If you have been living under a stone for the past 50 years, you may not have heard of Andy Goldsworthy…
A quick poll of my colleagues and friends revealed that, at best, they had heard of him but couldn’t describe his art more than “is he the guy who makes things out of leaves?”
And yes, he does, but so much more too – stones, petals, ferns, sheep’s wool, tree trunks, branches, reeds, snow, ice, clay and barbed wire, often documenting nature as it changes through seasons and years. He even enlists the help of sheep to make his artwork, with humorous and thought-provoking results.
Andy Goldsworthy – Fifty Years, is a fascinating insight into the career of an artist I feel has been making and creating for as long as I’ve been visiting galleries. His work was on my daughter’s school curriculum at primary level, my partner learned about him whilst teacher training, and my good friend’s sister (an artist) worked with him on this major retrospective.
Featuring over 200 works, this exhibition includes major installations made in response to the iconic Royal Scottish Academy building, as well as drawings, photographs, films, sketchbooks and archival items dating back to the mid-1970s and spanning fifty years.
Visitors are greeted by Wool Runner, which follows the outline of a wool carpet runner which used to be on the stairs at the building entrance. This time the wool is a little less processed. The result is a bold and unsettling first impression and it gives a good flavour of what’s to come – expect the unexpected.
Stones collected from graveyards in Dumfries and Galloway, displaced by burials, make a sombre artwork, particularly with dimmed lighting and colourless stones.
Fence has a similar effect – at first glance it looks tactile, soft and colourful, until you realise it’s made of barbed wire – a comment on the times that Goldsworthy’s artistic endeavours were not too welcome!
Later we see a film of him working his way slowly and painfully thought a hedge – man almost becoming lost in the tangle of twigs – which, to a passer-by, must have caused curiosity and head scratching.
Bull reeds reaching high to the ceiling of one gallery in a circle offer a chance for visitors to stand in the middle and look up – created in the hope that the grimy skylight might be cleaned to let in more light!
Fallen Elm is an ongoing project started in 2009 with Goldsworthy using a fallen tree near his home for multiple creative opportunities. Over 90 photographs are shown of the tree with different natural adornments – a fissure looks like a lightening strike, but on closer inspection is a crack outlined with bright gold and yellow leaves; a wiggly line of pink ribbon turns out to be fox glove petals.
The standout for me was Oak Passage, created this year from branches of fallen trees damaged during storm Èowyn, and making a giant path through one of the galleries. Each branch is carefully positioned to lean against another – there are no visible restraints used. With two striking artworks on the walls at either end, it makes a highly visual and photogenic piece which visitors can walk through.
The oak branches sit on the gallery’s treated and polished oak floors, reminded us that it too was once a might oak tree.
What I liked about this exhibition is the blend of old and new – some site specific newly created artworks mixed with photos and videos of his early work, often experimental – helping us understand how he has become the artist he is today.
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years is on at the National Galleries Scotland exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy building, entry through Princes Street, until 2 November 2025. Tickets £5-£19.