Doug Fishbone, SOS, 2015, installation at New Art Exchange, photo credit Bartosz Kali.

21 February 2017

York Art Gallery is hoping to strike a hole in one and bring cutting edge contemporary art to the heart of York this summer with Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf.

The work is a fully playable mini golf course with each hole designed by a contemporary artist, including Turner Prize shortlisted Yinka Shonibare and John Akomfrah OBE. It was first shown at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

Beyond the sculptural brilliance of the works it is hoped visitors will connect with important cultural topics, including: migration, global warming and globalisation.

York Art Gallery are hoping to bring seven of the holes to the Artists Garden this summer by raising the funds through the Art Fund’s crowdfunding platform Art Happens.

To be successful the £10,000 of funding needs to be raised by March 23.

If successful Leisure Land Golf would be in York from June 2 to September 3.

Doug Fishbone said:

“I am looking forward to working on this campaign to bring Leisure Land Golf to York. The Artists Garden is a beautiful and unique space that would provide a fantastic backdrop to the artworks. I really hope the campaign is successful and that the course becomes a fun, interesting and thought-provoking addition to the Gardens over the summer months.”

Laura Turner, senior curator of art at York Art Gallery, said:

“Leisure Land Golf is such an interesting and innovative artwork which we would love to bring to York. The “crazy golf” course offers an accessible and interactive way of engaging with contemporary works of art by highly respected international artists. We think it would be a very popular and fun installation for the Artists Garden this summer.”

The gallery have teamed up with Doug Fishbone, the course’s creator, to offer a range of bespoke rewards for those who support the project, to ensure the golf comes to York. The rewards range from exclusive totes bags, prints, an invite to an exclusive evening private view to a round of crazy golf with the artist himself. To play the course will cost £3, but most rewards include a free round of golf.

Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf is a touring exhibition by New Art Exchange (NAE), Nottingham. The Exhibition was originally commissioned by EM15, a collective of arts organisations from the East Midlands, for the #56 Venice Biennale.

The seven holes we are hoping to bring to the Artists Garden this summer are by Turner Prize nominee, Yinka Shonibare MBE, John Akomfrah OBE, Hetain Patel, Ellie Harrison, Doug Fishbone, Eyal and Ines Weizman, and Nottingham based collective Reactor.

It is hoped the installation will transform the Artist Garden into a playful and tactile environment, taking visitors on an amusing and thought provoking journey as they navigate the course.

To find out more and donate please visit the Art Happens website here.

 

Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf is a touring exhibition by New Art Exchange (NAE), Nottingham. The Exhibition was originally commissioned by EM15, a collective of arts organisations from the East Midlands, for the #56 Venice Biennale. Loaned with kind permission by the artist and New Art Exchange, Nottingham.