2017 Awardee: Alistair Grant
"The support from the Dewar Award has enabled me to commit my time and energy to the course in a way that is truly freeing, I feel extremely lucky."
Biography
Alistair Grant was born in Manchester and moved to Glasgow to study a BA in Sculpture at the Edinburgh College of Art. On graduating, he went on to study a Master of Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art.
Alistair is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores contemporary connections to the natural world. From sculptural and installation approaches through to performance and video games, Grant’s practice is concerned with how we negotiate and attribute value, whether aesthetic or ecological to these designated areas from within the built environment.
Alistair has undertaken residencies including The Wild Project (Czech Republic) and Odyssean (Orkney), which have resulted in exhibitions across the country. He has also made work for the Odyssean: Topographies exhibition at Hestercombe in Somerset.
In Spring 2014 Alistair Founded ‘The Number Shop’ Studios and Gallery, which he continues to manage as Director. To date TNS has hosted over 50 exhibitions and worked with over 150 emerging contemporary artists, highlights of our programme include Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Awards, Edinburgh Art Festival, Return Flight MEL-EDI (Melbourne – Edinburgh international artist-writer exchange), Edinburgh International Science Festival and Glasgow International 2018.
In August 2017, Alistair co-founded Edinburgh Contemporary Art Directory, a quarterly print listings publication (and online) that compiles activities, exhibitions and events from the Edinburgh scene, from independent artists, artist-run spaces and mid-large scale institutions.
Alistair’s ambition is to contribute to the Scottish contemporary art scene in a holistic way, supporting the work and activities of others alongside and intertwined with his own practice.
How the Award Helped
Alistair’s Dewar Award supported him in his studies, allowing him to fully pursue his aims to develop technical skills in workshops (physical sculpture processes in casting, digital 3D softwares and animation) whilst having the time to critically evolve his practice. The Award also allowed him to undertake his exhibition at Hestercombe.
"The support from the Dewar Award has enabled me to commit my time and energy to the course in a way that is truly freeing, I feel extremely lucky."