Talbot Rice Gallery is the public art gallery of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. With a 19th-century former natural history museum and a contemporary white cube gallery, Talbot Rice Gallery explores how the University of Edinburgh can contribute to contemporary art production today and into the future. Solo exhibitions provide international artists with access to University research and collections, whilst conceptual group exhibitions foreground key political and social issues. Exploring frontiers in the age of Brexit, raising the volume on female self-empowerment, or using the ‘extended mind’ in contemporary art to reframe cognition, Talbot Rice Gallery positions itself at the forefront of research and creative practice. To date, Talbot Rice Gallery has collaborated with some of the world's leading international artists John Akomfrah, David Claerbout, Hanne Darboven, Jenny Holzer, Alice Neel, Nam June Paik, Luc Tuymans and commissioned new work by Jesse Jones, Lucy Skaer, Dexter Sinister and Samson Young. Since 2018 the Talbot Rice Residents have been a major part the Talbot Rice Gallery and Edinburgh College of Art community. Each year for five years, five new emerging artists from Scotland join the programme, which they then continue for two years, with the programme contributing richly to the ecology of Edinburgh’s visual arts context. Talbot Rice Gallery plays an active role in Edinburgh College of Art, working with students throughout the year, engaging them in the programme and curatorial vision. The annual Trading Zone exhibition hunts for distinct practices across all the schools and artforms of Edinburgh College of Art. As well as being one of Scotland’s leading contemporary art platforms, curating exhibitions every year for Edinburgh’s festivals, Talbot Rice Gallery is also part of a unique family of international University Galleries, and enjoys partnerships with organisations such as Monash University Museum of Art and University of Bath's The Edge & Andrew Brownsword Gallery, through touring and co-production.
History
The University of Edinburgh's historic Old College was designed by Robert Adam and completed by William Henry Playfair. In 1967 the library collection was moved to a new location. An arts centre with an exhibition hall was opened in the Quad in 1970, following a £20,000 renovation paid for by the Gulbenkian Foundation. The gallery was opened in 1975 under the guidance of Prof Giles Henry Robertson and takes its name from his predecessor, Prof David Talbot Rice, the Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh from 1934 to 1972. Talbot Rice Gallery has been a centre of art, research and collections for nearly 50 years. It has evolved as art has evolved. It is now one of the pillars of Scottish contemporary art galleries and curatorial practice. Every year, TRG delivers a programme of international relevance: bringing challenging and inspiring artistic practices to Scotland from around the world; contributing to the national conversation with timely and engaged group exhibitions and exposing research from the University of Edinburgh through artistic collaborations and newly produced commissions. The Gallery fundraises for their artistic programme, and has to date received support from Creative Scotland, as well as international and grant support including Mondriaan Fonds, Culture Ireland and the Freelands Foundation. In 2019, the Gallery was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant for the first time. The Talbot Rice Gallery is open to the public and admission free. Opening hours, current and previous exhibitions, lectures and events, in addition to details of available catalogues and other publications are available on the Gallery's website.
