Ian Hamilton Finlay: Idylls and Interventions

Idylls and Interventions brings together a number of Finlay's seminal series of prints along with a major new work and recent sculptures. The exhibition is conceived by Ian Hamilton Finlay and Pia Maria Simig.

Ian Hamilton Finlay is principally a poet - a Modernist artist who has consistently exploited nature, literature and the potency of words in his art. For almost forty years, he has formed his works using philosophical texts, myths, characters and images from the past to make enigmatic juxtapositions and in so doing new thoughts. In 1961 he founded the Wild Hawthorn Press with Jessie McGuffie and within a few years had established himself internationally as Britain's foremost concrete poet. His publications continue to play an important role in the dissemination of his work as a visual artist. As a sculptor, he has worked collaboratively in a wide range of materials, having his concepts executed as stone-carvings, as constructed objects and neon lighting. Since the mid sixties Finlay has lived and worked at Stonypath, south-west of Edinburgh, where he has transformed the surrounding rural acres into a unique garden and life's work; Little Sparta.