Words and Things: celebrating fifty years of writing on art

2024 was Fruitmarket’s fiftieth birthday. As part of our celebrations we published Words and Things, a selection of just some of the writing on art published by Fruitmarket over the decades, edited by Ruth Bretherick, the gallery’s Research and Public Engagement Curator.

To launch the book, Ruth and Fruitmarket head of publishing Elizabeth McLean were joined in conversation with Words and Things contributors David Hopkins, Briony Fer and James Robertson. They discussed the past and the future of writing about and alongside art, and the relationship between art and language.

 

The book published to accompany the show can be bought from our online bookshop, where you can also buy many of the books Fruitmarket has published over our 50 years.

Featuring contributions from, among others, Marina Abramovic, Laura Mulvey, Frances Morris and Ali Smith, the book brings together art historical scholarship by the world's leading thinkers on art and artists' writings and in-conversations, punctuated by poems and short stories.

From painting to performance, sculpture to film, the book captures the way in which contemporary art can help us think through the pressing social and political issues of our times, but also offer space to experience material artworks as 'present tense things', as artists Emma Hart and Dean Kenning put it.

 

A free, public space for culture in the heart of Edinburgh, Fruitmarket provides inspiration and opportunity for artists and audiences. We programme, develop and present world-class exhibitions, commissions, publications, performances, events and engagement activities, opening up the artistic process.

 

To find out more about our current exhibition programme and upcoming events visit fruitmarket.co.uk where you can sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram.