈥檚 a film about aeroplane hijacking, and how dependant we are on aeroplanes these days, and it鈥檚 also about the media. I first saw Double Take in Basel (2008). It鈥檚 the most amazing film about how Cold War politics have seeped into post-Cold War politics and how we create an identity, which is to do with our national identity. Although on the face of it, his films are long and can be quite hard subjects, they are utterly compelling.
How do you feel this theme is being played out and other artists are approaching this concept of a culture of fear?
We have shown Willie Doherty, who is engaged in politics and the politics of nationhood. One of the things to aspire for is art that makes itself, as you look at it. Art like Johan鈥檚, which has its finger on the pulse to such an extent, does remake itself. I wandered around the gallery saying 鈥渞emember when Johan started working,鈥 I think the earliest working show was the early 1990s; Youtube wasn鈥檛 there and for him, there was an idea that you鈥檙e in control and juxtapositions happen because you鈥檙e channel hopping. Now that鈥檚 imbedded in how we experience the world, and when something happens, we go on the internet and we will get as many different views as possible, and even when the planes went into the Twin Towers, it wasn鈥檛 the internet we jumped on, it was the telly. You know, it sounds ridiculous, but even in 2001 the internet wasn鈥檛 quite what it is today, we didn鈥檛 have it on our mobile phones.
Do you feel there鈥檚 anything different happening in Edinburgh compared with London, for example?
Edinburgh is very energetic, and particularly in Glasgow, artists who trained here stay here. Artists from elsewhere come here because the art scene is thriving. That makes it a wonderful place to work, because there is a local audience of internationally recognised artists. Artists are your first audience; we make the programme for them, as much as much as we do for audiences who are not artists. Edinburgh is fantastic because it is an international centre; it鈥檚 the capital of Scotland. We have Edinburgh International Festival, and a lot of people look to Edinburgh as a cultural centre. That鈥檚 a huge bonus for us.
Congratulations on being invited to curate Scotland Venice 2011; can you give me a preview?
It鈥檚 very early days for Venice. We are working with Karla Black, who鈥檚 an artist that we have been interested in for a long time, she had a beautiful show at Inverleith House earlier this year, and showing her in Venice is an absolutely fantastic thing to do. I can say very little because we are going on our first site visit with Karla at the end of the month.
What is your programme for the rest of the summer, and future plans?
After the Johan Grimonprez show we have a big project with Martin Creed, who will be making a new commission. We are focusing on the element of Martin鈥檚 work that is to do with adding and subtracting by degrees. The work at the gallery involves turning the central staircase into a synthesizer. At the same time, he鈥檚 working on a work of public sculpture on the historic Scotsman Steps. Later this year, he鈥檚 going to resurface the steps in a 104 different types of marble from around the world. Martin will also show his ballet, commissioned by Sadler鈥檚 Wells and Frieze Music for Frieze and in October it will open at the Traverse Theatre. The ballet is about moving up and down the musical scale, moving up and down the five positions of ballet. Conceptually it all ties in.
