LISA OPPENHEIM'S BILLBOARD FOR EDINBURGH
November's Artwork of the Month is a dramatic photograph of a Colorado forest fire, taken by Lisa Oppenheim. It is part of the Ingleby Gallery’s Billboard for Edinburgh series.
Oppenheim combines both analogue and digital photographic techniques to create her film and photographic work, drawing on and questioning the traditions of still and moving image picture-making.
I’ve always admired the Billboard for Edinburgh series. The billboard sits high above the gallery and can be seen when walking down Calton Road or from Waterloo Place.
Over the years the participating artists in the series have included ten Turner Prize nominees and winners as well as world-renowned artists and emerging talents.
The billboards are for Edinburgh but are not necessarily about Edinburgh. They are a way of sharing the work that the gallery has to offer but in a large and very public way. The public may not necessarily connect with the work but the gallery is giving everyone a chance to take in some contemporary art.
When walking to Waverley recently, I was struck by Oppenheim’s powerful and bleak work and couldn’t take my eyes off it, which proves problematic on Calton Road’s busy pavements. The smoke engulfs the picture and the flames appear to explode out of the ground. The technique used to create this image gives it an almost 3D effect, and even though the image is in black and white you can still feel the fire’s intensity.
October’s Artwork of the Month was an outside fleeting glimpse at indoor art, but this month’s work is intended to be displayed and seen from street level and is definitely worth taking a look.—Rhys Fullerton
Lisa Oppenheim’s Billboard for Edinburgh will be on display above Ingleby Gallery (15 Calton Road) until early February 2016.
