Folkestone Triennial

Richard Wilson

Title: 18 Holes
Location: Coastal Promenade near Mermaid Cafe

Starting point for Richard Wilson’s work was Folkestone's Rotunda Amusement Park, formerly situated right on the seafront, as in so many other seaside towns from Margate to Coney Island. The park closed in 2003 and its rides have been sold or demolished since to make way for redevelopment. The last remaining vestige of the once buzzing park was the derelict crazy golf course. Wilson cut slabs around each of the 18 holes, lifted and reconstructed them as three beachhuts a little further down the shore. Following the style of the existging Folkestone beachhuts - rather severe stone-built structures - Wilson's 18 Holes is a “contemporary meditation on the ideas of redundancy and transformation”(Wilson), as well as reference to Folkestone's once buoyant tourist industry.

Translated text about each of the artworks into French, Turkish and Slovak can be found on the events page or from the visitor centre

Richard's Biography

Born U.K, 1953. Lives and works in London.

Richard Wilson is one of Britain’s most renowned sculptors. He is internationally celebrated for his interventions in architectural space which draw heavily from the worlds of engineering and construction for their inspiration. Wilson has exhibited widely nationally and internationally for over thirty years.

Recent solo shows include

Turning the place Over, Lead work for Year of Culture – Liverpool 2007
Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo – Italy 2007
Curve Gallery, Barbican Art Centre – London 2006
Bank Job, Caveau, Palazzo delle Papesse Contemporary Art centre – Italy 2004

Recent group exhibitions include

Royal Academy Summer Show – Royal Academy 2007
Butterfly, Platform China – Beijing China, 2006
Break Neck Speed, Yokohama Triennal – Yokohama, Japan 2005

Wilson was nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions and was awarded the DAAD Fellowship in Berlin 1992/93. Wilson was made a Royal Academician in 2006.