Nicolas Party (b. 1980, Lausanne, Switzerland) lives and works in Brussels, Belgium having previously studied at the Lausanne School of Art (2001-2004) and at the Glasgow School of Art (2007-2009).

For Boys and Pastel, Party transformed the formal Georgian interior of Inverleith House into a contemporary ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ with the most expansive installation of his decorative wall paintings and charcoal drawings to date. Spanning every inch of the seven gallery spaces, the patterned murals acted as a framing device and wondrous stage set for a new series of pastel compositions. Running concurrently in the lower ground floor gallery was a programme of Party’s rarely seen short films which provided further insight into the artist’s unique aesthetic language.

Exhibition Curator: Chloe Reith

Images courtesy of the Artist and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow.

Exhibition supported by The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster, Ltd., ProHelvetica, the Swiss Cultural Fund and the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation. Inverleith House was also supported by Creative Scotland.

Installation views. Images by Michael Wolchover.

Events Programme

Artist's Talk: Nicolas Party

On Sunday 3 May, the artist led a tour of the exhibition focusing on the themes and motifs presented in his work. He also presented a selection of rarely seen short films within a specially designed screening space.

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Curator's tours: Nicolas Party: Boys and Pastel

Curators Paul Nesbitt and Chloe Reith presented fortnightly tours of Boys and Pastel on Friday 15 May, 29 May and 12 June.

Sink performing at Inverleith House

As part of Botanics Late on Friday 14th May, the renowned Edinburgh music collective Sink presented a live acoustic performance in response to the exhibition.

Performance views, Sink in Nicolas Party's Boys and Pastel, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, 2105. Images by Alistair Millar.