until Wed. July 02 2014

the Scotsman Steps
Across the road from The Fruitmarket Gallery on Market Street
T : +44 (0) 131 226 8184
45 Market Street
EH1 1DF Edinburgh
Scotland

info@fruitmarket.co.uk
fruitmarket.co.uk/

The Fruitmarket Gallery has commissioned a new work of public sculpture by Turner-Prize winning Scottish artist Martin Creed for Edinburgh's historic Scotsman Steps.

Work 1059 is a feast for the eyes—104 steps leading from the Scotsman Hotel on North Bridge to Waverley Station and The Fruitmarket Gallery on Market Street, each step clad in a different colour of marble. The work has been supported through the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund for Edinburgh Art Festival, as well as several generous individual and corporate donations.

Work 1059 sees Creed re-surfacing the Scotsman Steps with different and contrasting types of marble from all over the world, creating a visually spectacular, beautiful and thoughtful response to this historic artery. Creed describes the project as a microcosm of the whole world—stepping on the different marble steps is like walking through the world, the new staircase dramatising Edinburgh's internationalism and contemporary significance while recognising and respecting its historical importance. This is both a typical Creed idea, involving as it does the direct engagement of the public in a work whose simplicity belies its conceptual and architectural complexity, and an appropriate response to the particular situation of the Steps. Built into the fabric of Edinburgh, this new work will become a new and joyful part of the experience of the city for both inhabitants and visitors alike.