Andy Goldsworthy: fifty years

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Andy Goldsworthy: fifty years is on at the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), part of the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, until 2nd November – we went last week and thought it was wonderful, so if you are in the vicinity I strongly recommend visiting.

Goldsworthy as a young man

Goldsworthy (born 1956) is an artist better known for working outdoors with the land. As a teenage labourer on a farm near Leeds he learned many of the techniques he still uses for his artistic practice today: cutting, digging, stacking, building. For this exhibition he has created installations especially for the space in the RSA which are accompanied by a photographic retrospective of earlier works going back to his time as an art student from 1975. Many of these photographs are of ephemeral pieces made with sand, snow, or leaves. Here are some of my highlights.

Wool Runner (2025)

For the last 40 years Goldsworthy has lived in Dumfriesshire (including a brief initial period in Langholm which many of you will know as the home of Mr & Mrs Tootlepedal) so most of the recent pieces derive from the land around there. The entrance staircase to the RSA is currently clad in a runner made by gathering cast off wool from the fields around his home, complete with the farmers’ colour-coding splodges.

Wool runner looking up
Wool runner looking down

Fence and Sheep Painting (2025)

Looking closely at the first image of the wool runner you can just make out Fence at the top. Made from barbed wire, it symbolises obstacles Goldsworthy encounters while making his work. On either side of it are Sheep paintings made by placing a canvas in a field with a mineral block in the centre. When sheep come to feed they bring mud onto the canvas.

Fence
Sheep painting

Gravestones (2025)

Gravestones is the precursor of a much larger work which will be situated at the foot of the Lowther Hills. Most graveyards have a pile of stones left over from digging graves. To Goldsworthy, this is an exchange between the body and the earth, a powerful reminder that we are bound to the land. In another room is a wall of photographs of the 108 graveyards in Dumfries and Galloway from which he has collected the stones.

Gravestones
Some of the 108 graveyards

Red Wall (2025)

If you watched the video at the top of the post, this is the work for which Goldsworthy was sifting 150 buckets of clay soup to remove stones. Dried and reconstituted, the clay was then applied to a wall where it cracked as it dried. The earth, taken from the Lowther Hills, is a vivid red because of its high iron content. Our blood is red for the same reason, another reminder for Goldsworthy that we are bound to the earth.

Red Wall
Red Wall close up

Oak Passage (2025)

This is the other work shown in the video, a mass of branches from windfallen trees with a passage through the centre. Goldsworthy feels there is often a disconnect between materials and their sources and wants us to remember that the gallery floor was once an oak tree too.

Oak Passage
Oak Passage

Flags (2020)

In 2019 Goldsworthy was asked to create a work for the Rockefeller Center in New York. He made 50 flags, one for every US state, each dyed with the reddest earth he could find from that state. So often flags denote land fought over, but he hoped that these ones would transcend borders and talk of connection not division. I felt very sad in this room because I do not think his hope has been realised in the US or, indeed, here where national flags are increasingly being hung as an anti-immigrant stance.

Flags (2020)

Fallen Elm (2009 – ongoing)

A tree close to Goldsworthy’s house developed Dutch elm disease and fell across a stream in 2009. Since then he has worked on the tree many times and observed it as it decayed. A whole room is dedicated to photographs of this tree – the gallery below gives a very small selection. I was overwhelmed at the creativity and persistence required for this ever-changing artwork which very few people will see in person.

Fallen elm
Fallen elm

I thought this was an absolutely stunning exhibition. Essentially, we were looking at a heap of stones, bits of dead trees, and bucketfuls of mud, yet by Goldsworthy’s creativity and thoughtfulness they were given beauty and deep meaning. I hope I have managed to convey just a little of that feeling.

Victoria Crowe: Shifting Surfaces

Our day was not over as we headed up to Dovecot Tapestry Studio to see their exhibition marking Victoria Crowe’s 80th birthday. (Again, this comes highly recommended but is only on until 11th October with limited hours: check the link in the heading above). Crowe works in painting, drawing and printmaking but has also had several collaborations with Dovecot Studio. The highlights for me were two works from her 2022 residence in Orkney, Solstice Moon and Above Stromness.

Solstice Moon
Above Stromness

Finally, on the way back to the station we spotted a blue figure climbing the wall above the Waverley Bar on St Mary’s Street. Apparently it has been there for some years though the exact origin and artist behind the sculpture remain unclear. A post on Facebook claims it is a homage to people who would scale the city wall because they couldn’t afford the tolls.

Blue man climbing
Blue man climbing

The attractive frontage of the pub also sports some much older decorative sculptures depicting Bacchus, the God of Wine.

Bacchus
Bacchus
Bacchus

From here we were quickly back at Waverley Station where we caught our train back to Glasgow. We arrived home tired and footsore, but happy after a wonderful day out.

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49 Comments »

  1. Pingback: Andy Goldsworthy – 50 Years | Down by the Dougie

  2. This exhibit by Andy Goldsworthy is truly amazing. The video is informative, as well as the photos and the descriptions. I love how each piece shows the human relationship to the earth. “The Flag” brought a tear to my eye; I too see that the U.S. is so divided right now it’s not even close to the country I grew up in. I can’t even bear to watch what is happening there. And the Oak Passage is fascinating, when he talks in the video about how people who walk through the passage are actually walking in the trunk of the tree. The Wool Runner made from cast-off sheep’s wool, the barbed wire which looks magical but is jarring when seen up close, the red clay wall, which was so painstakingly created – it’s jaw-dropping to think how much work was put into these pieces. Thanks for sharing. I’ve never heard of Andy Goldsworthy before. 🙂

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  4. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #457 – Thistles and Kiwis

  15. You’ve done it again…an inspirational post and interesting as always! I knew of Andy Goldworthy’s work and had seen photos before but seeing the video and your photos has highlighted his wonderful art…I love all his creations. Thank you

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  16. I’d never heard of him. I enjoyed watching the video and his thoughts and reasonings. I’m not sure I like the exhibition being indoors. It feels to me that all this is more suited to an outdoor setting. That’s a lot of fallen branches!

    As for the flags – I am disgusted with the way our country is heading.

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  17. I’ve loved Goldsworthy’s work for years, and I think he’s become ever more interesting and thoughtful, as this video seems to demonstrate. In fact this is one very interesting post. I’ll have to get to Edinburgh (A city I do – somewhat – know) as well as Glasow now!

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  18. I’ve not come across Andy Goldsworthy but I found your descriptions, not just of his work but also his thinking that drives it, really fascinating. It shows how important it is to try to understand where art comes from, as without that understanding many people would dismiss these pieces. But with the understanding of the messages he is trying to convey, the pieces take on an extra power, becoming more than their constituent parts. I like the Red Wall, Oak Passage and Flags, and share your concern that the message behind the latter isn’t being heard.

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  21. You put my thoughts into words Anabel – ”a heap of stones, bits of dead trees, and bucketfuls of mud” – how anyone can call this ‘art’ is beyond me, it can’t take much creative thinking. I do like the fallen elm photos though and love the colourful wool runner, it must have taken him ages to collect enough bits to make it.

    Incidentally, I don’t know if this will be of interest to you but for eight weeks next summer there’s going to be Scotties in the City, a Scottie Dog art trail of 50 sculptures around Glasgow city centre and the suburbs, with the Scotties being auctioned off afterwards to raise funds for Maggies centres across Scotland.

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