Nicola Atkinson Artist Beautiful Materials Design Studio
Nicola Atkinson | A Solo Exhibition of new works
Nicola Atkinson in conversation about her new works in Linlithgow with Lynsey Moyes, who is a radio producer who has created audio arts content for BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 4 and the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art.
Nicola Atkinson | A Solo Exhibition of new works
Friday 23 May to Sunday 21 September 2025
At its heart the exhibition of new works by Nicola Atkinson, Beautiful Materials, asks How do we look at art and its materials and what are its boundaries?
Here in the exhibition the vessel is a container for ideas, and materials, but perhaps we too are also containers in some ways. Nicola puts the visitor front and center in an active role of questioning art, how we digest what is around us, how we take part and then, what does it all mean. Themes of containment, scale and transformation pervade every surface.
Some experience of the artwork can only be in person, in the Gallery, this is where the tactile scale of the hanging velvet and georgette artwork is truly present. The vessels have gone on a journey of material metamorphosis from painting on wood, to printing on beautiful fabrics.
The artist extends what is the exhibition proper, out through the window of the Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space onto the Bus Shelter on Linlithgow Cross Stop no: 6290LW08. You can experience the artwork further at the artists’ talk, in your home, by wearing it, by listening on your phone and in a book.
She has published a stunning pocket-sized book to accompany the exhibition which you can acquire at for £10 at three places:
Far From the Madding Crowd Bookshop 20 High St, Linlithgow EH49 7AE
Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space
Supported by West Lothian Council
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross, Linlithgow, EH49 7AH
Open everyday 9am - 5pm
Thank you : Alan Hawthorne, Basharat Khan, Barbara McCarren, Ben Fletcher, Bill Breckenridge, Camille Archer, Claire Atkinson, Harrison Reid, Jill Vedebrand, Ju Row Farr, Kim Noble, Lesley Brown, Lorna Cunningham, Lorna Swinney, Lynsey Moyes, Maeve Redmond, Marney Walker, Michael Wilson, Peter Allam, Rosemary Cunningham, Sally Pattle, Sarah Bissell-Hobbs, Seth Howe, Spencer Dent, Stevie Jackson, Stuart Kerr, Tom Hickmore & OuterSpaces for my studio space.
Picture by Johnnie Wales© : Nicola Atkinson in the Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery
Beautiful Materials Linlithgow Events
16 July 7 - 9pm | Vessels on Loan | Nicola Atkinson
The residents of Linlithgow and the surrounding area can borrow one of the Nicola Atkinson Beautiful Materials artworks for their homes.
“As an artist I spend a lot of time living with my own work after I have made it. I hope that this will enhance the experiences of the Beautiful Materials exhibition, by connecting your home to the Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space”
In a recent survey for museums, it said that a person spends on average 28 seconds looking at a piece of art. This exhibition offers the visitor an opportunity to have a little more time with an artwork, to understand how the relationship to it can grow or change, in the comfort of their own home.
PICK UP - 16 July, 7 - 9pm
Pick up the framed artwork from the artist at the Gallery. The artwork is a choice of a vessel on velvet, in a 25cm x 25cm white box frame and can be hung or sit on a shelf. This is a chance to spend more time with the artwork in your own home.
DROP OFF - 20 September, 12 - 4pm - Drop off to the artist in the Gallery.
LOCATION - Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
Picture by Nicola Atkinson© : The Linlithgow DIY store with borrows artwork.
Beautiful Materials Publishing | Nicola Atkinson
Beautiful Materials book can be purchased for £10 at three places:
Far From the Madding Crowd Bookshop 20 High St, Linlithgow EH49 7AE
Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space
Published by Beautiful Materials Publishing, a publishing company founded by Nicola Atkinson, it is a pocket-sized book, with beautiful reproductions of the artwork featured in the exhibition Beautiful Materials at Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space.
It contains a collection of the vessel's paintings and an insightful interview with the artist by Lynsey Moyes, who is a radio producer who has created audio arts content for BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 4 and the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Art. An essay by the writer Michael Wilson who is the author of How to Read Contemporary Art: Experiencing the Art of the 21st Century and his writing has featured in Artforum, Art Monthly and Frieze.
Nicola is an internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose career has been influenced by time spent on the West Coast of America, in Sweden and living in Glasgow.
She has had numerous exhibitions in international venues including Long Beach Museum of Art, CA, USA, Tramway and The Lighthouse, Glasgow, Scotland, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. ©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council & Far From the Madding Crowd Bookshop
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
Picture by Nicola Atkinson©: The Beautiful Materials Publishing books.
WEAR ART MUSIC | Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery
Bringing extraordinary Beautiful Materials garments & music to Linlithgow. A Music collaboration between Nicola Atkinson & Stevie Jackson.
Date: Saturday 23 August 1 - 3pm
Location: Linlithgow Burgh Halls Gallery Space EH49 7AH
Bringing colour and expression to everyday life, the works in this event by Nicola Atkinson, take art off the wall and into the hands of the participant. Come spend a wonderful afternoon trying on Nicola Atkinson’s scarves and watch models invited from the people of Linlithgow, wearing her individually made extraordinary garments inspired by the vessels in the exhibition. Set to an ambient original soundtrack, the music from a collaboration between the artist and Stevie Jackson, Belle and Sebastian.
You and others can participate by wearing the scarves, experiencing the energy of the rich bold colours, the opulence of velvet, and the movement of the translucent Georgette fabrics. Made with a zero-waste approach to pattern cutting, this is a unique chance to wear the artists’ work.©2025
Free, booking eventbrite essential
Supported by West Lothian Council
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
Picture by Nicola Atkinson : Stevie Jackson in Nicola's home studio working on the idea.
Nicola Atkinson | Linlithgow Bus Shelter
Linlithgow Bus Shelter connects the interior with exterior, and extends the boundaries of the Beautiful Materials exhibition.
Date: Thursday 8 May - December 2025
Location: Linlithgow Cross Stop no: 6290LW08
A bus shelter can be a thoughtful place, thinking about the journey ahead, when the bus is coming and beyond. It is a shared space in the world, where a captive audience occurs to experience art. Inspired after Nicola Atkinson recent public art works on three bus shelters in Winchburgh, this work features transparent colourful vinyl and drawings.
There are two significant aspects of this particular bus shelter location, one is that you can see the bus shelter from the Linlithgow Burgh Halls windows, connecting the interior with exterior, and extending the boundaries of the exhibition. The other one is that this is the site where chloroform was invented which enables the alleviation of human suffering. For safe indentation this was housed in blue glass vessels.
BUS SHELTER TRANSFORMATION (DAY 1)
‘It took me three days in total to install the bus shelter, West Lothian Council transport department cleaned it initially and had kindly replaced two badly damaged panels. My first day was spent cleaning it making sure it was ready for the transparent vinyl, it needed to be very clean free of dust for best effect, an extra clean was needed. I meet so many people who just stop to thank me for cleaning it. To make this happen I had a lot of support from Camille Archer, Music and Public Art Officer Community Arts, Lorna Cunningham, Transport Department West Lothian Council, Lesley Brown, The staff at Linlithgow Burgh Halls, Linlithgow Town Management and High Street shops. The people at Linlithgow DIY store were very helpful with sorting out what tools to buy. The special brushes for windows and the extra strong spray bottles, so that I could reach the roof for the extra clean. Being very patient when I returned for many buckets of hot soapy water.
DAY 2
The second day of installation I worked with Sarah Bissell-Hobbs, an artist and a professional vinyl installer who helped me with the large, more tricky pieces of vinyl. Since a gust of wind could mess up the vinyl and you cannot do it this part alone. It was during that day that the people at the Turkish Barber (Zenas) who bought us coffee and we made friends with them. They stored our extra supplies and provided us with water also. The Four Marys pub was very helpful as well, storing my larger tools overnight.
DAY 3
The third and last day I worked alone, installing 500 hand cut pieces of vinyl. These were pre cut and took about a week to make. The bus shelter has the effect of a painterly and a stained glass quality because of the transparent layers of the hand cut pieces. I was so lost in my work and getting it finished I never noticed that the whole street was watching me . It was only on my return that I met people who told me that they had seen in the morning on their way to work and looked forward to seeing how much progress I had made upon their return home.’
©2025
Supported by West Lothian Council
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, The Cross,
Picture by Jim Payne© : The Linlithgow shelter at sunset