A guided tour of a new exhibition taking art to the streets of Dundee hopes to encourage discussion about the use of public space.
Eoin Dara, head of exhibitions at DCA, will take people on a stroll to some of the posters that make up part of American artist Eve Fowler’s ‘what a sight, what a sound, what a universal shudder’ exhibition.
‘The Difference in Spreading: A Stroll Through the City” takes place on the evening of July 5.
A total of 14 posters will appear throughout Dundee in the coming month emblazoned with mottos inspired by American modernist writer Gertrude Stein.
The posters make up part of Eve’s first major European exhibition, which launched earlier this month and includes displays within the DCA galleries and a sound recording reverberating throughout its walls four times a day.
The posters aim to introduce “poetry and contemplation” to spaces that are usually used for used for “blunt advertising” and “capitalist gain”.
The posters will appear in areas such as the Seagate, Victoria Road and Nethergate.
Mr Dara said: “The exhibition is about the use of public space and being able to speak freely and going against ideas. We take a lot of these spaces for granted and walk past them everyday so Eve’s work makes us think about how we use public space.
“Eve knows that the work is temporary and is transient and that opens up thoughts about what art is because sometimes people think it is something precious that has to be safely kept in a gallery, but that is not always the case.
“For the tour, we will take in some of the city centre posters and it will be nothing too strenuous; it will be just a stroll.
“I do a guided tour of our exhibitions every year, but this is the first time one has been outside the gallery in some time. It’s good to get out there and expand the walls of the what the gallery is.
“My approach to guided tours is to allow room for discussions. Although sometimes you can tell that an audience doesn’t want that, I’m always willing for open discussions to happen.
“It’s important to us that people feel art could do that.
“Stein continues to be one of the most experimental writers of the 20th century so this brings that into the 21st century for discussion.
“Her work challenged a lot of ideas about equality in the 20th century so these discussions can be about how far we’ve come but also how far we still have to go to create an equal society.
“She helped voices that weren’t able to speak in public, such as homosexual voices and trans voices, have a say and be out there safely.”
While the event is free, places should be booked ahead of time at the DCA.
